Mad March Weather
“Our life is March weather, savage and serene in one hour.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson It’s early March. Daylight hours are stretching, and some daring primroses have opened yellow rosettes in more sheltered spots of my garden. Northern Switzerland experiences four defined seasons that are typified by long, cold winters and humid summers that can…Read More
The Power of Awe
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder or stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: His eyes are closed.” – Albert Einstein Awestruck Most of…Read More
Self-Identity: Who am I?
“Never forget who you are, for surely the world will not.” – George R. R. Martin Who am I? It’s a question everyone struggles with at some stage in life. But self-identity is not a simple construct. It’s a blend of influences that incorporates our experiences, relationships, values, and beliefs. I’m not talking about identity…Read More
Liminal Time: Into the Void
“[Liminal time] is when you have left, or are about to leave, the tried and true, but have not yet been able to replace it with anything else. It is when you are between your old comfort zone and any possible new answer.” – Richard Rohr October is here! The days are getting short. Nights…Read More
Chronos and Kairos: The Gods of Time
“Every kairos is a chronos, but not every chronos is a kairos.” — Hipporates It seems simple enough on the face of it, but what does time really mean? If you’d asked an ancient Greek to define it, he would have asked you which aspect of time you were talking about. You see, the Greeks…Read More
The Moral Compass
“Morality, like art, means drawing a line someplace.” – Oscar Wilde I had insomnia last night, which is why I was watching TV at three o’clock in the morning. It was a gripping drama, brilliantly presented: a lurid cocktail of murder, intrigue, and political cover-ups—of naked self-interest and personal ambition. No, it wasn’t the world…Read More
Autumn Transition: Shifting Gears
“Autumn is as joyful and sweet as an untimely end.”— Remy de Gourmont Late autumn has come to Luzern, and we’re enjoying an Indian summer. Days are still sunny and the afternoons warm, but mornings are nippy and the sunshine is paler. It’s a time for fleeces — a time for layering. Autumn won’t mean…Read More
The Language Barrier: Encounters with Swiss German
“If you speak to a man in a language he understands, it goes to his head. If you talk to him in a language he speaks, it goes to his heart” – Nelson Mandela Which language a character speaks is something all fantasy world builders must deal with though few have Tolkien’s mastery of inventing…Read More
