Here is a collection of random thoughts and ideas — maybe some will mature into full-length posts.

One

It’s remarkable that the unexpected gives rise to both laughter and anxiety.

Two

Any great endeavour is born from a feeling. Then comes the thinking and the doing. The heart, the mind, and then the hands - they work in this order. Hence, appeal to the heart before you engage the mind. The doorway to a receptive mind lies in opening a way to the heart.

And once the mind is receptive, quickly engage the hands and free up the mind.

Three

One thing at a time does not equal the same thing every day. Focus does not conflict with creativity, it enables it.

Four

The opposite of fearlessness is not caution, it’s fear.

Five

We try to generalize weaknesses and individualize strengths. See what I just did there?

Six

We carry the burden of moments that have passed, and worry about the ones yet to come. When do we live in the present?

About sketching

It’s not really what the hand draws. It’s not even what the eye sees. It’s what the mind can imagine that the hand can draw for the eye to see.

What is Philosophy?

Several years ago, my guru asked me - “What is philosophy?”

As usual I struggled to give a coherent and meaningful answer. After a few missed attempts, he said, “Philosophy is logic.”

To expand on that insight, philosophy is a set of principles that we live by. They need to be both internally consistent and externally relevant — both aspects stem from logic.

What makes philosophy hard is applying the same set of rules that we conveniently use for others, to ourselves.

Philosophy is not complex. It’s difficult. It is not rocket science, which is complex. It is like pushing a boulder up a hill — hard work that needs both strength and perseverence. In other words, it’s simple, but not easy.

I think all of us are “philosophers-in-progress” — co-travelers on the same path.