WORD :: Encoutering Life's Endings.

Plato said, "If you wish to live well, practice dying."

Tune in to understand why ...

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"All that lives is transitory, and will depart this life."

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Louis Silverstein is a transcendental/holistic philosopher and practitioner, and multi-cultural and interdisciplinary educator. Currently a Distinguished Professor of Liberal Education at Columbia College Chicago, he teaches courses in Peace Studies, Dying & Death, Education, Culture & Society, and Social Problems In American Society. Louis has presented on a variety of topics at meetings of professional associations, including: the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education, the American Council on Education, the Association for Humanistic Sociology, the American Association of Higher education, the American Educational Research Association, the National Adult Education Association, the Third World Studies Association, the Alliance-Association for External Degree Programs for Adults, the National Social science Association, the International Society for Exploring Teaching Alternatives, the Creative Management in Higher Education Association, the Popular Culture Association, the Coalition To Increase Minority Degrees, the Midwest Philosophy of Education Society, the American Society On Aging, the Humanities Education & Research Association and the World Forum On Education. Topics presented by Louis include: "Teaching A Culture of Peace & Justice," "Breaking The Silence: Drugs, Culture & Truth," "Sex As Curse & Blessing," "Aging Stories," "Emotional Intelligence," "Death & Dying," and "Embodied/Experiential Spirituality." In addition, he is the author Of "An Oral History of Columbia College, Vols. I-V," "Deep Spirit & Great Heart: Living In Marijuana Consciousness" and "Encountering Life's Endings." Louis is also co-founder and co-director of the Life Arts Society, dedicated to the healing and uplifting of mind, body and spirit. His studies, theoretical and experiential, of transformative consciousness and alternative realities have been of long duration, encompassing four decades-1960's to the present, and have taken him to settings throughout the U.S., and to Jamaica, Costa Rica, Canada and numerous European countries. 

CAPTURED :: For My Bia On Her Birthday.

WORD :: We Prey in Different Ways.

She's a cat and I'm a cougar.


A + J

DIFFERENT WAYS TO SPEND A DAY.

While my best friend from high school celebrated her engagement with her family and friends (minus me - I wasn't invited), I was reuniting, yet again, with a boy she and I both have a past with. Theirs was very short-lived, while ours, at this point, seems neverending. But it does make me reflect on the past, ponder the present and daydream about the future. I wonder who's happier with their life right now...or maybe we're equally satisfied with our current state of being, even though we are in such different places in our lives. Which brings me to my hypothetic reason for her not inviting me to celebrate, even though we were (and until this point thought us to still be) very very close friends. I don't fit the "mold"...never have. I don't conform, follow the "rules," or live a "normal" life (and I mean this in soooo many ways). She is now beginning her WASPlife and I accept the fact that she had to let me go in order to do so. I'm not angry. I accept her for who she is and the choices she makes...that's what friends do. I hope she had a magical night.

WORD :: About A Boy.

Normally I wouldn't put myself out there like this, but it's almost three and the only person I can talk to at this time of the night is myself. I started crying about half an hour ago and I just cant seem to stop. My head hurts, I'm tired, and I want to go to sleep, but I can't. I'm so angry and confused right now; angry at myself for being so stupid and careless, and confused about how this thing between he and I went from so right to so wrong and why I could do nothing to prevent our relationship from spiraling out of control.

Its not like I loved him. Really, I didn't even know him. Aside from the uncanny number of things we had in common, he was just another boy to me. Someone to focus my attention on, someone to daydream about, someone to adore me and all my flaws and perfection.

Maybe I cared about him more than I know because it takes more than just some boy to make me cry. I tried not to, fought hard, but couldn't hold it in. He said all the right things, touched me in just the right way, confided in me, kissed my forehead, dressed like a pro, and best of all, like me, was the perfect mix of hip hop and hippie. 

He got me. I wanted him to be the one to call...and he did. But, then the calls stopped. He disappeared and I blindly chased after him. I don't know why; he enthralled me. He had so much potential and I wanted to show him that. He was so young and I wanted to help him grow up. What can I say, I'm a hopeless, hopeless romantic with the heart of a saint. 

After ending a two and half year relationship, it's hard to deal with the loneliness that comes along with separating yourself from someone who you shared all of yourself and your life with. For a long time I thought I was fine, that everything would be ok, that I would find someone else to fill the void. But now, I realize this will be much harder than I had originally thought. 

I never kiss without undying passion. People say having sex is the most intimate way you can be with a person, but for me its kissing. This is a recipe for disaster. When I kiss someone, I feel like I give them a part of myself. The challenge that arises from this, is that I somehow have to find a way to regain the part of me that was lost when they are finally gone. As Nine Inch Nails sings, "There is no you. There is only me." 

See it worked. I stopped crying. Writing brings me great happiness.