I think I can say, with confidence, that I was not alone in my dismay when I learned the result of the US presidential election on the morning of November 9, 2016. At first, my anger and reactivity were blinding. Like so many on the left, I reflexively jumped to conclusions about what Trump’s election … Continue reading Integral Rising; The Emergence of Decentralized Intersubjective Sensemaking
Author: Deliberative Dad
Choose the Future
“I want milk! Give me milk!” I almost move toward the fridge. Why spoil my evening over the omission of a single nicety? Why get hung up on the impatient, demanding tone? Perhaps he’s just tired. Maybe he had a hard day at school. His pediatrician recommended milk anyway. This is the perpetually recurring test … Continue reading Choose the Future
My Thinking Toolbox
For several years I've been assembling what I've come to call my "thinking toolbox," a collection of first principles, heuristics, quotes, and clarifying wisdom I use to navigate toward an ever more secure epistemology. I find having such a "toolbox" invaluable, and I hope that publishing it here will make my thinking more transparent to … Continue reading My Thinking Toolbox
Reflections on Reactivity
The holiday season is here! Parties and family gatherings, phone calls and Skype "visits" will fill the next few weeks with the highest volume of social interactions I'm likely to have this year. As the social pace quickens, I am always struck by my increased tendency toward emotional reactivity. No other time seems to provoke … Continue reading Reflections on Reactivity
Meaning Rekindled
The personal journey I documented in my previous post was, at its heart, a struggle to rekindle meaning in the face of axiom altering change. When a deeply rooted mode of being is ground to dust by the relentless assault of change, meaning goes too. The only way back is down. Down to the axiomatic … Continue reading Meaning Rekindled
New Beginnings
I begin this blog as I begin a new life. In a few days I will turn 40. For the last decade my birthdays have come and gone, eliciting little reflection from me. 40 feels different. For the first time I am struck by the possibility, even the probability, that I may have more road … Continue reading New Beginnings
Deliberative Dad 