A couple of years, I came across Günter Figal's lecture series "Heidegger in Modernity" given at the University of Freiburg. In this episode, I begin unpacking some of the insights I have gleaned from them, focusing in particular on the essentializing motif in Heidegger, i.e., the stress on the simple and the essential. As in other instances, my take on Figal's take on Heidegger is refracted through the theme of the craft of living.

In this episode, I focus on the dialectic of radical integrity and radical compassion, a hallmark of perfection. At least, one possible take on it.

In my previous video, I broached the topic of mental fortitude, stressing its importance and manifoldness. Mental fortitude, in other words, is not just one thing but is something that is comprised of different elements. Here I advance the discussion by offering some important qualifications.

Mental toughness, mental fortitude, self-discipline, resilience,... you name it. We all have a basic idea of what it means. This essential ingredient to the craft of living that helps us stay the course, face setbacks with dignity and equanimity, persist when things don't feel right, hope in the face of repeated failure, control impulses to take the easy route - if we could only have more of that.

In this episode, I discuss some additional aspects of Stoicism and its practical significance via Ross Edgley's "The Art of Resilience." I begin by sharing a couple of updates about things happening on my end (insights, readings, lessons learned, etc.).

One of the more interesting cultural developments in recent years, and least fear, has been an increased interest in Stoicism. Here I share a few ideas on the issue, including things that I find congenial in respect to the Stoic approach to life.
Episode notes

That Nietzsche should be an influential voice in my life, might come as surprise to some. But then again, perhaps not. After all, isn't he an individual singularly devoted to the craft of living, of turning our lives into a work of art? Here, though, I am focusing more narrowly on his view of truth, or rather, the will to untruth, and the way his perspective on the issues has challenged me personally.

Here I build on my last episode by sharing some additional life-insights, emphasizing, in particular, the nature and significance of habits. I am also introducing a new introductory segment "Miscellanies" during which I hope to share in the future significant things that I stumbled upon in the preceding week: questions, insights, resources, etc.

In this episode, I share some of the insights that I would give my younger self if I had a chance. The advice mostly centers on issues of values, productivity, habits, and life lessons.

As I state it in the recording, the idea craft implies decisions, knowledge, competency, and purposiveness. It is the last aspect that I focus on here by discussing my ten fundamental identity values. For me, they are a driving force behind this channel, and, of course, my life in general.

This is a but a coda to my post on S. Kierkegaard, where I connect his stress on the importance of choice with a few thoughts from Greg McKeown's splendid book Essentialism.

Another video in the "What I Have Learned From" series. Of course, it is impossible to do full justice to a complex thinker such as S. Kierkegaard, so what I offer instead is a personal take in the spirit of what the channel is about.

As I make it clear in the video, it is somewhat obscene to talk about the positive outcomes that COVID-19 brought us. There is just too much misery and loss in the midst of it to end up sentimentalizing the whole thing. And yet, I have to admit that the lockdown experience has taught me some new lessons and reminded me about old ones, including the importance of gratitude, attentiveness, and the nature of happiness.

Again, perhaps not the best video quality given that this was a Zoom session, but nevertheless a theme that is close to my heart. Here I express my indebtedness to Charles Taylor, whose book A Secular Age shaped me profoundly.

Even though the video quality is not the best on my end, I had a lovely conversation with Kendra A. on the centrality of dialogue for human identity and communal flourishing. We also touch upon some of the factors that make dialogue so challenging in the current ecclesial and cultural context.

What strikes me about Augustine's "Confessions" is their expansive notion of divine grace. He portrays it as a power of serendipity, to borrow from M. Scott Peck, one that is continuously at work in human lives in ways that often elude our notice. In this video, I briefly discuss this theme as refracted through Augustine's experience. Specifically, I will share his serendipitous encounter with Cicero's "The Hortensius" as a young student, and how that event changed the course of his life.

For me, values and the practice of visualization are inseparable. One way in which I approach this is to connect basic identity archetypes to a set of identity values. In fact, each of my ten values (to be shared in the future) embodies one or more of these archetypes. I consider this to be an essential part of my craft of living toolkit.

Here I am introducing a new series where I will share, engage, discuss, and dialogue with thinkers that have shaped my life-outlook and identity. So, this is meant both as a kind of tribute and taking stock of things. In this video, I explain what my approach to the upcoming videos is going to be, best illustrated by the following Michel Foucault quote: “I prefer to utilize the writers I like. The only valid tribute to a thought such as Nietzsche’s is precisely to use it, to deform it, to make it groan and protest. And if commentators then say that I am being faithful or unfaithful to Nietzsche, that is of absolutely no importance.” -Michel Foucault, Power/Knowledge, 54-54.

In of my earlier videos I explore, through an autobiographical lens, five ideas that form a part of a backdrop to the focus of the channel. Here, in turn, I discuss some of the basic elements that comprise the craft of living. As I will suggest, any vision of life needs to be clear about the following questions: What does it mean to be human? What is the good life? How can we know about it? What kinds of practices lead us to it? And how does all of that relate to God or a transcendent framework?

As I explain it at the beginning of the video, this is more of a post on the run. A quick setup up, with minimal tinkering, sharing some ideas that are fresh. Here I explain the meaning of parrhesia or frank speech and the significance it might have for us today.

It was a tall order to name all the ideas that have influenced this channel. So, without overthinking, I rolled with the first five that came to mind. BTW, do they make sense? Was I able to get the gist of them across? Let me know!

My second video in this channel table-setting, ground-clearing phase. A very condensed story of my conversion experience as one leading to a broadening of mind and interests. It is during those teenage years that life trajectory was set.

Here it is! The first video of "The Craft of Living." Like the next couple of posts, this is one a table-setting of sorts, explaining some of the reasons behind my channel. And what better place to start than with an actual dream? Seriously, that one rattled me good. As this is still in a fine-tuning stage, it will take some time to get the channel to the level it needs to be. So, constructive feedbacks are more than welcome.

The sermon was given as a part of series on the book of Acts. The passages were assigned in advance.

A sermon at the Pioneer Memorial Church on Psalm 15. I really love that particular Psalm.

A Croatian version of a talk given at the 2014 ATS Conference.

An AU Chapel talk titled "Adventist Apocalyptic in a Different Key"

A lecture on Jonathan Edwards at a time when Edwards loomed large in my thinking on aesthetics and the nature of conversion.