Traveling in a Confused World
I’m an empty vessel. There is nothing inside me that is unique. My aspirations are ordinary for my generation. My views on life are shaped by the people around me. The closer I look at myself, the less I find. So who am I? Continue reading “We Are Empty Vessels”
The main street of the city of Niagara Falls, the one on the Canadian side of the famous falls, may seem as a scaled-down version of Las Vegas. A sparkling hub of neon signs, flashing lights, 3D, 4D and even 6D (!) entertainment complexes, diners and franchise restaurants that offer combo meals with supersizing options. Basically, everything that American entertainment industry is good at, condensed into one street. Affordable and accessible, no-nonsense, mass entertainment, packaged and sold to anyone who needs to lose his troubles away for a couple of hours. Continue reading “What An American Diner Has Taught Me About Authenticity”
What do you believe in? There is never a more crucial time to understand this than when you think about your future child.
Bellow layers of disjointed opinions, personal life lessons and amusing anecdotes, realizing what is your life philosophy is crucial if you are to have kids. If you are honest with yourself, you’ll strive to raise your child with this philosophy in mind. Philosophy he will chew on, wrestle with and undoubtedly discard. But not before being affected by it.
At 32, it’s about time I wrote to you, my future child. Continue reading “5 Things I Want To Say To My Future Child”
In Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris”, the protagonist complaints that he doesn’t know whether he should marry his fiancee, and whether he loves her at all. The reply he gets from a fictional Ernest Hemingway contains the most brilliant lines in the movie Continue reading “A Cure for our Fear of Death”
When was the last time you had a vision? Mine occurred when I was on a plane, watching the clouds drift below me.
A Boeing 747 is making its way through the evening skies thirty thousand feet above the ground, and I see three men. Too busy with their lives they can’t see me, but I see them. I feel I know them, we are long-time friends. One is clearly a man of the past, the second of the present. Now the third one – he is a mystery. I want to get to know him better. Continue reading “3 Ways To Live Your Life – Which One Is Yours?”
We rarely ask this question seriously, afraid there won’t be a satisfying answer. But when faced with a crisis, when life seems bleak and pointless, dealing with this question authentically is of crucial importance.
Albert Camus called the question of suicide the central issue of philosophy: Continue reading “Is Your Life Worth Living?”
A couple of years ago I went to visit my mother in a hospital. Just as I parked my car, a young guy approached to me with a bouquet of wild flowers. He told me that he lives alone with his grandmother, and that he doesn’t have any money to buy food. He offered me to buy one flower for twenty shekels. He didn’t look particularly miserable or hungry, and there was something defying in his attitude, as if he dared me to believe him. I thought to myself that bringing a flower to my mother would be a nice gesture, so I got out my wallet, and paid for the most expansive flower I have ever bought. Continue reading “The Charity Dilemma”
Semyon, a close relative of my family has passed away about a month ago. There was nothing surprising about it – the man has suffered from a terminal lung cancer for over an year. But when I heard the news, I still couldn’t help but feel a sense of shock. Continue reading “A Perfect Death: Exploring Our Exit Strategy”
In the previous post about meaning, I have looked at the reasons why meaning takes such an importance in our lives. I continue the series with a look at how work contributes to our sense of fulfillment and meaning. Continue reading “A Better Path To Happiness Than Winning The Lottery”
Have you noticed how personal believes and values change over time? My attitude to life today differs from that ten years ago. Formation and evolution of beliefs differ from one individual to another, as they are affected by temperament and cultural environment. But it seams that there are also certain universal traits in work here.
Looking back at how my own beliefs have changed over time, I am tempted to think that this is more than just my personal journey. Continue reading “The Spiral of Personal Beliefs”
Having seen Avatar recently, I was struck not only by it’s visual virtuosity , but even more so by what is says about humanity’s moral thinking of these days.
Avatar wasn’t made to promote a social message – Cameron isn’t known for his political activism. He is a gifted movie director with a narrow interest in his trade, and Avatar is Cameron’s exercise in imagination and mastery. What strikes me about the movie is that it’s underlying message is not so much promoted by a liberal agenda, as it reflects the state of our current moral thinking in the West. Continue reading “What Avatar Can Teach Us About Humanity?”
People differ in what they strive for in their lives. Some gravitate towards financial security and stability, and work hard to build up their wealth . Others are drawn by achievement and challenge. Many look to fill their lives with pleasure and excitement while few search for their true self. We are usually content to pursue whatever we are predisposed to by our temperament and character. But sooner or later there comes a time in almost every man’s life when one question takes over our mind. The question of meaning. Continue reading “The Significance of Meaning”
