Self

Poet Identity

Guest Blog. This essay was written by a recent student-friend, as he explores one of those areas by which we establish meaning in our liv...

How Do You Think You Are?

We all take as a given, like fish in water, a cultural and historical preoccupation with the “self” as something to nurture, protect, exp...

Monkey Mind II: Mysticism, Childhood, and Mental Health

"Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creation out of void, but out of chaos." -- Mary Shelley We are all mystics ...

Monkey Mind I: Subjectivity and the Brain's Default Mode Network

So, what do you think about when you’re not thinking about anything else? Where does your mind go when it isn’t busy with goal-directed t...

What We Do Not Want to Know about Ourselves

""...the dividing line between good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his ow...

How We Know Ourselves: d. Intimately

There is a real paradox in intimate relationships. No one wants to be alone, but for someone to be really with you, especially to be a li...

How We Fool Ourselves

Knowing ourselves must surely include knowing not only that but how much our very sense of ourselves is a “mythic reality” by which we co...

How We Know Ourselves: c. In the World

We know our bodies intimately. It is through our bodies and our nervous systems that we are aware of and come to know anything at all. Bu...

How We Know Ourselves: b. Bodily

The tender pragmatisms of flesh have poetries no enigma--human or divine--can diminish or demean. Indeed, it can only cause them, and the...

How We Know Ourselves: a. Limits

The Socratic maxim, gnothi seauton, “know thyself,” was originally intended to emphasize its importance, over time wasted on things like ...

{"items":["5e5d327e5ee6bf0017697e1d","5e5d327e574bd9001702066a","5e5d327e8b1e6e0017fa6c4b","5e5d327ecdad930017b566b5","5e5d327ec9ddfb0017c20273","5e5d327e0d439600170b42e2","5e5d327e574bd9001702066b","5e5d327e2194680017754d6a","5e5d327eda892900176ffe95","5e5d327ed7288900173e2bdc"],"styles":{"galleryType":"Columns","groupSize":1,"showArrows":true,"cubeImages":true,"cubeType":"max","cubeRatio":1.7777777777777777,"isVertical":true,"gallerySize":30,"collageAmount":0,"collageDensity":0,"groupTypes":"1","oneRow":false,"imageMargin":32,"galleryMargin":0,"scatter":0,"rotatingScatter":"","chooseBestGroup":true,"smartCrop":false,"hasThumbnails":false,"enableScroll":true,"isGrid":true,"isSlider":false,"isColumns":false,"isSlideshow":false,"cropOnlyFill":false,"fixedColumns":0,"enableInfiniteScroll":true,"isRTL":false,"minItemSize":50,"rotatingGroupTypes":"","rotatingCropRatios":"","columnWidths":"","gallerySliderImageRatio":1.7777777777777777,"numberOfImagesPerRow":3,"numberOfImagesPerCol":1,"groupsPerStrip":0,"borderRadius":0,"boxShadow":0,"gridStyle":0,"mobilePanorama":false,"placeGroupsLtr":true,"viewMode":"preview","thumbnailSpacings":4,"galleryThumbnailsAlignment":"bottom","isMasonry":false,"isAutoSlideshow":false,"slideshowLoop":false,"autoSlideshowInterval":4,"bottomInfoHeight":0,"titlePlacement":"SHOW_BELOW","galleryTextAlign":"center","scrollSnap":false,"itemClick":"nothing","fullscreen":true,"videoPlay":"hover","scrollAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","slideAnimation":"SCROLL","scrollDirection":0,"scrollDuration":400,"overlayAnimation":"FADE_IN","arrowsPosition":0,"arrowsSize":23,"watermarkOpacity":40,"watermarkSize":40,"useWatermark":true,"watermarkDock":{"top":"auto","left":"auto","right":0,"bottom":0,"transform":"translate3d(0,0,0)"},"loadMoreAmount":"all","defaultShowInfoExpand":1,"allowLinkExpand":true,"expandInfoPosition":0,"allowFullscreenExpand":true,"fullscreenLoop":false,"galleryAlignExpand":"left","addToCartBorderWidth":1,"addToCartButtonText":"","slideshowInfoSize":200,"playButtonForAutoSlideShow":false,"allowSlideshowCounter":false,"hoveringBehaviour":"NEVER_SHOW","thumbnailSize":120,"magicLayoutSeed":1,"imageHoverAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","imagePlacementAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","calculateTextBoxWidthMode":"PERCENT","textBoxHeight":202,"textBoxWidth":200,"textBoxWidthPercent":50,"textImageSpace":10,"textBoxBorderRadius":0,"textBoxBorderWidth":0,"loadMoreButtonText":"","loadMoreButtonBorderWidth":1,"loadMoreButtonBorderRadius":0,"imageInfoType":"ATTACHED_BACKGROUND","itemBorderWidth":0,"itemBorderRadius":0,"itemEnableShadow":false,"itemShadowBlur":20,"itemShadowDirection":135,"itemShadowSize":10,"imageLoadingMode":"BLUR","expandAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","imageQuality":90,"usmToggle":false,"usm_a":0,"usm_r":0,"usm_t":0,"videoSound":false,"videoSpeed":"1","videoLoop":true,"jsonStyleParams":"","gallerySizeType":"px","gallerySizePx":1000,"allowTitle":true,"allowContextMenu":true,"textsHorizontalPadding":-30,"itemBorderColor":{"themeName":"color_15","value":"rgba(24,24,24,1)"},"showVideoPlayButton":true,"galleryLayout":2,"calculateTextBoxHeightMode":"MANUAL","textsVerticalPadding":-15,"targetItemSize":1000,"selectedLayout":"2|bottom|1|max|true|0|true","layoutsVersion":2,"selectedLayoutV2":2,"isSlideshowFont":true,"externalInfoHeight":202,"externalInfoWidth":0},"container":{"width":838,"galleryWidth":870,"galleryHeight":0,"scrollBase":0,"height":null}}