Tag Archives: Growing Up

The Lessons and Liberation in Marriage

Posted on June 7, 2023 by John

“In our society, of course, there is no need to become an adult. One may remain—one is exhorted daily to remain—a child forever. “Marriage is pictured as a form of imprisonment, oppression, boredom, and chafing hindrance. Not all these accusations … Continue reading →

Posted in "Marriage Isn't For You", Character, Commitment, Conscious Love, Critical Thinking, Intimate Relationships, Love is a Choice, Love is a Commitment, Love is a Decision, Love Is a Verb, Love is an Act of Will, Love is Not a Feeling, Mature Love, Michael Novak, Personal Growth, Perspective, Real Love, Responsibility, Self-Awareness, Self-Extension, The Examined Life, Truth | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

In the Gap Between Stimulus and Response is Where Real Love Occurs

Posted on March 12, 2016 by John

I’ll meet you there (to riff on Rumi). Or better yet: Start meeting your partner there. Choice is sexy. When partners choose when and where and how they want to have sex, that is sexy. When they make a choice to engage … Continue reading →

Posted in Character, Conscious Love, Intimacy, Intimate Relationships, Love, Love is a Choice, Love is a Decision, Love is Not a Feeling, Mature Love, Mental Health, Mindfulness, Personal Growth, Perspective, Real Love, Self-Awareness, The Examined Life, Truth, Waking Up, What is Love? | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Passion & Reason: Following Your Head & Following Your Heart (or Tuning Both & Following Both)

Posted on February 17, 2013 by John

. . We’re all at the helm of something with an impressive amount of horsepower—this body, with its heart, ego, and genitalia, each full of their own passions, motivations, preferences, desires, aversions.  The ego wants fame, attention, power, immortality, runs … Continue reading →

Posted in Emotional Maturity, Gibran, M. Scott Peck, Mental Health, The Examined Life, Truth, Waking Up, What is Love? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Criticism, Critical Thinking, and Love

Posted on January 5, 2013 by John

. One of the running themes throughout all of my blogs and many blog posts has been encouraging anyone who reads or strays across these posts and pages to try and lead as examined and reflective a life as possible. … Continue reading →

Posted in Critical Thinking, Criticism, Denial, John Kenneth Galbraith, M. Scott Peck, Matthew 7: 1-6, Mature Love, Mental Health, Real Love, Spiritual Growth, The Examined Life, Truth, Winston Churchill | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Why Real Love Is So Difficult & Rare (updated 12-26-2012)

Posted on December 26, 2012 by John

. (This is an updated version of a post I first publish on Feb 28, 2012 — “Why Real Love Is So Difficult & Rare“) . . “We have lost our sense of values: when your fence falls, you mend … Continue reading →

Posted in Conscience, Conscious Love, Courage, Czeslaw Milosz, Differentiation, Emotional Maturity, Generosity, Honesty, Immature Love, Intimate Relationships, Love, Love is Not a Feeling, Mature Love, Mental Health, Real Love, Self-Extension, Spiritual Growth, Thích Nhất Hạnh, Thomas Merton, Truth, Waking Up, What is Love? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

*DO* Carpe Diem

Posted on December 17, 2012 by John

. *DO* Carpe Diem (& *Do* Hug Your Children & Spouse More, and *Do* Begin Much More Often with the End in Mind) . . “The way to begin loving anything is to realize that it might be lost.” …… … Continue reading →

Posted in "If You Knew", "Shadowlands", Ellen Bass, Glennon Melton, Gratitude, Henri-Frédéric, Mature Love, Mental Health, Momastery, Perspective, Real Love, Spiritual Growth, Truth, Waking Up, What is Love? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Feeding Your FOOL versus Feeding Your CONSCIENCE

Posted on December 14, 2012 by John

. This post is in response to a post on another blog I read and follow–http://momastery.com/blog/2012/12/12/to-all-the-confounders/ . “I must learn to love the fool in me–the one who feels too much, talks too much, takes too many chances, wins sometimes … Continue reading →

Posted in Conscience, Gandhi, Glennon Melton, Martin Luther King Jr., Matthew 7:12, Momastery, Real Love, Self-Love, Spiritual Growth, Truth, Waking Up | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Love *Is* Difficult

Posted on November 29, 2012 by John

. Love is difficult. It is difficult to learn how to really love another person. It is difficult to learn how to love oneself. Loving another means caring deeply for that person, being good to that person, wanting the best … Continue reading →

Posted in Difficulty, Immature Love, Intimacy, Intimate Relationships, Love, Love is Not a Feeling, Mental Health, Real Love, Rilke, Truth, What is Love? | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

One of the Main Reasons We Run Away from Love . . .

Posted on June 21, 2012 by John

I posted this on one of my other blogs today–several excerpts from Krishnamurti (one of my FAVORITE thinkers!) and then a few words of my own as well.  Please check out the post and see if any of it resonates … Continue reading →

Posted in Krishnamurti, Mature Love, Mental Health, Real Love, Truth, Waking Up, What is Love? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Love at the Extremes: Loving the Unlovable, Loving the Unloving

Posted on February 14, 2012 by John

DEAR World, Happy Valentine’s Day! This is my (brief) love letter to you, to the world, or at least to those people who happen to happen upon this blog. (My longer love letter to the world for the day can … Continue reading →

Posted in Death, Emotional Maturity, Gratitude, Intimacy, Mature Love, Mental Health, Real Love, Spiritual Growth, Waking Up, What is Love? | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments