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Feliz ’07, adios ’06

Feliz ’07, adios ’06

Last updated on: January 4, 2007 at 2:32 am by Justin Whitaker

Feliz ’07, adios ’06 2007-01-04T02:32:00-07:00 Justin Whitaker

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Ok, so I’m a little slow to join the ’07 celebration in the blog-world. I did manage to kick it off well on New Year’s night though. Wii play and wine, countdown at the Union Club with beer and champagne, and a nightcap of whiskey at a friend’s house. So for me ’07 started properly on the 2nd. On the first I was lazy and hung-over, I ate dry toast and watched “The Ghost and the Darkness” with roommates. But since then it’s been non-stop work, class (Philosophy of Religion 3 hours a day), reading, working on my teaching essay, and a Ph.D. application. Ironically, despite my better intentions this may be my busiest year yet!

BUT, before that madness tumbles in, a look back at ’06.

My 2006 began much as ’07, with drinks and a night out with friends. But then I had nothing to do and as seems to happen with me in Missoula winters, my mood slipped quickly into blue. Thankfully, by January 9th I was on a plane headed to Hawai’i for a conference. The trip saved me, infusing me with enough sunshine and good spirits to get me through the ensuing weeks back in Montana.

When spring semester classes started I was off and running. Still managing abundant spare time (I lived on loans and worked sparingly), I wrote about Authenticity, Einstein, Evolution, Existentialist broodings, Darwin (and Daniel Dennett), the STILL MISSING Panchen Lama of Tibet, and my admiration for the Catholic monk Thomas Merton.

Soon after classes began I also found out that Ana would be visiting (still referring to her then as my ‘lovely Spanish lady-friend‘, now she is mi amor, my very beautiful love).

As March began I was still deeply involved with classes, work, and preparations for the soon-to-come miss Ana. I mused about Buddhism in Politics and wrote a long piece anticipating my Sartre term-paper on wrestling with the self [with the YOU diagram here]. I heard from some old Bristol friends who had made it to India (one as a teacher, the other returning home to Calcutta).

Then I bragged about reflected on having won a couple Blogisattava awards and unhappily ripped on contemporary philosophy. Then, as mid-semester woes nearly overcame me, I managed an uplifting trilogy on a weekend Zen retreat:

Then in some very different St. Patty’s day posts I wished my Dad (Patrick) a happy birthday and then had a very, very long conversation with Tom about the ethics/issues surrounding the Catholic Church and a St. Patty’s day parade.

On a much mellower note, I mentioned the unsurpassed beauty of the art exhibit Ashes and Snow (a real must-see) and some Buddhist videos from FPMT.

March ended with a post from Las Vegas (where I was vacationing WITH ANA!!!). April found me back in Montana – back at work – back in school and Ana… back to Spain:

“Yesterday Ana left to return to Spain, and I returned to work, engulfed in sadness. The two weeks she was here were wonderful, magical, and thoroughly joyful. Our travels, our conversations, our spontaneous moments of affection, our quiet embraces, and even the normal activities of day to day life all had an air of perfection, of beauty.”

(and some pics)

Finally – May came along with finals, a conference, illness, and overall craziness of life. And after it all, some reflection on the stormy semester.

The end of the school year brought Al Gore (An Inconvenient Truth) more work on my Cosmology paper – my epic post on the Bohmian interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, thoughts on my Masters Thesis (which I should be thinking about again about now!), and a look back at my Bristol cohort (the other three MA-Buddhism students that I worked with).

In June I received the astounding and wonderful news that I may become an Instructor at the University – leading me to reflect on just where I was (as a person, a Buddhist, a student, etc). With more free time, I reflected more on life, coming up with the simple advice: face it:

“In life what is needed is less a map and more a compass. There are no predetermined destinations or universal landmarks here, but as long as our ‘life compass’ points toward ‘more genuine caring for other people’ then we’re going the right way.”

I also managed a couple of my very rare posts on politics: the rhetoric of political participation and one on the very real advantages of teaching religion in the classroom.

Halfway there…

Chilling out on my front porch on the fourth of July, I pondered the meaning of life (really just a defense of my introversion). Then I got all social for some reason (proving I could be extroverted if I wanted to) and found a little gem of a Heideggarian parallel to Buddhist thought. Lastly in July, I let all of the environmentalism around me sink in a bit, buying a Terrapass, vowing to reduce my footprint in other ways, and attending (& co-organizing) a panel discussion on the environment.

August was mellow (blog-wise), with a bit about my last-minute move across town and packing to go to Spain, a bit on B. Alan Wallace, some post-Spain musings (You’ll notice from the current blog title that I’m becoming bilingual… hehe), a nice, short description of one of my more hectic days, and yet another post on my Catholic hero Thomas Merton. Then there were two posts on TEACHING (the terrified night before, and after the first day) and finally a note on my fall courses.

Highlights from September include my post on Buddhist responses to 9/11, and some deeper thoughts on teaching (see the whole month).

In October I got grumpy (overworked) again. I also got out on a beautiful hike into some of Montana’s extraordinary Wilderness. Then I eked out some blog posts on epistemology (anxiety), a cold, and a snippet of Hegel (with some good conversation).

I was still pretty worn out through November, blogging half-heartedly on life and the elections and after all concluding:

“But… The laundry is done. The Kant paper awaits. Life intrudes. And we just keep going.”

I ranted about Kant and Community and posted a very fun, personal (lots of pics) Thanks-giving. Finally, I posted more about Kant (and difficult people (like me and Tom) , and ‘The Secret’, an interesting Australian film about how to live the good life (oddly they don’t mention blogging at all).

Finally came December. I whined about finals (again), celebrated the semester of teaching, and contemplated the meaning of the end of the semester, immediately thereafter beginning work on an essay about teaching from a Buddhist perspective! Finally, December, and 2006, ended for me in the blog-world with a personal post about going with my mother and nephew to midnight Mass before Christmas.

Over all, a great year. Hawaii, a ‘Distinction’ on my MA, two Buddhist retreats (Zen in Spring, and a Theravada retreat in the fall), a trip to Spain, a roadtrip across the western US, five whole weeks all together with my beloved Ana (crazy long-distance relationships!), a couple more steps toward a Philosophy MA, lots of fun with friends, the beginning of a teaching career, and so much more…

I’d love to say more but I’m sleepy and it’s time that I start paying a bit more attention to 2007 anyway. So adios ’06, hola ’07.

[written Friday, 1/6/07 10-11:30pm, some revisions made 1/7/07, 3:4opm]

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