Recent Articles

The following articles appear in my Substack newsletter and as podcast episodes.

The Maps We Make

2025-08-31

Explore how our minds act like mapmakers—selecting some details, leaving out others, and shaping how we see the world. By becoming conscious of this process, we can loosen the grip of rigid interpretations and move toward greater clarity and compassion.

Read the full article on Substack.

Time-Binding: A Rational Path to Ethical Living

2025-08-24

A science fiction novel led me to Alfred Korzybski’s concept of “time-binding”, the unique human capacity to accumulate knowledge across generations. This article explores how understanding ourselves as time-binders rather than mere animals provides a rational foundation for ethical living, where our actions naturally contribute to humanity’s ongoing conversation.

Read the full article on Substack.

Spirituality and GTD

2025-08-02

Discover the unexpected spiritual aspects of Getting Things Done (GTD). Beyond mere productivity, David Allen’s system creates the same kind of mental spaciousness found in meditation: freeing your mind from constant task-tracking to experience deeper awareness. Explore how a trusted system for managing commitments can become a gateway to the stillness underneath mental noise.

Read the full article on Substack.

Effort and Change

2025-07-20

Willpower might not be the best tool for personal change. This article explores more effective approaches that work with our natural mental processes rather than against them, from cybernetic goal-setting and present-moment awareness to finding the real causes behind procrastination. Sometimes the gentlest path forward is also the most powerful.

Read the full article on Substack.

Welcome to The Gentle Shift

2025-07-13

This article introduces The Gentle Shift.

Read the full article on Substack.