Do hobbies matter? To what degree and why? Perhaps, more than we ever thought possible.
Tag: Society
The Promise of Work and the Work of Promises
In this post, a guest blogger, “The Peripatetic”, responds to and builds on a previous post by Mountain Buddha. What happens, they ask, to society in a world that increasingly removes the one thing required for relationships: people?
The Art of Solitude: How to Be Alone in a World Full of People
Too often, we associate being alone with negativity. We associate being alone with loneliness, depression, brooding, etc. There is certainly truth to the fact that isolation can be negative, particularly for those battling addiction, depression or some other mental health-related issue. We also know that socializing with other hoomans is a positive force in terms…
The Contemplative Life: Learning to Value Denkwerk
What happens when a society stops valuing thinking as work? What happens when commodities become more important than the people that produce them?
How Nature Makes Us Better
Dear Readers, As I continue to try to find a work life balance that works for this blog, as well as the time to keep original content coming, please check out the podcast I’ve uploaded on how nature helps to keep us healthy and well. If you’re a smartphone user click on the menu link…
Potty-mouthed Professors: Why They’re the Best
Trust me. I should know. I’m one of them. And if you are someone easily offended by foul, vulgar, profane language, this essay might not be for you. There is an amazing essay written by Jordan Schneider in The Chronicle of Higher Education that covers why swearing in class isn’t that big of a deal;…
Walking Through it All: Reviewing Ben Montgomery’s ‘Grandma Gatewood’s Walk’
In Ben Montgomery’s eye-opening profile, Grandma Gatewood’s Walk: The Inspiring Story of the Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail, readers encounter the real life folk heroin Emma Gatewood. On the trail, her story is legend; and it takes on such proportions for a plethora of reasons, some of which have nothing to do with hiking. …
The Stories We Tell Ourselves: A Meditation on Frost’s Two Roads
(A quick note: while the gender of the speaker remains undetermined, I sometimes use the masculine for the sake of simplicity and consistency. It seems easier than having to repeatedly use “the speaker”, or singular they, or worse, “him/her”.) Ask anyone to create a list of poems they’ve read, know or remember from school, and…
Dirtbag Dreams: Fantasy vs Reality
(Cover Image: Fred Beckey) Virtually anyone who climbs, has ever picked up a climbing magazine, seen Reel Rock, or any YouTube video on climbing, knows the term “dirtbag”. The general public uses this term as one of derision to describe someone who might otherwise be a lowlife, good-for-nothing bum; but in the climbing community one…
Nature Boys from the ‘Hood
Above timberline, with sustained winds around fifty miles per hour and gusts approaching ninety, while the temperature hovers somewhere just under thirty below, Pierre and Jon hunker down behind a rock for shelter, Pierre’s side screaming in pain. He calls out to Jon, his brother, “Dude, for some reason the side of my body is…
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