NHCarmichael @nhcarmichael - Bluesky Profile

All That Is Not Us "No one thing shows the greatness and power of the human intellect or the loftiness and nobility of man more than his ability to know and to understand fully and feel strongly his own smallness. When, in considering the multiplicity of worlds, he feels himself to be an infinitesimal part of a globe which itself is a negligible part of one of the infinite number of systems that go to make up the world, and in considering this is astonished by his own smallness, and in feeling it deeply and regarding it intently, virtually blends into nothing, and it is as if he loses himself in the immensity of things, and finds himself as though lost in the incomprehensible vastness of existence, with this single act of thought he gives the greatest possible proof of the nobility and immense capability of his own mind, which, enclosed in such a small and negligible being, has nonetheless managed to know and understand things so superior to his own nature, and to embrace and contain this same intensity of existence and things in his thought." — Giacomo Leopardi, Zibaldone di pensieri…

All That Is Not Us

"No one thing shows the greatness and power of the human intellect or the loftiness and nobility of man more than his ability to know and to understand fully and feel strongly his own smallness. When, in considering the multiplicity of worlds, he feels himself to be an…

16.02.2026 12:44 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Extending the Joyride "Death is not an evil, because it frees us from all evils, and while it takes away good things, it takes away also the desire for them. Old age is the supreme evil, because it deprives us of all pleasures, leaving us only the appetite for them, and it brings with it all sufferings. Nevertheless, we fear death, and we desire old age." — Giacomo Leopardi, Pensieri (Thoughts) Leopardi wrote this in his latter years, with understanding of the sufferings of old age. As his work goes, Pensieri was published unfinished.

Extending the Joyride

"Death is not an evil, because it frees us from all evils, and while it takes away good things, it takes away also the desire for them. Old age is the supreme evil, because it deprives us of all pleasures, leaving us only the appetite for them, and it brings with it all…

15.02.2026 11:33 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Governed by Illusions “Reason is the enemy of all greatness: reason is the enemy of nature: nature is great, reason is small. I mean that it will be more or less difficult for a man to be great the more he is governed by reason, that few can be great (and in art and poetry perhaps no one) unless they are governed by illusions.” — Giacomo Leopardi "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."

Governed by Illusions

“Reason is the enemy of all greatness: reason is the enemy of nature: nature is great, reason is small. I mean that it will be more or less difficult for a man to be great the more he is governed by reason, that few can be great (and in art and poetry perhaps no one) unless…

14.02.2026 11:51 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Get Out and Happen "It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things." — Leonardo da Vinci I had a conversation with someone this week who observed that Americans believe they can be anything they want to be if they work hard enough towards a goal. The inference was that this isn't the case in some other countries. Perhaps that's true, perhaps not. As an American it's not for me to say what someone from another country believes.

Get Out and Happen

"It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things." — Leonardo da Vinci I had a conversation with someone this week who observed that Americans believe they can be anything…

13.02.2026 11:53 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Into the Morning I worried a lot. Will the garden grow, will the riversflow in the right direction, will the earth turnas it was taught, and if not how shallI correct it?Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven,can I do better?Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrowscan do it and I am, well,hopeless.Is my eyesight fading or am I just imagining it,am I going to get rheumatism,lockjaw, dementia?Finally, I saw that worrying had come to nothing.

Into the Morning

I worried a lot. Will the garden grow, will the riversflow in the right direction, will the earth turnas it was taught, and if not how shallI correct it?Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven,can I do better?Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrowscan do it and I am,…

12.02.2026 11:19 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Never Mind the Zombies "You can hold your breath until you turn blue, but they'll still go on doing it." — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations Don't you just love a great translation? I'm not sure Marcus Aurelius wrote it exactly as it's translated above, but the Gregory Hays translation is full of such approachable wisdom nuggets. It's an easy entry into the mind of a thoughtful Stoic. We live in a strange world where reality seems obvious but often refuted by those who drink a different color Kool-Aid. They think we're not seeing the obvious, we think they are delusional.

Never Mind the Zombies

"You can hold your breath until you turn blue, but they'll still go on doing it." — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations Don't you just love a great translation? I'm not sure Marcus Aurelius wrote it exactly as it's translated above, but the Gregory Hays translation is full of such…

11.02.2026 11:48 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

To Be, Well "Ambition means tying your well-being to what other people say or do.Self-indulgence means tying it to the things that happen to you.Sanity means tying it to your own actions."—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations With respect to the folks who are spun up about the latest offensive thing happening in the world, the thing that matters most to our well-being is what we can control ourselves. And what we can control is our actions. So it follows that we must be bold in facing the day! Our choices may not seem like the thing that moves the world, but our choices move…

To Be, Well

10.02.2026 13:33 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Positive Momentum Rise up this morning, Smile with the rising sun— Bob Marley & The Wailers, Three Little Birds Attitude is everything, as the old expression goes. When we move through the world in a joyful state, we tend to attract more joyfulness into our orbit. When we walk around with a scowl on our face, complaining about the state of the world, the world retreats away from us, lest they catch some of that bitterness we're coughing up. Every little thing may or may not be all right. We all have things going on that could be better, or will surely get worse.

Positive Momentum

Rise up this morning, Smile with the rising sun— Bob Marley & The Wailers, Three Little Birds Attitude is everything, as the old expression goes. When we move through the world in a joyful state, we tend to attract more joyfulness into our orbit. When we walk around with a scowl…

09.02.2026 14:03 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

For the Love of Winter "I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape. Something waits beneath it; the whole story doesn't show." — Andrew Wyeth I would be lying if I were to write that I love winter the most. It's true that I do love winter, and snow, and the cold dark indifference of the long night. But to say I love winter most is to ignore the very best days of spring, when the daffodils are blooming and there is hope in the air. Or the warm comfort of summer days, with the meditative delight of deadheading the flowers and plucking cherry tomatoes from stem to mouth.

For the Love of Winter

"I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape. Something waits beneath it; the whole story doesn't show." — Andrew Wyeth I would be lying if I were to write that I love winter the most. It's true that I do love winter, and snow, and the cold…

08.02.2026 12:02 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

The Call to Experience I am a part of all that I have met;Yet all experience is an arch wherethro'Gleams that untravell'd world whose margin fades— Alfred Tennyson, Ulysses There is a call to experience that draws us out into the world. Each experience in turn informs—there is still more awaiting us. The proper answer to the call is to keep going, to keep doing interesting things that expand our horizon. This is the life of discovery and wonder. It is ours for simply taking the bold next step into the unknown.

The Call to Experience

I am a part of all that I have met;Yet all experience is an arch wherethro'Gleams that untravell'd world whose margin fades— Alfred Tennyson, Ulysses There is a call to experience that draws us out into the world. Each experience in turn informs—there is still more awaiting…

07.02.2026 11:28 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Every Passing Moment As wave is driven by waveAnd each, pursued, pursues the wave ahead,So time flies on and follows, flies, and follows,Always, for ever and new. What was beforeIs left behind; what never was is now;And every passing moment is renewed.— Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book XV We are forever transformed by what was. If we take this to be true, then it follows that what will be will be realized because of what we do now. Our lives are thus reinvented one day to the next, right to the end of our days.

Every Passing Moment

06.02.2026 11:51 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

A Little Mystery Each Day "The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery each day." ― Albert Einstein At this point in the blog, dear reader, you may have realized that I am a collector of quotes. I believe it's because I'm curious about what other people have to say about this journey through life.

A Little Mystery Each Day

"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a…

05.02.2026 11:06 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Touched “The snow doesn't give a soft white damn whom it touches.” — E.E. Cummings Have a look around this winter day. How do you feel about snow? Remember, in answering, what we mean to the snow. One's relationship with snow often comes down to what one is prioritizing that particular day. When we focus only on the bleak reality of our day, snow tends to be nothing but a barrier. We want to get from here to there, but for the snow. We want to park there, but for the snow.

Touched

“The snow doesn't give a soft white damn whom it touches.” — E.E. Cummings Have a look around this winter day. How do you feel about snow? Remember, in answering, what we mean to the snow. One's relationship with snow often comes down to what one is prioritizing that particular day. When…

04.02.2026 12:05 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Life and Love and Wings i thank You God for most this amazingday: for the leaping greenly spirits of treesand a blue true dream of sky; and for everythingwhich is natural which is infinite which is yes (i who have died am alive again today,and this is the sun’s birthday; this is the birthday of life and of love and wings: and of the gaygreat happening illimitably earth) how should tasting touching hearing seeingbreathing any—lifted from the noof all nothing—human merely beingdoubt unimaginable You? (now the ears of my ears awake and…

An Expansive Life

03.02.2026 21:54 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Twice Beautiful Beauty is twicebeautifuland goodness is doublygoodwhenit concerns two woolssocksin winter.— Pablo Neruda, Ode To A Pair Of Socks There are two kinds of people in this world. Those who complain about the weather and those who dress for the weather we've been blessed to experience this day. The former tend to shelter in place. The latter tend to step out into it. I don't judge either camp, but I'm clearly in the latter. While snowshoeing Saturday morning, I came to a split in the trail.

Twice Beautiful

Beauty is twicebeautifuland goodness is doublygoodwhenit concerns two woolssocksin winter.— Pablo Neruda, Ode To A Pair Of Socks There are two kinds of people in this world. Those who complain about the weather and those who dress for the weather we've been blessed to experience…

02.02.2026 12:03 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Breaking Trail and Eagle-Spotting “I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, "Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.” ― Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland We are having a proper winter in New Hampshire this season. The cold is unrelenting and the snow consistent. It isn't inclined to melt away when the days are frigid. Instead we have sublimation of the snowpack, and a sting on the skin.

Breaking Trail and Eagle-Spotting

“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, "Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.” ― Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in…

01.02.2026 12:08 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Another Day Forgoing Mortal Nature Four Seasons fill the measure of the year;There are four seasons in the mind of man:He has his lusty Spring, when fancy clearTakes in all beauty with an easy span:He has his Summer, when luxuriouslySpring's honied cud of youthful thought he lovesTo ruminate, and by such dreaming highIs nearest unto heaven: quiet covesHis soul has in its Autumn, when his wingsHe furleth close; contented so to lookOn mists in idleness—to let fair thingsPass by unheeded as a threshold brook.

Another Day Forgoing Mortal Nature

Four Seasons fill the measure of the year;There are four seasons in the mind of man:He has his lusty Spring, when fancy clearTakes in all beauty with an easy span:He has his Summer, when luxuriouslySpring's honied cud of youthful thought he lovesTo ruminate, and…

31.01.2026 12:51 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

More Than Crumbs "Joy is not made to be a crumb." — Mary Oliver, Don't Hesitate It hasn't been lost on me that I've largely ignored the joy in the abundance of snow we're having this winter while focusing on the chores that come with that abundance of snow. There ought to be more snowshoeing. There ought to be more walks in frozen woods. There ought to be more snowy play dates with the pup, who's got enough joy to fill a barn. We can learn a lot from joyful souls, whether they're human or otherwise.

More Than Crumbs

"Joy is not made to be a crumb." — Mary Oliver, Don't Hesitate It hasn't been lost on me that I've largely ignored the joy in the abundance of snow we're having this winter while focusing on the chores that come with that abundance of snow. There ought to be more snowshoeing.…

30.01.2026 15:57 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Undoing Undone "As you get older, the questions come down to about two or three. How long? And what do I do with the time I've got left? Aging is an extraordinary process whereby you become the person you always should have been." — David Bowie "Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone." — Pablo Picasso We are all getting older. I'm within 90 days of a milestone birthday myself, which begs the question, what am I going to do when I finally grow up? But why do we have to grow up anyway?

Undoing Undone

"As you get older, the questions come down to about two or three. How long? And what do I do with the time I've got left? Aging is an extraordinary process whereby you become the person you always should have been." — David Bowie "Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to…

29.01.2026 11:16 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Keep Going “In three words, I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life. It goes on. In all the confusions of today, with all our troubles . . . with politicians and people slinging the word fear around, all of us become discouraged . . . tempted to say this is the end, the finish. But life — it goes on. It always has. It always will. Don’t forget that.” ― Robert Frost The world can feel overwhelming at time. It has always been so. Some days feel especially cold, particularly mean-spirited, largely hopeless.

Keep Going

“In three words, I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life. It goes on. In all the confusions of today, with all our troubles . . . with politicians and people slinging the word fear around, all of us become discouraged . . . tempted to say this is the end, the finish. But life —…

28.01.2026 12:33 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

The Glorious Thing “Your mind now, moldering like wedding-cake, heavy with useless experience, rich with suspicion, rumour, fantasy, crumbling to pieces under the knife-edge of mere fact. In the prime of your life.” — Adrienne Rich What a glorious quote. A poet struggling under the weight of identity, breaking away from the storybook life expected of her, stepping into a new narrative. We are transformed by thought and action, or we will remain forever imprisoned by expectations. No matter how much we replay it, our past is dead and gone. Our present is tenuous but malleable.

The Glorious Thing

“Your mind now, moldering like wedding-cake, heavy with useless experience, rich with suspicion, rumour, fantasy, crumbling to pieces under the knife-edge of mere fact. In the prime of your life.” — Adrienne Rich What a glorious quote. A poet struggling under the weight of…

27.01.2026 11:40 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Winter Ghosts We see it most vividly when a fresh blanket of snow covers the landscape. Like children in bedsheets pretending to be ghosts, the hardscape rises up in whispers, haunting us with what once was in warmer days. Of what may be again in whispers of the future. But not now. Now there is only silence and a cold tickle on the back of the neck. Ghosts? Or merely snowflakes finding skin? The imagination brings us to our version of the truth. The only truth here is the quiet embrace of winter.

Winter Ghosts

26.01.2026 11:57 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Third Things "Third things are essential to marriages, objects or practices or habits or arts or institutions or games or human beings that provide a site of joint rapture or contentment. Each member of a couple is separate; the two come together in double attention. Lovemaking is not a third thing but two-in-one. John Keats can be a third thing, or the Boston Symphony Orchestra, or Dutch interiors, or Monopoly." — John Hall, The Third Thing We have our self, we have our selves, and we have what we are mutually focused on in our time together.

Third Things

25.01.2026 12:27 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Unprovoked "To be like a rock that the waves keep crashing over. It stands unmoved and the raging of the sea falls still around it." — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations We are all works in progress, and it's understandable to be stirred by emotion—just look at all that happens in this world. To be provoked is instinctual. To be stoic is logical. Which comes naturally? Emotions are thus easy to stir up, but are we effective when emotional? Are we clear-headed and deliberate in our actions? Not likely. And so to be the best possible version of ourselves, to survive a crisis in the midst of chaos, we must train ourselves to react better to stimulus.

Unprovoked

24.01.2026 11:58 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Do Your Thing "I myself think that the wise man meddles little or not at all in affairs and does his own things." — Chrysippus We have a serious issue on our hands. There is simply not enough time today to do all that we might do. Spending time on anything is serious business when we recognize how little of it we have left to spend. Knowing that time is our precious currency in a brief life, why do we carelessly toss it away on things beyond our control? The affairs of others is not our concern when those affairs are beyond our control.

Do Your Thing

"I myself think that the wise man meddles little or not at all in affairs and does his own things." — Chrysippus We have a serious issue on our hands. There is simply not enough time today to do all that we might do. Spending time on anything is serious business when we recognize how…

23.01.2026 12:20 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Bonfires and Beacons "Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world." ― Voltaire We all know the score. There's no need to run down the list of affronts and miscarriages of justice. There is no need to tell us what is wrong with the world at all, for we too have eyes to see. We don't have to add our miserable voice to the choir. The choir is at full strength already. Be a voice for hope and joy instead. It's not naive or a head in the sand denial—it's a beacon of salvation in the darkness.

Bonfires and Beacons

"Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world." ― Voltaire We all know the score. There's no need to run down the list of affronts and miscarriages of justice. There is no need to tell us what is wrong with the world at all, for we…

22.01.2026 21:30 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

What Are We Carrying? “It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.” — Voltaire We may see the chains that others carry, but when they've wrapped them around their life like a comfortable blanket, removing them becomes all but impossible. It's part of their identity. And identity is a very tricky thing to work with. They must see the chains themselves, they must choose to release the burden they represent. We can't make someone reject the chains they revere, we can only help them see them for what they are. Naturally, we have our own chains we must learn to see, and every day is an opportunity to break free link-by-link (if we don't simply throw them all off in one swift go).

What Are We Carrying?

“It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.” — Voltaire We may see the chains that others carry, but when they've wrapped them around their life like a comfortable blanket, removing them becomes all but impossible. It's part of their identity. And identity is…

21.01.2026 11:57 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Shake the Grass And the days are not full enoughAnd the nights are not full enough And life slips by like a field mouse Not shaking the grass.— Ezra Pound There is a compulsion to fill my days and nights with experience. Perhaps you share this too. There is an equally pressing sense that time is slipping past us at shocking speed. Tempus fugit. We humans are bound to notice it eventually. Forever chasing experience. Forever working to be here, now. It's a blessing and a curse to be aware. Mostly a blessing, for awareness offers a glimpse of all that flies past.

Shake the Grass

And the days are not full enoughAnd the nights are not full enough And life slips by like a field mouse Not shaking the grass.— Ezra Pound There is a compulsion to fill my days and nights with experience. Perhaps you share this too. There is an equally pressing sense that time is…

20.01.2026 12:06 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Shifting the Good “Noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as the cooperation with good.” — Martin Luther King, Jr. A while back, I had a drink with a couple of old friends who celebrate the chaotic leadership of the current administration. There's simply no consensus between us when it comes to politics, but there is common ground that we've walked on for years. What I believe to be evil and they believe to be good are unchangeable. They believe I'm quaintly naive, I believe they didn't study for the test and are smugly cheating off the wrong answer sheet.

Shifting the Good

“Noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as the cooperation with good.” — Martin Luther King, Jr. A while back, I had a drink with a couple of old friends who celebrate the chaotic leadership of the current administration. There's simply no consensus between us…

19.01.2026 12:36 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

We Become the Sum “What strikes me is the fact that in our society, art has become something which is related only to objects and not to individuals, or to life. That art is something which is specialized or which is done by experts who are artists. But couldn't everyone's life become a work of art? Why should the lamp or the house be an art object, but not our life?” — Michel Foucault Walking the pup yesterday during a snowstorm, I considered turning back to slip on micro spikes. Fluffy snow over ice is never a good recipe for reliable footing.

We Become the Sum

18.01.2026 12:31 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

NHCarmichael

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