In 2013, the summer after graduating from college, I read the Tao Te Ching. In the edition I picked up from the library, the preface began by making a startling claim: between eastern and western philosophies, the latter was simply wrong. As someone who’d minored in philosophy while in college, this claim rattled my presuppositions,… Continue reading The west need not be saved
Category: essays
What do you mean, Ukraine? — Reflections on J. Glenn Gray’s “The Warriors”
Early on in J. Glenn Gray’s “The Warriors: Reflections on Men in Battle,” Gray relates the following significant anecdote about his time spent stationed in Italy during World War II: In a free hour one day I climbed one of the nearby hills of the Apennines and got off by myself in the late afternoon… Continue reading What do you mean, Ukraine? — Reflections on J. Glenn Gray’s “The Warriors”
My political evolution
On the evening of my state’s primary election in early 2016, I and a friend walked from his house to a local school that doubled as my voting location. After waiting in line for what felt like hours, I learned an unfortunate fact: I had come to the wrong place, and voting would begin in… Continue reading My political evolution
Sickness
Note: this post is envisioned as a sequel to "Health," written at the start of the pandemic and viewable here Although I had initially been resistant to so doing, in August of this year I chose to get vaccinated. As was expected, the first twenty-four hours following this decision were riddled with chills, fever, and… Continue reading Sickness
My relationship with rock climbing
Ducking under a volume, leaning back against scant holds in order to make the most of my weight. A swivel of my hips, a crank of my calf and thigh muscles to push me up the wall, and I leap higher and catch hold of a small crimp. Again shifting weight, shuffling feet. With a… Continue reading My relationship with rock climbing
Jackson Holzberg Buckley 