Hi, my name’s Jaswinder. You can call me Jas. I write about growing smarter, stronger, wiser and happier.
My Latest Posts
- Why haven’t I posted anything in over a year?In 2025, a father reclaimed his daughter after uncovering years of hidden abuse, neglect, and maternal mental health decline that had separated them since 2020, culminating in a hard-fought court victory granting full custody and a three-year restraining order.
- When Nothing Else Works, “Nothing” Will Work: chapter 11 of the Tao Te ChingBinary thinking. Black and white thinking. All-or-nothing thinking. “False dichotomies.” Finally, us and them, friend and enemy. These are all names and phrases that point at the same inflexible attitude toward life; an attitude that only leads to conflict. If it must truly be one or the other, either/or, then we are always engaged inContinue reading “When Nothing Else Works, “Nothing” Will Work: chapter 11 of the Tao Te Ching”
- Asking The Right Questions: chapter 10 of the Tao Te ChingThis is the part of the movie when everything stops – facial expressions are fixed, the overturned coffee, flying bullets, or an impudent domestic cat is suspended midair, and we have a chance to stare at what would normally be over in an instant. Cue the voiceover saying, “how did I get here, you ask?”Continue reading “Asking The Right Questions: chapter 10 of the Tao Te Ching”
- The Tao of Diminishing Returns: a Sage knows when to stopThe Tao Te Ching is a manual for being yourself. A manual for living in the world without losing touch with what matters most: your own self, who senses, feels, thinks, imagines, reasons, judges, and decides. The subtle something that is there when you’re truly present, but whose absence renders everything subjectively meaningless. I saidContinue reading “The Tao of Diminishing Returns: a Sage knows when to stop”
- Make It Look Easy: how to become like waterI want to tell you about something strange that happened to me. A few birthdays ago, I noticed a switch had flipped in my head. Not on the very day, but the morning after. It hasn’t switched back. All of a sudden, everything in me said, “it’s time.” I went from wanting to want theContinue reading “Make It Look Easy: how to become like water”
- Less Theory, More Practice: applying the Tao Te Ching to a modern lifePart 1: Mortality When I was a small child, I was wildly imaginative (were you the same way?). I would draw, play with toys, or simply project my imaginings onto the sky while gazing up at clouds, or into the cityscapes visible through car windows as my mom or dad drove me and my brotherContinue reading “Less Theory, More Practice: applying the Tao Te Ching to a modern life”
- “The Eternal Feminine Lures To Perfection” – how the Tao Te Ching reflects on motherhoodI don’t know about you, but my biggest limitation is time. I wanted to say “skill,” but the limiting factor in skill is probably time, too. I’m the most skilled at the things I’ve spent the most time on. If I want to get better at the things I really want to be better atContinue reading ““The Eternal Feminine Lures To Perfection” – how the Tao Te Ching reflects on motherhood”
- Only The Ruthless Can See Clearly Enough To Be Helpful: Chapter 5 of the Tao Te ChingOne ring to rule them all. That’s the famous line from The Lord Of The Rings. The ONE ring, the one source of power that controls all the rest. There were other rings, many others in fact, that were given to numerous people in various positions of power, but, secretly, one ring controlled them all.Continue reading “Only The Ruthless Can See Clearly Enough To Be Helpful: Chapter 5 of the Tao Te Ching”
- How To Drop The Persona And Become A Person: my interpretation of the Tao Te ChingI’d like to begin by telling you a bit of my origin story. When I decided to memorize the Tao Te Ching, I knew it wouldn’t be easy. It wouldn’t be easy because memorizing roughly 5000 words isn’t the kind of thing you just wake up one day and accomplish before going to bed. ItContinue reading “How To Drop The Persona And Become A Person: my interpretation of the Tao Te Ching”
- What Is Self Evident Is the Door To The Subtle: decoding chapter 2 of the Tao Te ChingWhat does it mean to understand the world? If I say I do, what is it that I’m really saying? That the world as such is no longer a problem for me. Existence is not a problem, and life no longer requires justification. I no longer require justification, because I am a constituent of aContinue reading “What Is Self Evident Is the Door To The Subtle: decoding chapter 2 of the Tao Te Ching”
Make Beautiful Choices 