Essays by Larry Barnett
If the world feels crazy to you, you’re right. It is. A form of collective madness has taken hold. It’s worrisome, confusing, for some fatal, and, sadly, it’s mostly the way it’s always been.
We live in the imaginary world of The-Mind-of-Separation, and it drives us mad. Most of our madness is ordinary:… Read the rest
Do you identify with any particular animal? If you were not a human being, what animal would you like to be?
I’m a Bear, a Little Bear to be precise. I sleep like a log, am assertive, like to be in charge, and get right down to business. I’m sensitive and affectionate, but not terribly romantic. When it comes… Read the rest
Life is artful; it has to be. At once both particular and universal, manifesting as individual lives while simultaneously functioning in a species-wide manner, life navigates through living and non-living environments; through its collective experience, life finds ways to endure.
Artfulness… Read the rest
The idea of Samsara generates considerable confusion, an ironic condition since the essence of Samsara is confusion. Although we humans are a clever lot, there’s far more that we do not know or understand than there is that we do. We are profoundly ignorant. In order to fill in the gaps, to create a comprehensible… Read the rest
When I was a small boy I cried a lot. By all reports, I was an affable, joyful little guy, sensitive and always smiling, but as the years passed, I came under the shadow of my older brother who took out all his resentments on me. In a word, he was mean, and I was the object of his anger. Wally Cleaver he was not, … Read the rest
Capitalism is a hot topic at the moment, its successes and failures, its potential and limitations, and its impacts on culture and the environment. Any examination of capitalism requires its definition, however. While it has many facets, for the purposes of this discussion, I am going to use a simple… Read the rest
“Why don’t you and your daughter Zoe come over for dinner,” said the voice at the other end of the telephone, continuing, “I live just down the block.” “Sure,” I replied, “see you at 5:30.” So began my 50-year relationship with Norma Jean Marsh Campbell.
Like me, Norma had been married once already, and… Read the rest
Teleology is the philosophical exploration of purpose, and for many of us, finding purpose is elusive. Is purpose inherent or found, and can it be both?
The business of being human often feels like a test, but if we are being tested, by whom and for what? Some people complain that life is tougher than it … Read the rest
The hot book of 1972 was Alex Comfort’s “The Joy of Sex.” In 2025, “The Joy of Hate” might top the charts.
In the words of James Baldwin, I’m horrified at America’s “moral apathy,” the degree to which unthinkably vile behaviors are now normalized. Baldwin, of course, was speaking from the perspective … Read the rest
Today I unpacked the last remaining box of my late wife Norma’s books. The two-car garage at the condo was completely filled when we moved in just over four months ago, and now it’s almost empty. Between what’s been thrown away, donated, and brought inside, my life is now firmly established in my new home,… Read the rest
I first sat on my wicker sofa in diapers as a toddler, 75 years ago. It was located on our screened-in porch on the western side of our house in the suburbs of New York. Given summer’s mosquitos, a screened-in porch was not not a luxury, but a necessity.
The sofa spent many years in my mother’s apartment in … Read the rest
Kaiser Hospital recently announced it is laying off nurses at two of its clinics in the North Bay. Those of us who have regular encounters with healthcare providers know that nurses provide the human touch to a profession that’s increasingly impersonal. Although technology like Zoom provides new… Read the rest
The progression of technology has been relentless and has hastened the acceleration of its own progress. Whether or not artificial machine intelligence (AI) becomes technology’s ultimate expression, humanity already faces an unprecedented challenge. The intersection of politics and technology… Read the rest
Grieving for my wife is a mix of sadness and reflection, including some survivor’s guilt. I always figured that with my history of heart disease I’d be the first to go, but life turned out otherwise, as it so often does.
In the two months since my wife of fifty years, Norma, passed away suddenly, I’ve repeatedly… Read the rest
We live in troubled times. Global warming, wars of conquest, social upheaval, political unrest, environmental damage, the list goes on. It’s easy to get swept up in all that’s happening, and to feel overwhelmed and discouraged.
I get it. And I have my moments of anguish. Overall, however, I don’t spend… Read the rest
My youngest granddaughter is eleven. She recently stayed over for a few days, which for me was a non-stop, high-energy, why walk when you can run, goof-around, back-and forth word-play episode of exuberant joy.
Being a senior adult, I’m mostly surrounded by other seniors, many of whom I love dearly,… Read the rest
Having moved two months ago from the home my wife and I lived in for nearly 30 years, I’ve been going through boxes, many of which were packed years ago and stored. Among them are boxes of material passed down to me by my father: family photo albums, framed WW2 Army photos, and various documents.
Among the… Read the rest
Some things about death are final, most significantly that once gone a loved one will never be seen again. This departure can feel quite unreal, and I keep half expecting my late wife to pop in the front door and once again say “Hi Honey. I’m home.” It won’t happen, but that doesn’t stop my imagination from… Read the rest
When my late wife and I moved across town, I cancelled our AT&T internet and DirectTV accounts. A month and a half later, a letter from AT&T arrived telling me we were entitled to a refund, and a debit card was included. The amount of the refund was not indicated.
The process of sending a debit card… Read the rest
Giving up is something all animals do. Our pursuit of a particular outcome is always weighed against the required energy and exertion; when the output exceeds the potential benefit, animals give up and move on. Thus a woodpecker will doggedly ram its beak into a tree trunk in pursuit of a beetle grub, … Read the rest