How to Live Well?
We inherit frameworks for living. Stoic, Confucian, Buddhist, Catholic: each tradition has spent centuries asking what it means to develop character, navigate ethical complexity, and act well in a confusing world. None has the complete answer. Together, they triangulate something useful.
My approach is empirical and comparative. I take a tradition seriously on its own terms, inhabit it for a sustained period, and document what I notice — in weekly posts, essays, and practice notes. The goal is not scholarly survey but personal integration: what does this tradition ask of me, and what does trying to meet that ask reveal?
This is also, in practice, a school of discernment. In a world of overlapping crises and competing frameworks, the question is not just "what is good?" but "which tradition should I follow, and when?" That question has no clean answer. Writing about it, slowly and over time, is my way of staying honest with it.
Follow my substack Moral Fragments for updates
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
A return to wisdom, moderation, justice and courage – this time with a stoic lens. I also share this on my Substack Moral Fragments.
The Virtues Series
Moral Patchworks
Link to series on substack
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? is an essay in fragments published in the Autumn 2023 edition of Australian literary review Meanjin.
From the Midfield is an essay in fragments published in the Spring 2024 edition of Australian literary review Meanjin.
Practice methods
Training cardinal virtues — workshop booklet.
A six-week workshop series for groups wishing to explore stoic virtues together. Originally designed for Queer Christians, easily adapted for other communities or professional environments. → [Download]
Qi Gong embodied self-reflection
A short sequence for embodied self-reflection, drawing on qi gong practice as a tool for personal discernment. A body-first complement to the written explorations. [Coming soon]