Background About Me Detailed Background and Influences
Detailed Background and Influences
Table of Contents in Brief
Background for the Table of Contents
| Personal Background | |
| Influences | |
| Postscript | |
| Notes about Structure and Connections | |
| ii. | Notes about Humor |
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| J. | D. Moskovitz, "Moralism in Objectivism," Eckhart Tolle and Buddhism |
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Background, Influences and Worldview In Brief: Affirmation, March 26, 2006
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Background for the Table of Contents
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i. Notes about Structure and Connections
In this About Me area, you can learn about my personal background, influences and read my March 2006 Affirmation. By doing so you can learn more about my personal and intellectual context, including where I originated, how I've evolved, in what I've felt interest and how I focus my energies. I hope that in doing so you will help meet such needs of yours as for clarity, understanding, authenticity, integration, intelligibility and meaning.
If you wish, you can explore all the material that appears in this About Me area by reading it from start to finish.
Alternatively, you can click any part of the following Table of Contents in order to skip to only those subsections that interest you. I've endeavored to include hyperlinks within each subsection that, when clicked, cross-reference related material both within this website (including in other subsections of this About Me area) and on other websites.
If you wish to look more briefly at my history and outlook, I've included my March 26, 2006 Affirmation as a Postscript in this About Me area. At the end of that Postscript I've included a link to my Credo, to which my Affirmation refers.
I've also included hyperlinks within that Affirmation. If you click such a hyperlink your web browser will display various subsections of Parts I and II of this About Me area. Such subsections explore, in more detail, the topics that the Affirmation hyperlinks name. When you feel satisfied after having done your more detailed reading, you can return to the Affirmation, possibly by clicking the Back button on your web browser.
Given such structure and connections, some visiting guests may wish to start with the Postscript and, when they want more detailed elaboration, to jump to various subsections.
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When I revised and expanded this About Me area in June 2006, for some time I'd wanted to add some humor to my site. So I've added some comments that I hope you will find humorous. 
When I include such comments, though, I don't mean to undercut the seriousness of what I elsewhere express. As much as I enjoy a hearty laugh, I also take my life seriously - and by my standards, lighthearted humor in no way needs to contradict such fundamental seriousness.
Regarding how humorous you may find such comments, though, your mileage may vary!
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I was born in the city of Chicago in the late 1960's. I grew up northwest of the city in the suburbs. During my young adulthood, I lived in various parts of Illinois, after which I lived for several years in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Now, once again, I live in Chicago's northwest suburbs.
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B. The Woman with whom I Partner in Life
For fun, sometimes I like to affectionately call the woman with whom I partner in life "Wonder Woman" (or "Wunda" - as a short form)!
In April of the year 1999, I married Cherita, who originated in Buffalo, New York.
Among other things, Cherita designs websites, designs graphics for display on the Internet and does print design. Until April 2007 she coordinated research and development within the firm with which, by day, she creatively contributed and economically supported our family. Now she has switched to full-time web, graphic and print design. She also enjoys creatively writing poetry and fiction.
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Numerous times during the course of our marriage, when I've felt confused, troubled or worried, often simply by listening and offering me her silent presence,Cherita has managed to maintain what I've sometimes described as "a calm and level-headed disposition." And often when she has, given that my need for empathy has been met, I've felt both reassured and inspired.
With Cherita, I find that I easily feel affection, exhilaration, gratitude, hope, joy, peace and renewal - although typically not all in the same moment. As time goes on, I discover ever more how
thoroughly Cherita helps satisfy such needs of mine as those for: closeness; freedom; intimacy; love; mutuality; touch; security; space; support; trust; visibility; flexibility; and warmth... among many others! With Cherita,
I find that I also deeply satisfy my needs to see and be seen, to know and be known, and to understand and be understood.
And I feel delight when I consider how much Cherita helps fulfill my needs for romantic-sexual interaction.
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I hope that I help fulfill her needs in similar ways.
I find that with time, our relationship evolves, grows and develops such that we're always discovering more about ourselves, about each other and about our relationship. I've never once felt regret about Cherita's participation in my life.
Cherita's own personal website can be viewed here, and her professional website can be viewed here.
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Our daughter, Aliana, who was born in March of the year 2002, sings, dances, discusses, plays, learns and - through these and other expressions and actions - helps satisfy our needs for closeness, companionship and love, and stimulates joy in us.
Since our daughter's birth, while Cherita has created web and print designs full-time to generate the income that supports our family, I've contributed full-time by providing care at home for our daughter.
Now, in addition, I also provide Aliana with homeschooling.
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My mother, who was trained and certified in Montessori education, for years taught three-to-six year old children. Many have told me about their experiences observing her. Especially as they watched her interact with and help children to learn, such observers felt impressed by what they described as her patience and kindness.
In July of the year 2002, a few months after having been diagnosed with inoperable, ovarian cancer, on the night following the day when she first held our daughter (her only grandchild) in her arms - and during which day I felt astonished by how frequently my mother smiled and seemed to stimulate feelings of uplift in everyone around her - she died in her sleep.
Countless friends, family members and former co-workers deeply miss her. I especially miss what I experienced as her optimistic sense of life.
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If I experience any issues in connection with my father's idiosyncrasies, for now, I'll keep them to myself.
My father, now retired, for years analyzed investments for his employers. For most of his life, he's shown what he describes as a strong interest in economics, politics and current events.
For over thirty years, he had lived in the house where he and my mother had cared for my two younger brothers and me while we grew to adulthood.
Years later, following my mother's death, for more than two years, he continued living in that same house, all alone.
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I have two younger brothers.
One of my brothers, Mark, who is two years my junior, recently finished serving overseas on a military mission in Afghanistan. At other times he has served militarily in Kuwait and done police, detective and pharmaceutical sales work. His next step is to train at a helicopter flight school here in the U.S.
Mark's wife Jen lives in Wisconsin and in my judgment has contributed monumentally to everyone's ability to stay in touch with him.
I've enjoyed and benefited from my recent communications with both Mark and Jen. These communications have helped me to 1) appreciate their vitality and unique perspectives and 2) stay in touch with others about whom I personally care.
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My other brother, Steve, who is seven years my junior, sculpts, lives with his wife, Alex, who paints, and works in Connecticut.
Outside Cherita and Aliana, Steve satisfies my needs for dear and close connection with more endurance and depth than does any other person in the world. Notwithstanding our age difference, while we grew up, we always remained close. I was Best Man at his wedding and he was at mine (both ceremonies were officiated by Unitarian Universalist ministers) and I've always regarded him as my "best friend." (I've offered more about Unitarian Universalism in this About Me area of my website here.) I've never known anyone whom I could more fundamentally trust.
If I've succeeded at cultivating an optimistic and hopeful orientation toward life, I'm convinced it's largely thanks to my innumerable, positive and precious experiences with him. Over the years I've heard various individuals express that if either of us happened to feel blue, just putting us together would immediately light up our spirits.
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G. Our Move Back to my Childhood Home
Some might say that the house in which I grew up has exerted something like a "boomerang affect" on me.
More seriously... during the months of December 2004 and January 2005, my father fell ill and was hospitalized for more than a month. In spite of having suffered seriously, in my judgment, with time, his condition dramatically improved.
Even with such progress, however, in his judgment, Cherita's and mine, we agreed that he couldn't safely or effectively live by himself any longer. As this became evident to us, Cherita and I also considered our impression that my father felt frightened in relation to the prospect of moving into an assisted living facility.
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One day, Cherita suggested an idea. Some time after we discussed it with my father, Cherita, Aliana and I moved from Raleigh, North Carolina to the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois into my father's house - the same house in which my brothers and I had grown up - so that I could help take care of him.
Now, in addition to providing care and homeschooling for my daughter, I also provide care and assistance for my father.
Fortunately, Cherita and I have felt encouraged in relation to various aspects of how my father's rehabilitation and recovery have progressed. Also, Cherita and I feel delight now that Aliana and her grandpa enjoy spending so much time with each other.
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For as long as I've been able to, I've loved to write both fiction and nonfiction. In addition, in relation to religious and philosophical ideas, I've felt intrigued because I need meaning, understanding (including understanding of others) and learning as I develop my own strategies for finding meaning. For the sake of meeting such needs I've also always felt passionate about developing my personal convictions and worldview.
As a child, virtually from the moment that I could write at all, I loved writing short story fiction. During grade school, junior high, and in high school, I enjoyed writing fiction that often I would share with my friends so that they could enjoy it, too.
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Several years ago, with the cooperation of a friend who years before had written an earlier draft of a full length novel which I had loved reading, I collaborated on the coauthorship of a newer version. Originally, my intention had been to add more vivid description. As time went on, though, I added numerous scenes, characters and subplots. In time, I added to the manuscript more than the number of words that had existed in the original version, thus more than doubling its length.
Even though I definitely didn't consider the novel "finished" after I had completed my initial, rewritten expansion, I thoroughly enjoyed and learned from this experimental process.
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In the years since, though, I've evolved personally in many ways. Given this evolution, if I were to write more now, my effort would significantly impact the novel's theme, plot, characterization, style and even its underlying philosophy.
So I doubt that if I resumed my effort I would finish that particular project in a way that would simultaneously remain true to a) the original intentions of the work b) my current values and c) my coauthor's values such that my coauthor would remain satisfied.
Even so, I'm tempted to say, "Never say never."
Although I remain grateful both for the opportunity that my coauthor gave me and for my having chosen to invest in that writing effort, I experience some doubt about whether that particular project will ever materialize in a form that he and I would feel equally enthused about publishing. Yet I feel no regret about having done that writing. I remain grateful to my coauthor for providing me with a kind of mentoring with my fiction writing that really helped meet my needs for learning, growth and progress.
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3. Systematic Exposition of my Worldview
Following the tragedy of September 11, 2001 and in anticipation of my daughter's birth, I felt profoundly concerned, saddened and moved. In an effort to help meet such needs of mine as for meaning, intelligibility, self-expression and progress, I chose to write a systematic, nonfictional exposition of my worldview.
Originally intended as an essay, my writing eventually ballooned into a book-length presentation.
Although my worldview has evolved substantially since I wrote that, ever since, I've felt grateful for my investment in that effort. Working on that project clarified immensely for me not only where I stand on a variety of issues related to religion, philosophy, the development of my personal worldview and their relationship to the practical living of my life. It also helped draw my attention to areas with which I had felt dissatisfied and helped me to establish a new foundation for my future evolution.
In a way that I expect will stimulate excitement and deep satisfaction in me, recently I've begun inventively working again on such systematic exposition.
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For some time after writing the first version of that book-length, systematic presentation of my worldview, I participated in Critters Workshop.Critters is an on-line workshop/critique group for serious writers of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror. You get your work critiqued in exchange for critiquing the work of others, both of which are invaluable ways to improve your writing.
As the website of Critters Workshop further explains,
The ultimate goal of Critters is to help writers improve, not only by having their work dissected by other members, but also by learning to dissect their own work (by, of course, dissecting others). The value of the latter is often overlooked by beginning writers.
During my participation in Critters Workshop, I wrote and submitted a short, science-fiction story for critique. In my story, I endeavored to "answer," in terms of my own outlook, what I had taken to be the outlook of another story that I had previously critiqued. In relation to what I had interpreted to be that other story's outlook I had felt profound dissatisfaction and irritation. My reading of that story hadn't met my needs for respect, consideration or compassion.
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I enjoyed writing my own story "in answer" and sharing it for critique by others. Writing and sharing my story this way helped meet my needs for self-expression, self-assertion, learning and progress.
Although readers who critiqued my story responded positively overall to it, they also offered a number of suggestions with which I resonated. In particular, with time and reflection, I concluded that I had portrayed my story's leading antagonist in a manner that didn't satisfy my needs for nuance, intelligibility or empathy. In many ways, I had written my story out of anger that I hadn't explored or understood as well as I would like. Reaching this understanding, I chose to reconsider some of my views about human nature and literary method. Ever since, I've continued to evolve my views in these realms.
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During the years 2003-2004, Cherita and I thoroughly enjoyed participating in a Writers' Group in Raleigh, North Carolina whose members were mostly current, former and/or future, active participants in Unitarian Universalist congregations. (In a later section of this About Me area of my website, I've written more about Unitarian Universalism, here.) In this private and independent Writers' Group, we and other writers shared, read and critiqued one another's fiction and nonfiction. In Cherita's opinion and mine, we both learned much from this process. I shared and learned from others' reactions both to excerpts from a) my fiction and b) such sources as my systematic exposition of my personal worldview.
Since having moved, we've felt real sadness having missed our participation with such a group, and Cherita has begun exploring ways of starting a new one where we now live.
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6. National Novel Writing Month and No Plot? No Problem!
After having moved, however, Cherita and I ended up discovering something new in relation to which we felt engagement, excitement and interest: National Novel Writing Month. Many also refer to National Novel Writing Month (now an international event) as NaNoWriMo, which they pronounce "nanno rhyme oh." (Fulfilling what I'm guessing are her needs for self-direction and self-expression, Cherita often likes to pronounce it "nay no rhyme oh.") During NaNoWriMo, participants ask one another to attempt in thirty days' time to write a 50,000 word rough draft of a novel.
To skip to the Table of Contents, please click here.This website describes this event. NaNoWriMo founder Chris Baty also describes this event in his book, No Plot? No Problem!: A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days.
In 2005, Cherita and I thoroughly enjoyed reading No Plot? No Problem! In addition to teaching us all about NaNoWriMo, the book deeply satisfied our needs for humor, stimulation and hope.
In November 2005, we both participated in NaNoWriMo, and I did manage to exceed 50,000 words in less than 30 days. Although Cherita did not reach that target, she felt delight given that she, too, participated and managed to create the beginnings of a story that she wanted to bring to life. Doing so, we both met our needs for invention and progress, and I met my need for integrity.
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I still feel interest when I consider working more (in some form) with the rough draft that I generated in November 2005. In addition, Cherita expressed interest in collaborating with me on the work that she began during her participation in NaNoWriMo 2005.
In November 2006, again I took up the challenge and wrote another rough draft of a novel, and that time I also exceeded 50,000 words in less than 30 days.
Both years, my novels involved themes based in principles of Communicating Compassionately, for which approach I take inspiration from what I've learned from Marshall Rosenberg's process of Nonviolent Communication, about which I write more here in a later section of my About Me area of this website.
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7. Living Action WebsiteAlso in 2005 - in ways that I welcome, deeply appreciate, and that help fill my needs for encouragement, technical support and aesthetic savvy - Cherita helped me to launch this Living Action website. When I consider many of the ways in which this site has helped meet my needs for self-expression, communication and invention, including in writing and in my blog, I feel especially grateful. Although it's conceivable that I could have launched some sort of website without Cherita's assistance, I don't imagine that without her help it would have featured nearly as much content or that with any aspect of it I would have felt remotely as satisfied as I do.
I'm deeply grateful to Cherita for all the enduring help she's given me in launching, maintaining, and upgrading this site. In relation to such help I've felt really encouraged because it's so thoroughly met such needs of mine as for support, cooperation and collaboration.
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As an adjunct to and application of my love for writing, I've exhibited a lifelong passion for public speaking. I've energetically engaged live audiences ranging in size from small numbers to approximately two thousand.
Such public speaking moments have included the following plus innumerable others.
- speeches in grade school
- reading my fiction aloud for my classes in junior high
- presentations in English classes, speech and debate team, as well as serving as emcee for a homecoming coronation assembly, all in high school
- more than twenty years ago, also while I was still in high school, a debate with the settled minister (who is now retired and Minister also Emeritus) at a Unitarian Universalist church
- presentations before a student organization that I started at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
- numerous appearances before the New Intellectual Forum in Chicago and The Triangle Objectivists in North Carolina
- several Participant Sponsored Sessions and three, consecutive appearances as emcee of the In Performance variety show (for which I received an IOS award for outstanding work) at The Institute for Objectivist Studies (IOS) Summer Seminars, including when the IOS was later renamed The Objectivist Center (TOC), and which was still later renamed The Atlas Society (TAS)
- my March 2006 Affirmation during a worship service at church
- as co-chair of the church Membership Committee, my facilitation of our meetings
- my facilitation of two, Communicating Compassionately Covenant Groups and one, Communicating Compassionately Support Group, also at church
- my January 2007 participation as Pulpit Guest and Worship Leader during a worship service at the Unitarian Universalist church in which I participate in which I also presented an original sermon on the topic of Communicating Compassionately
- my six-part, February-March 2007 Communicating Compassionately Course, also at church
- my friend and colleague, Fran Hill, and I presented together our 3-part Assertive Communication workshop series (plus two, optional and complementary Participant Sponsored Sessions) at the 2007 TAS Summer Seminar in July
(I've written more in this About Me area about Unitarian Universalism and my church participation in a later section, here.)
I'm grateful for my many opportunities to meet my needs for self-expression, challenge and communication by means of both the written and spoken word.
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Many sources have influenced the development of my convictions.
I will name some now that I think have triggered major turning points in the evolution of my worldview.
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A. Liberating Religion and Unitarian Universalism
As a tradition, Unitarian Universalism derives from a history that - when it culminates in the present, Unitarian Universalist form which I experience at the church in which I participate - richly helps to satisfy my needs for understanding, personal growth and evolution, acceptance, connectedness and inspiration.
When my parents married, my father described himself as a freethinking non-churchgoer, while my mother described herself as a devout, Roman Catholic. Some years after they married, however, and as my mother later explained to me repeatedly, her thinking changed, and she drifted from the Catholic Church.
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In time, my parents felt attracted to a local, Unitarian Universalist church. Such congregations often have provided religious homes both for those who have departed from other, religious commitments and for interfaith couples.
Starting as a young boy, I attended services and religious education classes at a Unitarian Universalist church. After high school and as a young adult, I didn't attend services too often.
During recent years, though, my interest in Unitarian Universalism rekindled. In April of 1999, a Unitarian Universalist minister officiated the ceremony in which Cherita and I married. In May of 2005, Cherita and I joined the membership of the same church in which I'd "grown up."
So perhaps, like my childhood home, my childhood house of worship has exerted a "boomerang effect" on me.
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Turning now to its serious consideration, by my understanding and in my experience, as a liberating religion (often called a liberal religion), Unitarian Universalism emphasizes the need of each individual to use one's own reason and conscience in the process of formulating, adopting and acting on personal principles of a religious and/or philosophical nature.
(I'm grateful to Don Beaudreault, minister at Countryside Church Unitarian Universalist, for introducing me in one of his sermons to his "liberating religion" word choice as an alternative to "liberal religion." For him and for me, "liberating religion" more fully and accurately captures the dynamic rather than static nature of the religion.)
Unitarian Universalism is a non-creedal religion. This means that it does not require participants to affirm a specific doctrine or creed in order to join its congregations. It respects the right of its participants not to believe. Indeed, it celebrates a heritage of schisms and heresy. At the same time, Unitarian Universalism encourages a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning."
In its effort to build compassionate community and to promote life-enriching change in the world, Unitarian Universalism aspires to develop both a radically inclusive and pluralistic culture. By this I mean that it explicitly welcomes the participation of individuals of all sorts of religious and philosophical backgrounds and views, including (but not limited to) Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Taoists, pagans, atheists and much more.
The Religious Education classes in which I participated as a young boy in the UU church that I attended with my family often discussed the world's religions comparatively. This helped me to appreciate that many different religious ideas exist in different people and cultures.
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B. Childhood Stories and their Sense of Adventure
Starting as a young boy, I enjoyed watching Speed Racer television reruns and reading comic books that featured super heroes such as Batman and Spider-Man. My
mother also told me years later that she noticed that as a young boy I clearly felt enamored about Lynda Carter in her role as Wonder Woman (which later became my nickname for Cherita).
In the theater,
when it was new, I experienced
the first-ever-released Star Wars
movie. I also read
J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and for a time followed the BBC science fiction television series Doctor
Who.
Emotionally, I felt gripped in relation to each such experience. Even though I resonated with such art works primarily in how I took them both emotionally and on a "sense of life" level, I also felt eager to take their inspiration and to use it to reflect on real life.
I loved what I took to be these art works' conviction in a) the grand, adventurous possibilities of human life and b) the power of the individual to make choices that can create a positive difference in the world.
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C. Lutheran Christianity, Official Doctrine, and Non-Creedal Religion
During junior high, for three years, for educational rather than religious reasons, I attended a Lutheran school. Although I didn't convert to Lutheran Christianity, while attending daily Religion classes and while attending weekly, school-wide Chapel services in the Lutheran church, I learned much about this particular institution's Christian teachings and practices.
Given that I then participated in Lutheran Christianity on weekdays while I immersed myself in Unitarian Universalism on many Sundays, my experiences gave me the opportunity to compare and contrast the two.
(I've written more in this About Me area about Unitarian Universalism and my church participation in an earlier section, here.)
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On the one hand, I understood the Lutheran approach as creedal. Given that it expected its members to affirm a specific and declared doctrine, with time and reflection, it seemed to me to exclude rather than include. By contrast, I understood the UU approach as non-creedal. I understood it to welcome variety inclusively.
Ultimately, I chose the Unitarian Universalist path. Even so, educationally, developmentally and socially, I remember my time at the Lutheran school fondly.
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A rock band? How on earth could a rock band exert a significant influence on my intellectual, spiritual and personal development?
It did, though.
In junior high, the music and lyrics of a rock group called Rush first captured my attention. Gradually over the years my interest developed and - as I elaborate in a subsequent section of this About Me area - eventually affected me in far-reaching ways.
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E. World History in High School
"History is boring!"
It wasn't for me.
As a freshman in high school, I took a course in world history that a man named J Milton McGinnis taught. I enjoyed his presence and teaching more than that of any other teacher during the whole of my prior, school experience.
With him, history struck me not as dry, but as colorful and dramatic, involving passionate, human struggles taking place over the course of thousands of years. Moreover, understanding history seemed relevant to living a fulfilling life now.
When I discovered that a recurring theme in history seemed to be the willingness of different people and cultures - in the name of different conceptions of God and religion - to wage war against and kill one another, I also felt deeply concerned.
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"Ayn Rand's novels certainly aren't literature. She's nothing more than a pop 'philosopher.' No one serious takes her seriously!"
And yet an influence that some consider laughable I took seriously.
As a sophomore in high school - inspired by the words "lyrics by Neil Peart with acknowledgement to the genius of Ayn Rand," which appeared in the liner notes of the 1976 Rush recording, 2112 - I discovered the work of Ayn Rand. This Russian-born, American novelist and nonacademic philosopher wrote novels that included The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.
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In her fiction and nonfiction, Rand introduced to me her vision, sense of life and the philosophy that she called Objectivism. With her fiction writing especially, she triggered in me: fascination; hope that human life (mine included) offered grand, adventurous possibilities; and encouragement that each individual enjoys the power to make choices that can create a positive difference in the world. With her nonfiction especially, she stimulated confidence in me that philosophy overwhelmingly influences both the world and me personally.
Rand and Objectivism so captured my imagination that for many years I described myself as "an Objectivist."
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G. History of Philosophy in High School
Now surely, even if in high school the history of the world proved somehow not to stimulate boredom in me, didn't the history of philosophy induce sleep?
Again, my experience differed.
As a senior in high school, driven by my Rand-inspired passion for philosophy, I took another course that the same teacher whose presentation I had so enjoyed during my freshman, world history class (J Milton McGinnis) also taught. Now, though, I took a course devoted to studying the history of philosophy.
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This second course emphasized the development of western philosophy from the ancient Greeks forward. It also highlighted the manner in which, across the centuries, in the western tradition, philosophical debates have developed.
In my opinion, this course helped me to deepen not only my appreciation for philosophical thinking, but also for the interrelationship between philosophical ideas and the unfolding of history.
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"So, Vid, you've entitled this section 'Beyond Ayn Rand?' Does this mean that you finally outgrew your adolescent attachment to Rand?"
I wouldn't put it that way. In important ways, though, I did end up moving beyond Ayn Rand and her philosophy of Objectivism.
On my own, I continued reading and enjoying Rand's books, as well as the work of others whom she had influenced (including, for example, self-esteem writer Nathaniel Branden). My enthusiasm for Rand's Objectivism and for calling myself "an Objectivist" persisted for many years.
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In recent years, however, I've evolved such that I now disagree with many aspects of Rand's philosophy. I especially wish to avoid emulating what I now regard as her moralistic judgment and I no longer call myself "an Objectivist." In my consciousness and action I wish to centrally emphasize such practices as acceptance and non-sacrificial, mutually invigorating compassion which Rand (and, in my experience, most other, self-described Objectivists) don't emphasize remotely as much as I prefer to do. In addition, I've developed many key ideas in my own system of ideas that in my judgment differ significantly from Rand's.
Notwithstanding my differences with her, Rand has impacted me in numerous ways that I still regard as major and positive, and I'm both happy and grateful to acknowledge such influences.
With the help of my various influences I've continued to evolve my own worldview. That worldview differs in many ways from Objectivism, even while I feel confident that numerous aspects of what I've learned from that philosophy continue to help me in various ways.
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I. Chris Matthew Sciabarra and Dialectics
A few years ago, at a time when I was rethinking my worldview and grappling with aspects of Ayn Rand's philosophy with which I didn't any longer agree, I finally explored a book the existence of which I'd known about for years but which I'd not yet managed to read. It was a book with which I didn't expect to fall in love. Yet I did. I ended up reading the whole thing (the first time through, that is) in something like two days' time.
That book was Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical by Chris Matthew Sciabarra. During the course of my post-Randian, post-Objectivist evolution, Chris's work has profoundly assisted me in teasing out that in Ayn Rand's work with which I still resonate.
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I also deeply resonate with Chris's emphasis on "dialectics," which he most simply defines as "the art of context keeping." What I've learned from dialectical method continues to factor significantly as I further develop my worldview.
In time, in addition to reading and benefiting from the rest of Chris's books, I also wrote to him. For years now, I've profoundly enjoyed and felt grateful both for our correspondence and our friendship.
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J. D. Moskovitz, "Moralism in Objectivism," Eckhart Tolle and Buddhism
The next, major stage in the development of my worldview involved my discovery of the viewpoint of D. Moskovitz.
I had met and chatted with D. at two different Summer Seminars sponsored by The Objectivist Center (now The Atlas Society). I had noticed that at one of these, during a Participant Sponsored Session, D. had given a talk on the subject, "Moralism in Objectivism."
When he had given it at the seminar I had missed D. 's talk. Even so, I had seen the flier that had announced it. Given my long-standing interest in the subject matter, I felt regretful that I had missed it. I felt sufficiently curious that I chose to contact D. later to express my interest in reading a transcript of his talk if he happened to possess one.
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Based on our continued communications, not only did I discover that D. did have a transcript that he was willing to let me read, but also that he had audio recorded a live presentation that he had made of the same talk when he had presented it to a group in California.
After I had reviewed D. 's talk, I felt so engaged and inspired that I asked him if he would be willing also to give me permission to post it to the website of a group for which I then coordinated activities. (That group was the Triangle Objectivists, headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, and which still meets in that area.) Since my wife, daughter and I moved away from Raleigh, that website disappeared; my website came to life; and D. 's talk moved to (and ever since, has remained on) my website. (D. 's talk now remains here).
To a degree that I had never before experienced, D. 's talk helped me to deepen my appreciation for and understanding of the topics of moralism, acceptance and compassion. In addition, D. helped to stimulate my interest in Buddhism, mindfulness meditation, and the work of Eckhart Tolle, author of the book, The Power of Now. In my estimation, ever since discovering D. 's talk, as I've developed my worldview, I've embraced crucial influences from each such source. I'm confident that I will continue to learn more from and to be deeply affected by these and related influences.
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D. also drew my attention to an email discussion list founded by Joshua Zader called the Mudita Forum.
Mudita Forum is a moderated discussion group for individuals with an interest both in Ayn Rand's ideas (such as her philosophy of Objectivism) and in the consciousness-raising practices associated with Eastern thinking...
The purpose of Mudita Forum is to provide a stimulating, thoughtful environment for discussing Eastern consciousness-raising practices - such as meditation, mindfulness, and the cultivation of presence - while using Objectivism as a basic philosophical frame-of-reference.
I have felt gratitude and appreciation (and I expect to continue to) in relation to my participation in the Mudita Forum which has helped satisfy my need for learning - which learning, when I've applied it, has deepened my understanding and inner peace.
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K. Marshall Rosenberg, Nonviolent Communication and Communicating Compassionately
In September 2005, through a series of workshops that I learned about and in which I then participated at a Unitarian Universalist church, I discovered something which still stimulates more excitement in me about the evolution of my worldview and practical action than probably anything that I've read since I first discovered the work of Ayn Rand.
(I've written more, earlier in this About Me area, about Ayn Rand, Objectivism and my estimate of their influence on me here and here. I've also written more, also earlier in this About Me area, about Unitarian Universalism, my church participation and my estimate of their influence on me here. In addition, I've written about my church participation in my March 26, 2006 Affirmation, which I've included as a Postscript in this About Me area.)
The something that I discovered with such excitement in September 2005 (and many things about which I've learned in connection with it) has provided me with the equivalent of a road map for the next stage of my personal, philosophical and spiritual evolution. And that something has done so including by further clarifying for me 1) in relation to what in Rand's approach I now feel unsatisfied and why 2) in relation to what, within that approach, I still resonate and why and 3) in relation to what in Unitarian Universalism and in my now, deeply engaging church participation I feel profoundly satisfied and why.
That something is the process that Marshall B. Rosenberg, Ph.D. presents in his book, Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life from PuddleDancer Press. If there were one nonfictional book that I would like to persuade nearly anyone to read immediately, this would be it.
I've fallen in love with the language, principles and underlying spirit of Nonviolent Communication (NVC). (NVC and Nonviolent Communication are also sometimes referred to by other names, such as "Compassionate Communication," "Speaking Peace" or even "Tongue Fu." ) Rosenberg's process deeply satisfies my needs for clarity, accessibility, specificity and practicality... and yet, when I examine that process closely, it also helps me to more deeply satisfy my needs for philosophical and personal challenge - and growth.
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In the sense that I classify them as fundamental and dialectical, NVC and related principles even strike me as (dare I say it?) wonderfully radical.
Nothing has clarified for me more fully than NVC why I want to let go of moralistic judgement. In my present interpretation, such moralistic judgement qualifies as a much deeper than merely stylistic impulse in Rand and Objectivism. To my even deeper satisfaction than I experienced when I first enjoyed D. Moskovitz's talk, "Moralism in Objectivism" (in relation to which I felt profoundly moved and which I still especially recommend to self-described "Objectivists," and about which I've written more in this About Me area in the previous section, here), Rosenberg has helped me to understand such moralistic judgement.
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Thanks to Marshall Rosenberg's influence, in essence, in principle and in practice, I remain deeply committed to the perspective that we most fully satisfy our needs only if we communicate with one another in a manner that eliminates any moralistic judgement, manipulation or coercion and instead replaces such tragic strategies with compassionate ones. In addition, Rosenberg has called my attention to subtleties, nuances and subtexts in our language that I'm now convinced contribute overwhelmingly to such tragedies as oppression and violence.
More importantly, though, in my judgment, the principles of this process speak volumes regarding what even one person can do (now quoting from the book's cover) to "Create Your Life, Your Relationships and Your World in Harmony with Your Values." In connection with my exposure to the work of Marshall Rosenberg, in my communication I've experienced passionate engagement and rejuvenated energy.
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I feel delight that I've started three groups myself which meet at church and which focus on the spirit and practice of assertive, authentic, compassionate communication grounded in our understanding of the principles that Marshall Rosenberg has articulated. Although I'm not a certified trainer, I love talking with others about this process.
Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is a registered service mark of the Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC), an organization founded by Marshall Rosenberg, the website for which is located at cnvc.org. The CNVC makes available certified NVC training. To help clarify both 1) that the training and support that I offer is not so certified and 2) that it involves my own interpretation, at church I refer to my own offerings related to this process as Communicating Compassionately (or "Communicating with Compassion" or "CC").
Although Marshall Rosenberg doesn't label himself (nor would I label him) as an Objectivist, to my amazement and in my opinion, he upholds many principles that resemble or overlap with key principles of Objectivist philosophy in ways with which I still resonate.
Per my understanding and interpretation, such common areas between Marshall Rosenberg’s approach and Objectivism include the following.
- making reference to a foundation of specifically observable, objective facts
- championing of individual autonomy and choice, the authentic needs of the self, and integrity
- keen awareness of the crucial need to take personal responsibility for one's every choice, action and even feeling
- rejection of the notion that human beings are "born evil"
- rejection of self-sacrifice and related compromise - including all forms of "giving up" or "giving in"
- championing of consensual, mutually informed relationships that lack any element of coercion or manipulation
- conviction in the harmony of authentic, fundamental human needs (or "interests")
- advocacy of "win-win" interactions grounded in the understanding that given this fundamental harmony, conflicts arise only at the level of chosen strategies, and that individuals can modify such strategies in ways that can more fully meet their needs
- rejection of domination (or "power over") relationships both in personal and political spheres, in favor of mutually beneficial (or "power with") relationships that genuinely serve human life
- championing the need to maintain one’s integrity regardless of the institutional structure in which one finds oneself
I'm grateful that the organizer of The Atlas Society (TAS) Summer Seminar 2007 in July, as part of the official program, approved our proposal, and invited my dear friend and colleague, Fran Hill, and me, so that we led there a three-session workshop on Assertive Communication. We based this series on Marshall Rosenberg's work yet customized it for an Ayn Rand-inspired and largely Objectivist audience.
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L. Walter Kaufmann and Without Guilt and Justice
While still immersed in what I've been learning from Marshall Rosenberg, one of his recommendations led me to a discovery that I've welcomed with both gratitude and excitement. While watching an intermediate level training DVD in the series, Making Life Wonderful, I understood that Marshall Rosenberg recommended reading a book as an aid to learning why Nonviolent Communication asks that we learn to relinquish the concept of "deserving" either reward or punishment. Specifically, Rosenberg recommended the 1973 book Without Guilt and Justice: From Decidophobia to Autonomy by then Princeton professor of philosophy Walter Kaufmann.
I've read the book once completely and I've begun slowly reading it again.
When I now read this book I feel deeply impressed and moved. I've embraced its influence both with what Marshall Rosenberg recommended in it and with additional aspects of its content.
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Such additional aspects include its discussion of "decidophobia" (the fear of making fateful decisions); the lingering - and in my opinion malignant - residue in our culture (and even in Objectivism) of one, decidophobic strategy in particular (Manichaeism); and the book's advocacy of what Kaufmann refers to as "the canon," which he urges us to apply in the process of making decisions.
"The canon" - "the heart of rationality, the essence of scientific method, and the meaning of intellectual integrity" according to Kaufmann - involves asking and answering seven questions with respect to our own and others' propositions, views, beliefs, hypotheses or convictions.
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The questions of the canon are [page 178]:
1. What does this mean?
2. What speaks for it?
3. What speaks
against it?
4. What alternatives are available?
5. What speaks for each?
6. What speaks against each?
7. What alternatives are most plausible in light of such considerations?
With his discussion of what he calls "the New Integrity," Kaufmann likewise satisfies my need for stimulation and understanding.
Although I don't agree with everything in the book, I resonate with so much that's in it. I'm deeply grateful to have the opportunity to challenge my principles and practices with its insights and from these to draw inspiration for my personal growth.
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M. The Evolution of my Personal Worldview - and my Living Action Website
With the help of such influences, and many others, I've felt joy in developing my own, systematic worldview and spiritual practice, ever more fully meeting such needs of mine as for meaning, understanding, intelligibility, self-expression, clarity and progress. Even though that worldview draws substantially from the various sources that I've mentioned, by my standards, it also differs significantly from any other orientation with which I'm familiar.
With this website, my mission is
to communicate with compassion and imagination in a manner that honors the human potential, celebrates the joy of life and helps satisfy my need to contribute both to my own and others' well being.
In line with this mission, among other purposes, I have a triple purpose: 1) to gradually articulate my vision and system of ideas more fully; 2) to apply that vision and system to new topics and practices each day; and 3) to ever more fully meet both my own and others' needs. These include needs for meaning, understanding, intelligibility, self-expression, clarity, progress and to contribute.
By engaging in the adventure of meeting such needs I believe we stimulate joy, happiness and fulfillment in both ourselves and others.
So I invite you to participate with me in my journey.
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Background, Influences and Worldview In Brief: Affirmation, March 26, 2006
I delivered this Affirmation at Countryside Church Unitarian Universalist on March 26, 2006.
I would like to dedicate this Affirmation to my mother's memory.
Although my wife, Cherita, and I joined this church less than a year ago [in May 2005], my own involvement dates back thirty years. That's when my parents... first brought me to this church [and] where, as a child, I attended religious education classes.
The years since have involved rich exploration.
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In high school, courses in World History and the History of Philosophy especially captured my imagination. I also grew fascinated with the novels and Objectivist philosophy of Russian-born writer Ayn Rand. During recent years, I found inspiration in such sources as Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now and peace in such practices as mindfulness meditation.
The development that I've summarized took place largely outside church, however. As a young adult, I attended only occasionally. Eventually drawn by a need to experience a community that would welcome my uniqueness, I wanted to participate again in a Unitarian Universalist congregation.
Just last year, Cherita and I started attending services here with my father, while our daughter, Aliana, attended religious education classes. I quickly found myself delighting in the services and in my interactions with [others], several of whom I remember from when I participated in the church decades ago.
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So you might be tempted to call me a "born-again Unitarian Universalist."
During the last few months, after discovering, here at church, the existence of... Nonviolent Communication [NVC], the work of Marshall Rosenberg has passionately engaged me while revolutionizing my communication and spiritual growth... I'm delighted to be involved now in [three groups which I've started]... which meet here in the church and which have [compassionate, authentic communication as] a topical focus...
[In the space of this Affirmation], I can offer only a whirlwind tour of the positions I take on the religious and philosophical questions that have intrigued human beings since our dawn.
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My outlook is natural rather than supernatural. I remain unconvinced that such things as heaven, hell, ghosts or gods exist.
Even so, I learn much from those who believe in the supernatural. Even if what I gain is metaphorical, I still gain.
I conceive of our human nature as living, conscious, delicately fragile on the one hand and yet amazingly hardy on the other. I also conceive of human nature as composed of three, integrated elements: body, spirit and mind. [In my judgment,] seeming conflicts between these three arise only through obstructed awareness.
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I'm convinced that we are born embodying a life-enriching nature. So to my mind, those human actions that lead to suffering and violence arise not from any "innate evil," but from errors in our education that we [can beneficially] unlearn.
I've even developed my own system of ethics, which I call "alteregoism." In this view, actions that benefit self and actions that benefit others exist in harmony. And only by caring passionately for the needs of the self can we ever hope to create the robust foundation from which we can effectively care compassionately for the needs of others.
[Yet] perhaps I can encapsulate my worldview most helpfully by closing this Affirmation with a reading of my Credo.
My Credo appears on this website, here.
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