God Bless Henry Miller!

"The way of life is towards fulfillment, however, wherever it may lead. To restore a human being to the current of life means not only to impart self-confidence but also an abiding faith in the process of life. A man who has confidence in himself must have confidence in other, confidence in the fitness and rightness of the universe. When a man is thus anchored he ceases to worry about the fitness of things, about the behavior of his fellow men, about right and wrong and justice and injustice. If his roots are in the current of life he will float on the surface like a lotus and he will blossom and give forth fruit. He will draw his nourishment from above and below; he will send his roots down deeper and deeper, fearing neither the depths nor the heights. The life that is in him will manifest itself in growth, and growth is an endless, eternal process. he will not be afraid of withering, because decay and death are part of growth. As a seed he began and as a seed he will return. Beginnings and ending are only partial steps in the eternal process. The process is everything... the way... the Tao.

The way of life! A grand expression. Like saying Truth. There is nothing beyond it... it is all."

- Henry Miller, Sexus: The Rosy Crucifixion I

Book This Week: December 1st - 7th 2008

It's almost embarrassing to admit this, but what the heck...

The book I'm reading this week is Philosophy for Dummies by Tom Morris, PhD (author of "If Aristotle Ran General Motors") :-)

It might seem ridiculous for a PhD student in Philosophy to be reading such a book; I gotta admit, though, I am friggin' loving it! I came to Philosophy via experimental theater & playwrighting with absolutely no formal background in Philosophy proper. I've never taken an "intro to philosophy" class, and my reading of philosophy books has not been comprehensive in any way. I follow my whims, love the passionate guys, steer clear of the dry and boring stuff, and make no claims of being an expert on the topic at all. So, a clear, concise, funny overview of the ENTIRE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY is a very welcome trip for my brain.

Also, one of my great objectives with my dissertation is to write something PROFOUND (of course) yet also PROFOUNDLY SIMPLE. It is my belief that the truth can be explained to a 5 year old, and that it doesn't require high-fallutin' lingo and an in-depth knowledge of Heideggerand Kantto be able to get the gist of the meaning of life.

So, thank you Tom Morris for being one smart mofo who knows how to lay it out simple. :-)