Ben Franklin’s definition of sincerity: Use no hurtful deceit. Think innocently and justly; and, if you speak, speak accordingly. Sincerity is a virtue we don’t hear much about these days. We’re more likely to hear about strategy. But with strategic communication being lobbed at us from all directions, sincerity has a definite appeal. Most of […]
What happens when you go on a Sedona Philosophy retreat? You get a better understanding of your own life. Last Week’s Retreat Last week on the Finding Your Soul in Nature Retreat participants explored their inner lives in the natural world, and challenged some fundamental western ideas of what humanity’s place in nature is and […]
Spirituality and Voting Spirituality and voting? Yes, you read that correctly. There is a connection between the inner spiritual life and the outer political one. Individuals do not live merely as individuals, but as individuals within a larger human and natural community. The health, vitality, and well-being of one depends upon the other. Working on […]
In our Exploring Artificial Intelligence Retreat we use the word ‘artificial intelligence’ or ‘AI’ because AI is closer to what most people think of when they think of a human-created technology that begins to take on human-like qualities, such as autonomy. Machine Learning Most people working in this field use the term ‘machine learning.’ […]
Describing ourselves should be easy. Who knows better than we do what we can do, and what we can’t? Our talents? Our tastes? Two Benefits We’re often asked to describe ourselves. Doing this in a straightforward and honest way has two benefits: It helps others. (They know who they are dealing with.) It is […]
Photo April 30, 2017 by Deborah Lee Soltesz. Credit: U.S. Forest Service Coconino National Forest. So often we think of darkness as a bad thing. Naturally, we prefer to be able to see things clearly. But it is also good to have moments when very little can be clearly seen. This is the time we […]
It’s only been in the last few years that I began to realize, as I hiked the numerous trails of Sedona, that in my own way I was “reading” nature – that in some ways it had a voice I was listening to. And then, when I came across this ancient idea, it struck a […]
“…to be able to live [one] must either not see the infinite, or have such an explanation of the meaning of life as will connect the finite with the infinite.” –Leo Tolstoy Meaning No matter who you are or what your life is like, everyone faces a crisis of meaning at some point. It seems […]
The Sedona Philosophy is a practice that connects people to one another and to nature. We emphasize that it is a practice because it is more about doing than believing. Just like a yoga practice builds strength and flexibility of the body, a philosophy practice builds strength and flexibility of the mind. Of […]
Lawyers are told not to ask witnesses leading questions in court. But all questions lead somewhere. Usually, the kind of question we ask determines the kind of answer we get. Factual questions are easy to ask, and they get asked a lot. In Sedona, people often wonder, “Why are the rocks red, and how […]