Sociology – Hearthrose

The Feeling of Safety

Modern life has left us with the illusion that if one just arranges things ‘properly’, we can be safe. This feeling of safety is ultimately illusory, though – we can’t actually arrange life in order to make ourselves perfectly safe. But safety is something we long for – or at least the feeling of safety is something I long for.

Recently they found a dead man on the hill up the street from me. My hill. The hill I walk halfway up about three times a week. The hill I drive over several times per week. “Active murder investigation” are the words that the police have used. I’ve been thinking about it all day, because my reaction is odd. I’m nonplussed. “Oh. A dead guy up there, huh? Yep, had to happen sometime”.

Leaving Laodicea

Leaving Laodicea includes practical tips on how to regenerate community, start communities from scratch, or join existing communities. It encourages you to examine your values, use beauty as a weapon against mass distraction, and build a life that satisfies, something you can truly call “home”.

Common Ground in Religion

Common ground in religion allows us to discuss serious topics with serious people without getting distracted by team jerseys. There is much wisdom to be had, and in the search, in the arguments, in the hashing out and thought that come with them, wisdom grows.

Women’s Work vs. Deep Work

In all but the most modern of times, men and women have had very different work. There is, and was, a varying degree of overlap. “Women’s work” is something that the group could rely on being done while child care happened. But what makes up “women’s work” is what will always get done while the…

The Marginalization of Productivity

The marginalization of productivity is a feature of our modern world. It keeps us good consumers, because we can’t make the things we use on a day-to-day basis. If we can make them, making them is seen as low-status, and/or the things we make are seen as low-worth. ”Bought” things are better. At least, that’s how it’s been. We are seeing a turn-around as, to cut prices, the “bought” things are being made so cheaply that their quality has dropped below middling-well-made home items. How did we get here?

Main Character Energy

But what if we stepped up and decided to embrace that main character energy? If we slapped on our tiaras and got on with the business of being beautiful, got on with the business of being kind, got on with the business of doing the -whateverthings- we know we have been called to do in this world, if we got on with the business of creating change. Our main character energy might move mountains, if we showed up.

What is a Status Symbol?

What is a status symbol? It is an item which you value because you own it, not because you use it. Let’s unpack that… We determine an item’s value based on a number of concrete factors including the cost of materials, the cost of the labor (which includes both expertise and number of people-hours), and…

Leaving Laodicea

Coming October 1, 2023 Laodicea is a worldview that values the rat-race over connection. It’s a physical location that makes it hard to participate in community even if we want to. Laodicea has its hooks in all of us. We know that what we’re doing isn’t working. We read the statistics about loneliness being more…

When Chaos Comes Calling

Chaos is calling. And she will be answered. We have been too long civilized, too long dependent on things. We have forgotten the tales we were told at Mother’s knee, tales about love and valor and miracles. Our dreams are of control, shaped out of plastic and spit out of a machine – one size…

Bridges In the Mist

It was 3am. I was exhausted. Of the past 24 hours, I’d slept perhaps three. I hadn’t eaten anything that day, and barely allowed any water. I’d spent 12 hours in active labor and then had surgery. They’d just brought me my son back – having insisted on taking him away so I could rest….