How to Live Well?
The world is complex and mostly out of our control. But we do have some influence over the habits we form, of thought and action. The question is then: which habits should we develop?
Many traditions have a list of character traits that, cultivated over time, raise the probability of living well. Practicing those will not guarantee results, but it does shift the odds. I find that wisdom worth taking seriously. So, I've spent two decades moving through those traditions: Stoic, Confucian, Buddhist, Catholic.
I take each tradition seriously, and adopt its core principles for a period of time. I document what I notice in blog posts and essays – now on my Substack, Moral Fragments. Let’s call it empirical ethics.
Featured
Against Tragedy
To live well in a fragmenting world without amplifying harmful patterns, is there something I could learn by turning not towards Eastern or indigenous traditions, but my own European past? This essay on staying human in the polycrisis was published in Meanjin, 2026.
Stoic Virtues
In 2025, I returned to wisdom, moderation, justice and courage, this time with a stoic lens. I practiced those virtues in turn, over 13 sequences of four weeks, and shared my insights on a new Substack, Moral Fragments.
The Virtues Series
Moral Patchworks
In 2025, I spent the year exploring Stoic virtues. Some of the notes I took didn't fit the sustained practice format, but still wouldn't stay quiet. I pasted them together in a series of nine moral patchworks.
Cardinal Virtues
In 2017, I spent the year exploring and cultivating the four cardinal virtues – Prudence, Temperance, Justice and Fortitude – and wrote a weekly post to share my progress and insights.
The Seven Deadly Sins
After a year with virtues, I took a seven week reflective pause to focus instead on the Catholic list of seven deadly sins – or seven forms of improper attachment to the world.
Confucian Virtues
In 2018, with my friend Patrick Laudon, I practiced and wrote about the five Confucian virtues – 仁，义，礼，智， 信 – to connect classical philology to practice.
Buddhist Virtues
In 2018, I explored the Buddhist Tradition of the four Brahmavihara or ‘sublime attitudes’ – Metta, Mudita, Karuna, UppekhaI – and their associated meditation practices.
A philosophical dialogue on values
In 2019, I got online weekly with my ‘virtue-buddy’ Patrick Laudon. Each session, we pulled a card from a pack of ‘values card’, and held an improvised conversation on the topic.
Moral reflections
This has long been the running handle on my blog. This looser set of posts gathers general views and observations, offering an ethical promenade through our contemporary world.
Published Essays
Who Should Die, and What Should we do With the Bodies?
An essay in fragments commissioned for the Autumn 2023 edition of Australian literary review Meanjin. Where I reflect on the cardinal virtues against a background of global catastrophic risk, AI, and Solarpunk futures.
From the Midfield
An essay in fragments published in the Spring 2024 edition of Australian literary review Meanjin. Where I take an ethical look at ‘mid-field’ professionalism: conservation, delays, excellence, obfuscation, articulation.
Transformative Learning – Reflections and Methods
WHAT IS LEARNING?
My early professional life unfolded in universities, teaching grammar, translation and linguistics. From early on, pedagogy has been core to my practice. This series shares reflections on learning as personal transformation.
Landscape your life
Taking an original path is impossible unless you're willing to live in uncertainty long enough for the right idea to find its shape. Landscape your life is a structured coaching program designed specifically to build that muscle. It proposes a method to get in touch with your desire for the future, and a set of tools that you can use at your own pace to capture, refine and crystallise what you want your future professional life to be. I wrote a self-guided booklet so you can work through the process on your own. You can read it here (in beta version).
Exploring virtues — workshop booklet.
A six-week workshop series for groups wishing to explore cardinal virtues together. Originally designed for QChristian, a community group engaging with LGBTIQ+ Christians, it can be easily adapted for other communities or environments. Read it here
Qi Gong embodied self-reflection (coming up)
A short sequence of movements for embodied self-reflection, drawing on qi gong practice as a tool for personal discernment. A body-first complement to head-heavy practices.