*As a major disclaimer: This post will be negatively critiquing the act of suicide. However, it in no way is meant to diminish or attack the individual character of those who struggle with it, have attempted it, have lost a loved one to it, or have actually committed it. I will be painting with a... Continue Reading →
The Poisonous Nature of the Fear of Missing Out
The fear of missing out, or FOMO for short, is experienced by many. At its core, the fear is fed by options and opportunity. There is a term within economics called, opportunity cost, that counts the loss occurred when one pursues one opportunity at the expense of pursuing another. FOMO is this concept fleshed out... Continue Reading →
The Dehumanizing Irony of the Oppressor
In his novel, Til We Have Faces, C.S. Lewis states that, “No herd of other beasts, gathered together, has so ugly a voice as Man.” Recently, I read through quite a bit of African American literature depicting the raw horrors surrounding so much of their history related to this nation. Torture. Abuse. Rape. Murder. Genocide. ... Continue Reading →
The Irreducible Glory of a Human Life
** SPOILER ALERT for A Tale of Two Cities, The Awakening, The Sorrows of Young Werther, and Death of a Salesman. Lately, the topic of suicide, or more accurately, the story of suicide, has unintentionally permeated my reading. It has been cast in many forms from the not so suicidal yet still self-inflicted death of... Continue Reading →
Harry Potter and the Hope of Resurrection
*Spoiler Alert! Major spoiler for the last Harry Potter novel ahead. The theme of resurrection is dominant in the last of the seven original Harry Potter books. One of the three great “hallows” is literally called the resurrection stone. Harry himself undergoes a physical resurrection of sorts after sacrificing himself for those he loves. The... Continue Reading →
The Masks We Wear: Paul Laurence Dunbar and the Human Condition
Recently, I posted a blog with one of my favorite quotes about literature which states that, “Literature [is] the laboratory of the human condition.”1 How often I’m reminded of just how true that is! Last night I was reading some selected poems from three late American poets who each reflected various "experiments" into what it... Continue Reading →