Super People

From publishing exec James Atlas:

"In the end, the whole idea of Super Person is kind of exhausting to contemplate. All that striving, working, doing. A line of Whitman’s ... has stayed with me: 'I loaf and invite my soul.'      

Isn’t that where the real work gets done?"   

I think I am one of these "super people" by nature, and I hate it. I sure as hell don't want my child to be one of these, though she just might have it in her genes, too.

To be honest, I'm just about ready to jump off the overachieving treadmill madness, salary and accomplishments and honors and intellectual fun be damned. I want to "loaf and invite my soul." It's been a long, long time since I've done that. I hardly know myself anymore.

Half-Abortions

Interesting Slate article by William Saletan on many pro-choicers' ethical uneasiness with "half-abortions," in which one twin is aborted and the other is spared.

Facing Death is Not Dull

Dudley Clendinen on how we think about death:

" . . . we don’t talk about how to die. We act as if facing death weren’t one of life’s greatest, most absorbing thrills and challenges. Believe me, it is. This is not dull. But we have to be able to see doctors and machines, medical and insurance systems, family and friends and religions as informative — not governing — in order to be free."

"That's why we need books ..."

Johann Hari in The Independent:

"That's why we need books, and why I believe they will survive. Because most humans have a desire to engage in deep thought and deep concentration. Those muscles are necessary for deep feeling and deep engagement. Most humans don't just want mental snacks forever; they also want meals."