Clare Consultation, LLCThe Snipers Within
I haven’t seen American Sniper, but I know it’s in a theater-near-me. It won’t be surprising that I’m not really a fan of war movies. I’m also not a fan of war. But, at bottom, I imagine there are very few who prefer annihilation over peace. From the media buzz related to the Academy Award nominee, I understand that the film stands on the premise that, with armed conflict underway, there is… Read More
Re: My Profession’s Role in Torture
I’m a professor of psychological and cultural studies. Gary Snyder is a poet and essayist. In an interview in the Paris Review, Snyder spoke of writing as his work. He spoke about integrity – in his work as a writer, and to my mind, immediately relevant to my profession – Psychology. This is what Snyder’s interviewer asked: You’ve written, “Changing the filter, wiping noses, going to meetings, picking up around the house, washing… Read More
Dear 2015
Dear New Year – Thanks for showing up. Thanks for being so matter-of-fact about it. For doing nothing at all out of the ordinary, but still, being inspiring. No matter how tired and pessimistic – no matter how overwhelmed we are by circumstances close in or strewn across this planet of ours, so out-of-control and horrific. No matter any of that and because of all of it you give most of us… Read More
Afghanistan in the Days around Christmas
Over the past week, I’ve received three email messages from my friend Zaher Wahab. Each of them was written across the time he and his colleagues in the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) were in lock down – a rather horrifying protective captivity complete with razor wire, massively thick concrete walls, deep basements, and heavily armed guards on the grounds. And, as Zaher says, a situation that is finally a privilege… Read More
Evening – 2014
Meanwhile, deep beneath this winter ground a reliable impulse moves the seasons. And at the center of these long nights and fleeting days eternal wisdom radiates in the celebrations of people. Celebrations of dignity surviving enslavement, celebrations of just enough lamp oil, and celebrations of a baby born to an everyday woman — mother and child enduring beacons of faith and essential good will. Amidst these miracles of change and constancy the… Read More
Brain Development in Times of Torture
What we need here isn’t balls. What we need is a big collection of myelinating orbitofrontal cortices. And we need it ASAP. Considering the many Elders I know, the many more of whom I’m aware, and the millions I have every reason to trust are out there, it’s my considered guess that we have all the developed brains we need to be far more wise than we are being. Unfortunately, those… Read More
Truth & Reconciliation – No Better Time than Right Now
Last night, I saw a video of renown science fiction author, Ursula Leguin, speaking at the National Book Awards in acknowledgement of receiving that august group’s recognition of her life of literary achievement. In her comments, she said, “I think hard times are coming. We will need writers who can remember freedom. Poets, visionaries, the realists of a larger reality.” Right after hearing LeGuin’s words, we heard the news from Ferguson, Missouri that… Read More
Gratitude in Four Days
My dear friend, Valerie is a rock star. This designation, star, is certainly figurative, but it’s also for real – like, it’s her job. That’s not all. Valerie’s a mom, and a wife, she’s a sister and a dancer and a teacher – and she is one of Dr. Day’s two daughters. Valerie, her father, her sister and brother have been engaged for months now with the precious progression of Dr. Day’s transition… Read More
Today with my Buddy, Wild Nature
Gary and I are on the road between Rexburg, Idaho and Portland, Oregon. Powdery fingers of snow insist on whispering across I 84 and, because of forecast warnings, we’re in close touch with Oregon family and friends to monitor this mid-November storm. This matters particularly today because we’re supposed to be on Hawthorne Avenue at Powell’s Books this evening. That alongside informed rumors of snow and ice that threaten to take hold… Read More
Grief Comes Home
Recently, a friend just older told me something about death that seems now obvious – the observation that sometime in a person’s fourth or fifth decade there is a subtle shift of awareness that shows up as no longer understanding one’s life in terms of how long it’s been since birth, but rather in relation to how much time is left. It’s a shift that calls forward a new relationship with death… Read More