PROMPT: 10 Things

List 10 things you know to be absolutely certain.

1.) Nothing is permanent.

2.) The world is not what it seems.

3.) One’s subjective experience is not determined by the state of the world.

4.) Nobody grasps enough truth to be intolerant.

5.) Uncertainty is the root of all fear.

6.) Fear is the root of all hatred.

7.) Hatred is a subjective experience (See #3.) Also, uncertainty is the root of all hatred (by the transitive property,) hence the benefit of travel.

8.) Any who: a.) has suffered a string of hardships; b.) allows themselves to believe that some “other” is wholly responsible for said hardships; and c.) who lacks a sufficient sense of self-empowerment to avoid surrendering entirely to a group identity can (and likely will) become a Nazi (or the equivalent of their day.)

9.) No one can predict the future. [Regardless of how much we all love to try. (See #5.)]

10.) Entropy increases (ultimately, in a closed system.)

NOTE: I remain ready to abandon any certainty in the face of better information.

PROMPT: Authority

Daily writing prompt
On what subject(s) are you an authority?

Absolutely nothing. I’m more of a mile-wide-inch-deep type than a mile-deep-inch-wide type, which is to say a generalist rather than a specialist. So, I do have some insight into how to think about thinking about matters diverse and sundry.

FIVE WISE LINES [July 2025]

There is no revenge so complete as forgiveness.

Josh billings

Everything in the universe is a jug
filled to the brim with wisdom and beauty.

Rumi, Masnavi

Poetry is what gets lost in translation.

Robert frost

“Travel and tell no one, live a true love story and tell no one,
live happily and tell no one, people ruin beautiful things.”

Kahlil gibran

Not all those who wander are lost.

J.r.r. Tolkien, The lord of the rings

On Tourists & Travelers [Free Verse]

A tourist looks back fondly upon 
A favorite destination;
A traveler is always at it.

A tourist loathes travel hiccups;
A traveler calls them stories.

A tourist jumps from one
Postcard vista to the next;
A traveler moves through the world.

A tourist collects knicknacks & geegaws;
A traveler collects experiences.

A tourist, between sights, seeks
A life experience as close to
Their homelife as possible.
A traveler wants a life experience
As close to local as possible.

A tourist has a favorite meal;
A traveler assumes he hasn't
Crossed paths with it yet.

A tourist leaves nothing to chance;
A traveler embraces the spontaneous.

A tourist takes comfort as a main course;
A traveler uses it like a condiment.

PROMPT: Belongings

Daily writing prompt
What personal belongings do you hold most dear?

I do have a jō (short wooden staff) of which I’m fond. I crave books, but since I could care less whether I read them as paper or on a screen and gladly give any but those with long-term reference value away after reading, I don’t think they count.

Being fonder of ideas than anything material, I like the story about Diogenes the Cynic who, upon seeing a boy drink from cupped hands, threw away his cup in self-anger for being such a hoarder.

The Curse [Lyric Poem]

Knowledge can be a wicked curse,
Like gold coins in a sturdy purse.
Tied up -- inviolably pent --
To be rattled... but never spent.

FIVE WISE LINES [May 2025]

It is a happy talent to know how to play.

Ralph waldo emerson

Just living is not enough… one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.

Hans christian andersen

Don’t abandon kindness, mercy, and sympathy in an emergency.

Qiānzì wén [千字文], Ch. 3

Logic will take you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.

albert Einstein

You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.

Henry david thoreau

PROMPT: Discuss

Daily writing prompt
What topics do you like to discuss?

Virtually anything but myself. Philosophy, literature, science, economics, public policy, meditation, martial arts, health / well-being, travel, nature, culture, food, the end of the world as we know it, etc.

I do have some blind spots where I could not speak intelligently (e.g. large swathes of history, sports, and pop culture.)

PROMPT: Decision

Daily writing prompt
Describe a decision you made in the past that helped you learn or grow.

To surrender to my ignorance. If one can never know exactly what game one is playing, it becomes much easier to avoid getting worked up about whether one is playing it right or whether one will “win” or not.

PROMPT: Never Visit

Daily writing prompt
What place in the world do you never want to visit? Why?

The hot, molten core. Because it is hot, and molten… And because I am a fancy bag of water.