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Be it a birthday celebration, a trip exploring and enjoying the outdoors with friends, or a physics class, Arys can inspire, transmit enthusiasm, ignite passion, and even be loved — if they are well and in the right, nurturing environment.  Arys realizes that both of these are huge, profound and far-reaching insights: one is aboutContinue reading “Fire”

A few random thoughts and insights from Thursday & Friday last week that I still want to record and share… What I need now is the space and time to re-examine, clarify, and heal my own relationship with Science & Physics without the extra responsibility of teaching physics to other people (which inevitably skews myContinue reading “A few random thoughts”

It seems that one of the causes, or aspects, of depression is excessive self-reflection that gets not only the mind but also the physical brain stuck in certain patterns or groves or neurological paths which can lead, among other things, to a sense of separateness or detachment from “other” (our “true self”, loved ones, nature,Continue reading “Reconnecting the brain?”

I used to love my job, really love it, and I know that I used to bring that love into the classroom while teaching physics and the students felt it and benefited from it and reflected it back to me. The three semester from Fall 2018 through Fall 2019 were particularly gratifying — quite wonderful.Continue reading “Something has broken”

In the end, today turned out better than I was expecting — as the simple fact that I’m showing up on the page and writing here shows.  My “to-do” list not only got me through my day, but I even managed to get more done and in a better spirit than expected. The sun comingContinue reading “The teacher and the boy”

Today I’m feeling tired and hopeless.  The only thing I’d like to do now is be out in the mountains on a nice long hike or trail run. But I cannot do it, nothing even close to it, because I have so much prep work for my classes tomorrow.  Hopefully a “to-do” list will getContinue reading “Burnout?”

You know those moment when the Universe seems to be pointing clearly in one direction for you?  Well, I feel like that might be happening to me now.  I’m an atheist, or maybe a “spiritual or naturalistic or universal atheist”. Anyway, I certainly don’t believe in any God or destiny. But sometimes it feels likeContinue reading “Leap of faith or crazy jump off a cliff?”

https://www.npr.org/2021/10/23/1048723012/life-kit-how-to-better-manage-your-time In this report on NPR about “time management”, it was also being suggested that when making our decisions on what to “fail at”, it would be better to not always or necessarily choose to do what makes us happy in the present moment but rather what allows us to grow.  I think this couldContinue reading ““Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management For Mortals” — afterthought”

My 5-mile run yesterday evening was a struggle: I felt exhausted, physically tired, with low energy and short/shallow breathing, and mentally fatigued. I was really frustrated by the shortness of my breath — which is still unclear whether it’s an effect of my having been sick with COVID in March 2020 and/or due to anxietyContinue reading “Hop back”

Last night I happened to listen to this report on NPR about “time management” with tips that are quite different from the usual ones of “task optimization”:  https://www.npr.org/2021/10/23/1048723012/life-kit-how-to-better-manage-your-time It’s basically suggesting we admit our human limits, our mortality, the fact that time isn’t infinite and that we cannot do everything, so they suggest choosing whatContinue reading ““Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management For Mortals””