Category Archives: The Examined Life

How To Begin Being More Thankful

Posted on November 28, 2013 by John

Gratitude, like love, is best defined not as a feeling, but as something so much more and different: as a choice, a behavior, an attitude, as a way of seeing things, as a way of perceiving and thinking about things. … Continue reading →

Posted in "Otherwise", Gratitude, Jane Kenyon, The Examined Life, Waking Up, What is Love? | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

On Love & Life

Posted on November 22, 2013 by John

. . The story I posted yesterday (about Taylor Morris & Danielle Kelly) led me to reflect  on (and to write about) the nature of love—and life—as well as character, commitment, devotion, for better or worse, and what it means … Continue reading →

Posted in "Siddhartha", Commitment, Critical Thinking, Death, Denial, Reactive, Stephen Covey, Taylor Morris, The Examined Life, Truth, Viktor Frankl, Waking Up, What is Love? | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Commentary on “Marriage Isn’t For *You*”

Posted on November 5, 2013 by John

. [A] true marriage (and true love) is never about you. It’s about the person you love—their wants, their needs, their hopes, and their dreams. Selfishness demands, “What’s in it for me?” while Love asks, “What can I give?” Some … Continue reading →

Posted in "Marriage Isn't For You", Kierkegaard, Krishnamurti, Love is a Choice, Love Is a Verb, Love is Not a Feeling, Marianne Williamson, Mature Love, Personal Growth, Perspective, Real Love, Schnarch, Seth Adam Smith, Spiritual Growth, The Examined Life, The Road Less Traveled, What is Love? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Love Is a Verb (“I Didn’t Love My Wife When We Got Married—The Real Truth About Love”)

Posted on October 29, 2013 by John

. I am going to reblog a very honest and nicely-written article with the attention-grabbing perhaps even somewhat shocking title of “I Didn’t Love My Wife When We Got Married” (The Real Truth About Love) ” by Elad Nehorai (the … Continue reading →

Posted in "The Five Love Languages", Elad Nehorai, Emotional Maturity, Immature Love, Intimacy, Intimate Relationships, Love is a Choice, Love is a Commitment, Love Is a Verb, Love is Not a Feeling, M. Scott Peck, Real Love, Spiritual Growth, Stephen Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, The Examined Life, The Road Less Traveled, Truth, What is Love? | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

May Your Choices Reflect What’s Best in You….

Posted on October 17, 2013 by John

When our choices reflect what’s best in us, when our choices reflect the better angels of our nature, when our choices reflect our deepest values and highest hopes, our virtues–courage, patience, wisdom, discernment, perspective–and principles such as a reverence for … Continue reading →

Posted in Conscience, Critical Thinking, Emotional Maturity, Love is a Choice, Nelson Mandela, Personal Growth, Perspective, The Examined Life, Truth, What is Love? | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Bernie Siegel, M.D., on Finding Your True Path

Posted on October 15, 2013 by John

  . . (The following post is abridged, adapted, and modified from Bernie Siegel’s essay “Love: The Work of The Soul“ in “Handbook for the Soul,” compiled by Richard Carlson, Benjamin Shield, pp. 39-44.) . In my work as a … Continue reading →

Posted in Bernie Siegel M.D., Death, Love, Personal Growth, Perspective, Spiritual Growth, The Examined Life, Truth, What is Love? | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

The Way To Begin Loving Anything More

Posted on September 25, 2013 by John

. . “The way to begin loving anything is to realize that it might be lost.” – G. K. Chesterton This is a great way to begin growing (up) as a human being: to begin really reflecting on how fragile we … Continue reading →

Posted in "If You Knew", Death, Denial, Ellen Bass, Gratitude, Gurdjieff, The Examined Life, Truth, Vulnerability, Waking Up, What is Love? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Distracted Living versus Living Lovingly

Posted on September 20, 2013 by John

. Alternately titled “Long-Term Happiness versus Short-Term Happiness” . You know of the disease in Central Africa called sleeping sickness. First its victims get slightly tired, then the disease gradually intensifies until the afflicted person lies asleep all the time … Continue reading →

Posted in Critical Thinking, Dalai Lama, Distraction, Mature Love, Mental Health, Mindfulness, Personal Growth, Perspective, Real Love, Roy Walsh, Spiritual Growth, The Examined Life, Truth, Waking Up, What is Love? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

What Is Love? (Is Love Fundamentally a Feeling?)

Posted on September 5, 2013 by John

We human beings, in general, tend to be confused about Love–what it is, what it isn’t, what it means to be in love, et cetera. For example: Is love primarily an emotion?  Is it something we feel?  And if so, … Continue reading →

Posted in Mature Love, Personal Growth, Perspective, Real Love, Spiritual Growth, The Examined Life, Waking Up, What is Love? | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

C.S. Lewis on Why to Be Moral

Posted on September 4, 2013 by John

  . . The sort of idea that the word Morality raises in a good many people’s minds is that it’s something that interferes—Morality is something that stops you from having a good time. In reality, moral rules are directions … Continue reading →

Posted in C.S. Lewis, Conscience, Critical Thinking, Love, Morality, Perspective, The Examined Life, Truth, Waking Up | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment