Essays on freedom and personal fulfilment by Chris Barclay
One winter in college I was visiting Paris, sitting at the bistro near my hotel just watching people. An American couple came in and the husband, in an accent I would best describe as “Chicago detective” (the word “Paris” came out sounding like “Pears”), called the waiter and tried to get “Two diet cokes”. The […]
Continue ReadingMy wife and I have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of emotional support this past week from many in our online social networks. What has surprised me is the depth of response from childhood friends that I haven’t seen for 25 years, as well as from those with whom I was never particularly close. These […]
Continue ReadingThe Chinese say losing something small prevents losing something big. This has become my mantra of late. And my wife reminds me of it when I obsess about forgetting my sunglasses at the airport. She’s right; this has probably kept me from losing an eye. If it sounds superstitious, I prefer to think of it […]
Continue ReadingAfter our baby’s recent Kasai procedure (liver duct bypass surgery), my wife and I are optimistic about her chances of full recovery. While we love seeing Nat as her active and cheerful self these days, we also know that there’s a strong likelihood that she will soon need a liver transplant. While most people would […]
Continue ReadingWhen most of us think of success, it’s about the things we have accumulated; knowledge, money, seniority and achievements. We derive our satisfaction and happiness from these things based on how favorably they compare to cultural measures. I think about success in terms of who I am becoming, and for me to become the person […]
Continue ReadingPhysics dictates that we do not feel speed. It is only our perception of acceleration and deceleration that give us any indication of our relative velocity. Here we all are, hurtling through the universe but we feel as if we’re standing still. So it’s not at all strange that as our lives gain a certain […]
Continue ReadingThis week I sometimes felt frustrated when trying to soothe our three week-old baby girl. She’s not particularly fussy, but requires a lot of attention. When my wife sent me some tips on how calm the baby, courtesy of Ask Dr. Sears, it got me thinking about how as adults, we devote a majority of […]
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