DW's Blog

Spendthrifts of Time

by DW Green — December 1, 2021

We are far too lax at enforcing our mental boundaries.

Today there will be endless interruptions: phone calls, emails, visitors, unexpected events. Booker T. Washington observed that “the number of people who stand ready to consume one’s time, to no purpose, is almost countless.”A philosopher, on the other hand, knows that their default state should be one of reflection and inner awareness. This is why they so diligently protect their personal space and thoughts from the intrusions of the world. They know that a few minutes of contemplation are worth more than any meeting or report. They also know how little time we’re actually given in life—and how quickly our stores can be depleted.While we might be good at protecting our physical property, we are far too lax at enforcing our mental boundaries. Property can be regained; there is quite a bit of it out there—some of it untouched by man. But time? Time is our most irreplaceable asset—we cannot buy more of it. We can only strive to waste as little as possible.

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by DW Green — October 27, 2021

Acceptance isn’t passive.

An event is objective. How we describe it—that it was unfair, or it’s a great calamity or that they did it on purpose—is on us.Malcom X (then Malcom Little) went into prison as a criminal, but he left as an educated, religious, and, motivated man who would help in the struggle for civil rights. Did he suffer an evil? Or did he choose to make his experience a positive one?Acceptance isn’t passive. It’s the first step in an active process toward self-improvement.History shows that a prison sentence does not automatically define a person’s future—but the system surrounding it often does. The difference between being broken by incarceration and emerging with purpose frequently comes down to guidance, representation, and personal resolve. In the modern justice system, a skilled criminal defence lawyer plays a critical role in ensuring that an individual’s rights are protected and that the punishment fits the reality of the offence, not just the charge sheet. Fair legal advocacy can be the thin line between endless cycles of crime and the chance to rebuild with dignity.At the same...

by DW Green — October 20, 2021

The universe is in a constant state of change.

In Plutarch’s Life of Theseus, he describes how the ship of Theseus, an Athenian hero, was preserved by the people of Athens in battle-ready condition for many centuries. Each time a board decayed, it would be replaced until eventually every stick of wood in it had been replaced. Plutarch asks: Is it still the ship of Theseus, or is it a new one?In Japan, a famous ship Shinto shrine is rebuilt every twenty-three years. It’s gone through more than sixty of those cycles. Is it one shrine, 1,400 years old? Or sixty consecutive shrines? Even the U.S. Senate, given its staggered elections, could be said to have never been fully turned over. Is it the same body formed in the days of George Washington?Our understanding of what something is is just a snapshot—an ephemeral opinion. The universe is in a constant state of change. Our nails grow and are cut and keep growing. New skin replaces dead skin. Old memories are replaced by...

by DW Green — October 13, 2021

Unexpected events can be good as well as bad/

The novelist Cormac McCarty was living in a motel room when he heard a knock at the door. It was a messenger—he’d been awarded the Macarthur “genius” grant and $250,000. Unexpected events can be good as well as bad.Who could dream of such an unexpected twist? Who but Clotho, one of the three Greek goddesses fate, who “spins” the thread of human life? To the ancients she was the one who decided the course of the events of our lives—some good, some bad. As the playwright Aeschylus wrote, “When the gods send evil, one cannot escape it.” The dame was true for great destiny and good fortune.Their resigned attitude might seem strange to us today, but they understood who was really in control (not them, not us!). No amount of prosperity, no amount of difficultly, is certain or forever. A triumph becomes a trial, a trial becomes a triumph. Life can change in an instant. Remember, today, how often it does.