Honest Scrap Award

Last updated on: May 9, 2009 at 6:14 am by Justin Whitaker

Honest Scrap Award 2009-05-09T06:14:00-06:00 Justin Whitaker

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Danny Fisher over at Chaplain Danny has bestowed upon me an “Honest Scrap Award.” The award is described as follows:

This award is bestowed upon a fellow blogger whose blog content or design is, in the giver’s opinion, brilliant. This award is about bloggers who post from their heart, who oftentimes put their heart on display as they write from the depths of their soul.

Just when I thought my ego could grow no larger, Danny comes along and says the nicest things about me (all of which are true and bear repeating… daily if possible):

Justin Whitaker: the man, the myth, the legend. Justin is someone I’m delighted to have a real-life friendship with, in part because I think he’s tremendously good at this blogging thang. I remember thinking before I met him in person, “Gosh, I hope we hit it off, because I can tell from the blog: this guy is really something.” In bestowing this award upon me, Scott noted that I tend not to “deviate too far into [my] own personal trials and tribulations.” One of the things I admire so much about Justin is that he can write just as skillfully about aspects of his personal life as he can about Buddhist ethics (his particular area of expertise). I’m looking forward to Montreal, sir!

Wow. Sheesh. (ego needs a bigger room) Thanks, Danny!*

Now then, the rules of the Honest Scrap Award stipulate that I am to:

brag about it;
choose a minimum of seven blogs that I find brilliant;
and list ten honest things about myself.

I think I have number one taken care of.

Seven brilliant blogs huh? How about eight?

A Buddhist Catholic: Debbie’s is one of only a few that I read each new post closely. Such reading, I find, pays off as one journeys with her through nature, deep questions, and the depths of the heart where Buddhism and Catholicism are one. In terms of spirituality I see much of myself, or who I aspire to be, in her words and adventures.
Vesper in Limbo: Miss Vesper, aka Kristen, is about as honest as it gets, in touch with the ebs and flows of life at their highest highs and deepest lows. Her writing and eye for photography inspire creativity and conversation around the world. She is what we might call an evolving being in touch with her daily, even momentary, evolution.
Dharma Brother Pete: Reading Pete’s blog is like riding a bumpy slide into the heart of Buddhadharma. That’s probably a terrible analogy. But in his words we find both an ardent search and sudden fruits of his sincere practice. The bumps are found in glimpses of his past, which like many of us, reveal the all-too-human side of practicing the Dharma. Pete’s humanity is not a vice though, but a virtue, for it reaches out to each of us as we encounter life’s bumps, unsure of what is yet to come.
Bodhi Tree Swaying: This is the blog of my first meditation teacher, Bodhipaksa. Despite his subtitle: “Random Thoughts of a Western Buddhist,” his writing brings us into a life that is anything but random, and is instead guided by over a quarter-century of Buddhist practice and the resulting maha-karuna for the world. From his books on vegetarianism and meditation, to his prison volunteer work, to his adopted daughter Maia (and now a son), we find endless avenues of exploration, to admiration, and inspiration.
Jayarava’s Raves: I can barely keep up with Jayarava’s blog posts, but I am in awe of how much research and knowledge he packs into his writing. Each short essay there could easily consume a day of reading, discussion, and further research on my part. His is a blog that I look up to as an aspiring academic writer as much as I do for its purely Buddhist content. It is one that reminds me of how much work I still have to do!
The Columbia Center for Buddhist Studies Weblog: Or Coce BuStu (my name for it) for short. Not so much a blog as a portal of Blogs and resources from Columbia University in NYC. It is yet another inspiration for myself and other inspiring academics.
A drivel Runs Through It – The great miss Patia! Stop by for the photos, stay for the prose. Patia weaves her own life into the fabric of Montana’s history and endless vistas like no one else. I’ve seen many a commenter on her blog say that they feel as if they are in Montana just reading and seeing her pics. She is on her way to great things.
In the Moment: Honesty can be both brutal and funny. If I could possibly be less long-winded, and funny, and real, I would try to write just like Beatnikchik. But I can’t, so I bow fully to her for my daily doses of pithy, hilarious reality. Book publishers: get this woman on a contract. Now.

Speaking of long-winded, ten honest things about myself:

1. I can fly, I just try not to tell anybody.
2. #1 is a lie.
3.

After long days, when I’m tired and maybe had a beer or glass of wine (and even without) I can get a bit silly. This is one of those times. Tonight’s silliness comes not from libations, sadly, but from anticipation of tomorrow’s 12k trail run…
Just over two years ago I almost stopped blogging. Relationship ‘stuff’ was taking over my thoughts and thus my blog posts, and I felt it would be best if I took some time away to work things out. After some reflection and kind words from fellow bloggers and friends, I plugged along. Things never did work out with my girlfriend at the time, but happily we are still friends and the same stubbornness that kept us apart then has led us into the rich and fascinating lives we live today.
I’ve been in one abusive relationship. The abuse was short-lived. I left. Yet it was still intense, bewildering and painful. Great friends (including Jen and Patia), a strong family, and practicing Gratitude and loving-kindness sustained me through the hardest of it.
Back to happier points, I drew applause from my 180 or so students on the final day of the Intro to Buddhism course I taught at The University of Montana in the fall of 2006. I could not have asked for a happier ending to the course that I had poured so much of my heart and soul into. The experience was like no other in my life, before or since. I owe unending gratitude to many people for its success. The foremost is Alan Sponberg, the UM professor for whom I TA’ed for 3 years, learning not only the content of the course, but the joyful way it may be conveyed. Another is Jay Parini, whose wonderful little book, “The Art of Teaching” should be required reading for not only teachers, but everyone who aspires to lead and inspire young minds. Not least though were the wonderful students – thank you all who were there.
As a youth I believed Montana was the world. All beyond it was incomprehensible and uninteresting. Philosophy studies opened me to countless new worlds, geographically and intellectually, shattering forever the illusion that these mountains and rugged hills and valleys might hold all that my heart could need. I’ve traveled. I’ve grown. I’ve studied. I’ve returned (for now).
Unlike Danny (see his #3) and many other Honest Scrap Award-winners it seems, I don’t swear much. However, I do catch myself saying “F^&k-a-duck;” quietly to myself sometimes. The phrase came to me from, of all appropriate places, my mother. We were in the heart of Paris. I was 15. My mom was driving a newly rented Opel econo-car and we found ourselves in a roundabout of mythic proportions. Trapped by zippy French drivers, we circled again and again, unable to get outside when our appointed exit approached. Finally, my mom turned off on the first side-street she could actually get to and pulled over. Gripping the steering-wheel with white knuckles and to the simultaneous horror and bemusement of my sister and I, she uttered those three words over and over again.
The list of people for whom I am deeply grateful has grown ten-fold in the last couple years.
I aspire to run a marathon, travel to China, move to Hong Kong, present a paper at the largest gathering of religious studies academics in the world, publish in 2 journals, and wrap up a Ph.D. in the next 15 months or so. And I still consider myself to be lazy.
When I was 18 I took two I.Q. tests. One put me at 146, just into the genius range, the other at 120 or so, moderatly above average. Based on these, using my now above average intelligence, I concluded two things: 1) IQ test results can vary, a lot, and 2) I should stop now, as I seem to be getting dumber with each new test.
I’m not big on rules (and I’m lazy, see #8). 9 is enough. If you’ve gotten this far, I owe it to you to stop 🙂 Go read one of those wonderful blogs mentioned above. And thank you.

* some 5/12 updates

Uncategorized

Previous Post

May 5, 2009

Morning fun run

Next Post

May 12, 2009 A 22 Mile Week

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Academia Activism American Buddhism Art Book review Buddhism Buddhism Today Buddhist Ethics Burma/Myanmar China Christianity Commodification Environment Gender Happiness Health Humor India Interfaith Islam Japanese Buddhism Kant Media / News Meditation mindfulness Photography Poetry Politics quicktakes Running Teaching Technology Thailand Theism/Atheism Theravada Tibet Tibetan Buddhism Travels Uncategorized Unitarian Universalism video Western Philosophy Zen

Select a Month June 2021 January 2021 November 2020 August 2020 July 2020 March 2020 January 2020 October 2019 August 2019 June 2019 May 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 November 2004 September 2004 August 2004

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz