Counter-Intentions

It's interesting how things come together. I've always wanted to move from Naples up to Rome, but the challenges of such a move have always seemed daunting.

This morning, my friend who lives in Rome called to tell me he knew of an apartment that might be right for me. I agreed to come take a look at it this weekend, but at the same time, a pang of impossibility hit me right in the solar-plexus. It told me quite clearly, "Nice idea in theory, but it just can't be done."

This sort of thinking has always plagued me, I now realize. It sends conflicting messages to the universe, so to speak, as to exactly what it is that you want, so you stand no chance of bringing that idea into being. The initial creative thought--I'd like to move to Rome--is completely negated by the destructive thought--it's impossible.

This has always plagued me, but now this negativity has bubbled up to the surface. Unconscious thoughts have become conscious; their days of destroying what I would create are numbered (see Conscious Backgammon).

Incentivize Big Dance to Improve Academics

This article was originally published by Technorati on 17 March 2010.

Toward a more enlightened approach to college basketball . . .

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan reportedly wants to ban teams from the NCAA men's basketball tournament for poor academic performance, according to ABC News. While Duncan doesn't feel he can compel schools to comply with this idea, he intends to urge them to do so.

The move, should it be applied to this year's Big Dance, would rule out number 1 seed University of Kentucky (my alma mater), the University of Louisville (from my home state; what a proud moment for me) and the University of Tennessee (probably tainted by its long border with my home state) and at least nine other teams, based on low graduation rates alone.

If the Obama administration were serious about this initiative (which it isn't), surely the Department of Education could come up with a (dis)incentive package that would turn the heads of university presidents.

Allow me to suggest a few options. First, why not name an Academic Champion of the NCAA tournament? Give the school with the highest graduation rate/average GPA to reach the tournament a banner, a trophy and a cash prize.

Conscious Backgammon

Our good friend Eckhart Tolle, in A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose,tells us:"A powerful spiritual practice is consciously to allow the diminishment of ego when it happens without attempting to restore it." (p.215)

This spiritual practice I force upon myself almost everyday (as if driving in Naples isn't enough to diminish my ego).

I start off every writing day playing backgammon against my computer. Computers are generally good at what they do and most games I take a drubbing, and that's painful to what's left of my ego.

Eckhart also tells us that enlightened doing is not attached to outcomes, and I would like to be in a position to tell you that I see each game through to the end, win or lose, and that I concede graciously when a point of inevitability is reached. But generally, the truth is, I shut down the game and start up a new one and keep doing this until I finally win. Hey, what can I tell you? That's my writing process.

But here's the thing, I'm pretty sure the computer cheats. Let's look at the facts.