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Zen here….

Charles Cameron recently made his 500th post here at zenpundit.com making Charles currently the most prolific of the three of us blogging here this year Not only prolific, but the range and depth of subject matter that Charles commands in the study of religious extremism, cults, apocalyptic movements, psychology and mytho-poetic culture and symbolism have enriched the national security, foreign policy and strategic orientation of the blog.  As have the dialogues Charles has opened here (and on twitter) with scholars like David Ronfeldt, Tim Furnish, Leah Farrall and Daveed Garstein-Ross.  Charles has shed light on subjects like the motivations of the Fort Hood shooter, Major Hasan or the  theological-political critique of the Pussy Riot protest against Putin that few other bloggers or analysts could have managed.

Sadly, it is my duty to report that Mr. Cameron, despite his active posting here, is facing some very significant health and consequently financial challenges that have come together  in a perfect storm. I know that Charles has many friends and former colleagues reading from all over the world who regularly enjoy his writing.

If you are one of these people, I am asking you to consider two options, if you have liked and feel that you have learned from what Charles has done here:

1. If you are a publisher, think tanker or private equity in need of  employing an analyst, writer, researcher or collaborator, that you consider Charles Cameron.

2. That you consider making a one time donation to help Charles defray the costs of his pressing medical expenses, which will help keep him posting here for your enjoyment.

Please send any offers and inquiries directly to Charles Cameron at:

hipbonegamer@gmail.com 

On behalf of Charles, Scott and myself, I would like to extend congratulations to our esteemed friend Lexington Green,  for the honor he has received.

Some of you may recall the blogger Kotare a.k.a Peter Hodge, who sometimes commented here and at Chicago Boyz blog. He has been inactive in the strategy-mil blogosphere for several years.

Lexington Green and I have an important issue we need to discuss with Mr. Hodge. The email address he used previously with his blog has not yielded any response.

If anyone is in touch with Peter, please ask him to contact me via this blog.

If anyone has a suggestion regarding where I might contact him, please
contact me via this blog.

Lately, I have been struggling with a moderate case of writer’s block.

Some of the problem stems from a growing weariness of returning time and again to limited number of subjects.  I admire those who can drill a very narrow topical field day in a day out , but to me that feels like a rut and a rut soon leads to boredom.  Consequently, I now find myself staring at a computer screen rather more often than typing away at the keyboard and not enjoying it.

A second problem, I suspect, is too often trying to persevere in writing in an unsuitable, chaotic, environment full of distractions. As anyone who writes with seriousness knows, loved ones will ignore you for hours on end, but should you sit down to write anything you will suddenly become a magnet for children, the dog, your spouse, phone calls from old friends and neighbors at the door . Stringing words coherently becomes difficult because writing is an art, not a component of multitasking.

So today, I did something different.

Instead of sitting at my desk, I went outside and sat at the patio table in the sun and fresh air. The electronic devices were left inside, but I brought a long, yellow legal pad and a medium thickness blue sharpie ( I’d have preferred black). I lit a Cohiba and had an ice cold beer with me and a couple of books, in case I felt like reading ( The Makers of Strategy and Everitt’s bio of  Hadrian). It was unusually quiet.

And then I began to write. Bullet points, notes, phrases, diagrams interspersed with some sketching. Some notes were connected to others with arrows. Ideas were flowing (some were crossed out later) and the rough approximation of an argument took shape. It was’t a moment of epiphany – just a solid, uninterrupted, focused, productive hour of writing and deep reflection that filled a couple of pages on my legal pad. How uncommon that has become.

And after that, I felt much better.

[ by Charles Cameron — one bead from NASA for the glass bead game as rosary ]
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photo credit: Norman Kuring, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
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Consider her sacred, treat her with care.