the world’s eight richest men currently own as much wealth as the poorest 50 percent of the world’s population, according to Oxfam International. That’s almost four billion people! The top three billionaires own as many financial assets as the poorest forty-eight countries combined!

Perhaps it’s my inner idealist/utopian/optimist longing for a resolution to all this unnecessary strife on our lovely, feverish little planet. It gives my sour little heart some measure of hope for our species, our world, our future. Like the Enterprise itself streaking into the distant galaxy, Star Trek shows us the way toward humanity’s future.

the hardships we suffer in this world are what, unfortunately, make us wiser, humbler, softer, kinder, more loving.

We take in, blend, and yet transcend senses, creating a peculiar alchemy of the awareness and sensation of being a human, of having a moment-by-moment experience of living. In the philosophy and science of mind, these little bites of memorable conscious experiences are called “qualia.”

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, I remember seeing videos of entire cities cheering and banging pots in unison every evening to show support for frontline workers. And images of sequestered neighbors in Italy playing music together across their balconies. It was a glimpse into what the world could look like if it was truly able to unite

When you stop and deeply consider these insidious pandemics of injustice, disease, and imbalance, you start to see connections between them that make it much more difficult to examine them individually.

The red wheelbarrow of consciousness, glazed with rainwater, beside the white chickens of experience. It simply doesn’t compute that it all adds up to nothing. In fact, when someone asks about “the meaning of life,” aren’t they really asking about “the meaning of consciousness”? What does this complicated, personality-filled life experience mean? W

What is it in our ancient DNA that tells us collectively there is something beyond this physical realm? That we need to ritualize the burial of a body, inter it in a sacred place, and provide items to help it along its journey? Are we wired for a spiritual connection to our lost loved ones? And if so, why? I mean, from a sociological perspective, i

What kind of old human do you want to be? That is, if my perspective is right and your consciousness and its corollary—your soul—exists beyond your physical body, who is the person you are taking with you when the old age segment of your life is finally over?