tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6756491815304443142.post1187184984570581847..comments2023-12-18T20:41:36.391-08:00Comments on The Reading List: Book #18: The Elusive Life of InspirationLeslie Shimotakaharahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03876376938826990379noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6756491815304443142.post-30021139092119002972010-08-01T12:02:03.822-07:002010-08-01T12:02:03.822-07:00thinking about your buddhist quote - if you haven&...thinking about your buddhist quote - if you haven't, I highly recommend reading some of the quotes and poetry by Ikkyu Sojun - a colorful and delightful monk.Bushpig.vrchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04033427366171264778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6756491815304443142.post-12869258821551588642010-07-31T10:38:52.033-07:002010-07-31T10:38:52.033-07:00Thanks for introducing yourself, Bushpig! I look ...Thanks for introducing yourself, Bushpig! I look forward to learning more about you & your diverse interests (both intellectual & swinely....)Leslie Shimotakaharahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03876376938826990379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6756491815304443142.post-23582243022982876332010-07-30T11:39:18.249-07:002010-07-30T11:39:18.249-07:00The Pig is a lawyer but with a passion for knowled...The Pig is a lawyer but with a passion for knowledge and abstract thought.Bushpig.vrchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04033427366171264778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6756491815304443142.post-63945287132678512042010-07-30T06:57:49.735-07:002010-07-30T06:57:49.735-07:00It sounds like our paths have been similar in cert...It sounds like our paths have been similar in certain ways.... When I finished my undergrad, I contemplated applying to law school - the artistic and practical sides of me are constantly warring - and I often thought, once I'd become a depressed academic, that I should have chosen law. <br /><br />To be honest, my decision to go into academia was something of a "practical" compromise, too (what I really wanted to do was write - not study - literature.... But the creative life seemed fraught with uncertainty.... It scared me.... I wasn't sure that I have what it takes). <br /><br />Yet in the end I find that my desire to write is so core to my identity (and mental wellbeing!) that I've circled back to my first love irrespective of "practical" considerations....Leslie Shimotakaharahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03876376938826990379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6756491815304443142.post-23958551740184953432010-07-29T12:35:47.264-07:002010-07-29T12:35:47.264-07:00I came incredibly close to pursuing a literature P...I came incredibly close to pursuing a literature PhD, even studying and taking that crazy Lit GRE, but at the last moment took the LSAT and embraced law school instead. Finally, after being an English major, I had made the first practical decision in my liberal arty life.<br /><br />Yet here I am, trolling book blogs, looking at community college creative writing classes, and trying to summon even half the interest I once felt studying poetry and literature for cases that seem empty of meaning. The grass is not greener on the other side, it is just more expensive. Now I spend a lot of time calculating and recalculating exactly how long, and in how many ways, I'll be paying off this decision.<br /><br />I'm sorry being a literature professor has not turned out to be what you hoped. But I applaud you for following your first love, something which must have taken more courage than I could muster.B.H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05015476988581929903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6756491815304443142.post-87637716793955286362010-07-29T12:34:37.006-07:002010-07-29T12:34:37.006-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.B.H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05015476988581929903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6756491815304443142.post-50580486675842152562010-07-29T12:08:24.917-07:002010-07-29T12:08:24.917-07:00The Professor's House is one of my favorites!The Professor's House is one of my favorites!B.H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05015476988581929903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6756491815304443142.post-76271466893072094982010-07-28T06:58:47.470-07:002010-07-28T06:58:47.470-07:00Too true! (But not easy to do....) I recently ca...Too true! (But not easy to do....) I recently came across this Buddhist quote:<br /><br />"The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly." <br /><br />Yet there's something about the act of reading/reflecting/writing that always takes me out of the present into the realm of memory, inner wishes and desires....Leslie Shimotakaharahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03876376938826990379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6756491815304443142.post-84343736255782314192010-07-28T04:58:17.053-07:002010-07-28T04:58:17.053-07:00and what about fantasizing our current self!and what about fantasizing our current self!Bushpig.vrchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04033427366171264778noreply@blogger.com