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america VanLife work

Caught Up in the River of Capitalism

Sometimes the things we take for granted are exactly the things that we should question the most. The more and more I wander this lifetime, the more I gradually come to see that the underlying way we function as a society is truly off.  This realization began in earnest a couple of summers ago while […]

Categories
growth nepal spirituality work

Manifestation and Returning to Nepal

En route to Nepal again, this time with a plane change in Taipei and an overnight in Bangkok. I’ve travelled rather extensively, especially in recent years, and in the lead up to my departure, people often ask if I’m excited about my trip. The truth is almost always that my excitement really doesn’t kick into […]

Categories
nepal work

Supremely Happy

I feel supremely happy. It was a phrase that hit me the other afternoon. I’ve been helping establish an online mathematics program here in Kathmandu for an orphanage (Nepal Orphan’s Home) of 140 or so kids (approx 110 girls and 30 boys). We’ve been starting slowly, the first day with 4 girls, added 2 boys […]

Categories
growth life work

Service and Self Worth

I’m recognizing how much our lives seem to be dictated by our perceptions of our own self worth. Questions of self worth seem to be pervasive in the human experience and play a great role in our motivations, both for self destruction as well as for moving in positive directions. I was recently writing in […]

Categories
ethics nepal work

Wandering a World of Uneven Opportunity

While on this short trek, it feels so gratuitous to have hired a guide to carry my things. Saying thank you regularly doesn’t seem to truly assuage the awkwardness for me. As a vegetarian, I believe that my life shouldn’t necessarily dictate whether another life should end in service of my palate. In relating with […]

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growth life ukraine work

“Shoulds” and the Rumblings of Manifestation

I’m back in Chernivtsi in Ukraine, where I’ve been a few times over the past year now, and while I like it here, it’s easy for me to see how having a sense of purpose or activity in my life helps me to feel easy and comfortable, and how feeling a little less structured can […]

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Eastern Europe Jewish life ukraine work

Musings from the Train

(A few thoughts from the Bulgarian Express, a 23 hour train ride from Chernivtsi, Ukraine to Sofia, Bulgaria) Romania is depressing. Simple as that. Everything seen from the train appears to be in slow degradation towards uselessness, or already there. I can only imagine that the outer ruin is either reflective of an inner hopelessness, […]