Chinese Philosophy

Episode 86 - It Me

 

The last push before finals, everything coming together at once, preparing a childhood story for ASL which I recount here, my mother thinking she had lost my bother and I at the mall when we were children, not thinking in terms of music anymore, experiencing life through the lens of songwriting at one time, the looming creative project that I have organized my thoughts around for the last six years, the creative conversation happening through time, the way that meaningful messages are communicated through allegory and imagery, the social martyrdom of people who pursue certain ways of living, living in dereliction of that duty myself, equating a mountaineering accident to the drama of living with courage, wanting to save others from our own formative experiences, Shakespeare's "Coriolanus" and the fickleness of popular opinion, giving yourself permission to do The Thing, and the one about the boy who got everything he ever wanted.

Music by Disasterpeace.

Episode 84 - Admissions

 

Getting accepted to my four-year school of choice, feeling accomplished for the hard work of the last two years paying off, deciding I want to change my major moving forward, considering comparative literature and East Asian studies, worrying my reading and intellectual interests disqualified me from being a therapist, considering learning Chinese, watching the new "Mortal Kombat" movie and the COVID documentary "The Last Cruise" on HBO Max.

Music by Disasterpeace.

Episode 51 - No Unnecessary Action

 

Trouble sleeping, the cognitive dissonance of the James Legge translations of the Chinese Classics, the anxiety of tossing and turning, considering stepping away from therapy for now, not trusting my judgment when it comes to the big decisions in life, the difference between being funny and being smart, getting mired in unnecessary action, living up to an externalized expert's standards, and practicing courage to make the right decisions when they really count.

Music by Disasterpeace.

Episode 44 - Not True

 

Feeling out of sorts around my birthday, not doing anything to celebrate it, reading Erving Goffman's sociological theory of "dramaturgy," returning to my favorite texts in Chinese philosophy, caring less about what is demonstrably true and more about about what is "true" for me as I get older, wanting to have my very personal worldview validated, there being nothing new under the sun, renovating a house as a metaphor for inheriting the world, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, the tenuous connection between quantum mechanics and eastern philosophy, "The Four Books" by Daniel K. Gardner, lawn sign culture and the commodification of belief systems, calling the President a "maniac," segues in comedy, and lame monologues in Ben Affleck's "The Town."

Music by Disasterpeace.

Episode 35 - The Undershave of Podcasts

 

Studying for finals, confirming my shift away from a creative career, getting out to the beach over the weekend, gaining weight in quarantine, addressing criticism, my refusal to post negative reviews, a nightmare Airbnb experience, envying other people's podcasts, giving my girlfriend an undershave, the reward of doing something just because you want to, a musical interlude, re-reading "Dubliners" by James Joyce, the changing relief of a reading experience with age, Kohlberg's levels of moral development, and a related quote from Confucius.

Music by Disasterpeace.

Episode 13 - Book of Changes

 

The Death Card episode.

Discussed: Noah Gabbard (R.I.P.), my largely non-religious upbringing, the tedium of the Bible, discovering Carl Sagan along with atheism/skepticism, and the story of how I stumbled on (or was led to re-discover) the I Ching, or Book of Changes.

Mentioned: Noah Gabbard (Bombs for the Bored, HAIRSPRAYFIREANDGIRLS).

Music: "Adventure" by Disasterpeace.