Life is a game of Three-card Monte.

There are books I re-read for comfort.

All are written with a satirical eye, with strong female characters who chafe at societal constraints. One of my favorites is Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones, an award-winning fantasy writer. The book sets Earth in the middle of a figure 8 shaped universe, with one end being “ayewards” and the other “naywards.”

I’m so not feeling this essay today.

In my last daily writing for a month writing challenge known as Ship 30 for 30 I never had to resort to the l’m­-not-feeling-it-but-i-don’t-want-to-break-my-­streak-so-i’m-going-to-write-about-how-i-got-­over-it essay.

I went to Chile for a month to study Andean shamanism.

Over 30 of us came from all over the world to study woo. The crew included former Olympians, doctors, therapists, business people, and even a firefighter. We learned about esoteric healing practices and Andean cosmology.

Our lives are meaningfully meaningless.

Yeah, I know where you want me to stick that sentence. Still, have you ever watched a newly planted field grow? Sometimes you can hear the plants stretching toward the sun, they are growing so fast. They don’t question their purpose — they live to the max.

Our lives are meaningfully meaningless.

Yeah, I know where you want me to stick that sentence. Still, have you ever watched a newly planted field grow? Sometimes you can hear the plants stretching toward the sun, they are growing so fast. They don’t question their purpose — they live to the max.