Posts by Paul Dunion
Apprenticeship With Defeat
We live in a society offering ongoing homage to images of heroism. Is our fascination with heroic gestures reflective of a desire to be victorious over death? Is it symbolic of our investment in winning? Do we actually believe that our goal is to conquer life? A propensity for being heroic typically denies personal limits,…
Read MoreFeeling Secure Vs. Being Secure
We easily translate our experience of security from feeling secure to being secure, when in fact they are quite different. Feeling secure is a fleeting sentiment guaranteeing very little, while being secure suggests something substantial and enduring. However, confusing the two tends to leave us feeling quite insecure. The things and events allegedly empowered with the ability to have us being…
Read MoreBeauty of Belonging
If we think of beauty as the heart rejoicing in what it senses and feels, then there can be a vast amount of beauty in our experience of authentic belonging. We relinquish an opportunity for an experience of sublime belonging when we take refuge in anonymity. The challenge is to interrupt anonymity as an…
Read MoreThe Hazards of Non-Belonging
An old definition of the word belong is nearby. One implication is that we are motivated to bring our bodies, minds and hearts closer to a place, person or group when we experience belonging. Authentic belonging is accompanied by a comfort to reveal who we are. There is buoyancy to our experience of belonging when what we reveal…
Read MoreMisled Into Leadership
We have come to believe that leadership is ultimately and mostly something that happens between people. It is a way we manage people. Beginning with such an exterior focus of leadership may be misleading. It may be that what we witness as leadership is implemented as an outcome of something more hidden and more interior.…
Read MoreWhat Is This Thing Called the Present?
Living in the present or the here and now has been an extremely popular axiom from nearly every spiritual tradition. Said this way, the present is a noun, a measure of time that we are better off living in. However, since each moment is so easily eclipsed by the next, it leaves us with some…
Read MoreTranquilized by Trivia
The above quote by the 19th century Danish Philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard, was a reaction to his own times, likely, unaware of how prophetic the statement was. We are all aware of the popularity of a myriad of sedative substances, including alcohol, street drugs and pharmaceuticals. We may not have realized how fashionable it is to…
Read MoreRevisiting Vulnerability
Those of us interested in meaningfully supporting our personal growth seem to be increasingly aware of the importance of vulnerability. What exactly should the role of vulnerability be in our emotional and spiritual lives? How does it become so challenging to feel vulnerable, even in the absence of any danger? How can we become more…
Read MoreTo Be Known and Loved
For Aristotle, Philia was the most virtuous of the loves. Unlike Agape, which offers loving kindness simply because a person partakes in the human condition, Philia honors the uniqueness of the beloved in deep friendship. It is the love that comes to us because our uniqueness is cherished. However, we may have placed Philia in…
Read MoreThe Dangerous Pursuit of Happiness
We may have wandered away from an ancient definition of the word ‘Happy’, which is ‘good fortune’ or ‘good luck’. We can easily see that the ancients attributed the occurrence of happiness to the gods. To suggest happiness can be pursued by us yanks the power and responsibility out of the hands of the gods…
Read More