<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Seeing Clearly]]></title><description><![CDATA[Seeing Clearly]]></description><link>https://www.chrismonnette.com/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Fri, 06 Mar 2026 13:52:16 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.chrismonnette.com/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[Where Are You From?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Finding Home in What Persists. “Where are you from?”   It’s a simple question, one most of us have heard a hundred times. For me, it’s one of the hardest to answer.   There is no concrete answer, at least not in geographic terms. By the time I reached second grade, I had already lived in three states and one foreign country.   That’s the life of a Navy family. Later, the Marine Corps and a career in high tech kept the motion going.   By the time I was fifty, I had lived in more cities than I...]]></description><link>https://www.chrismonnette.com/post/where-are-you-from</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6998f86de493abd05ea9de44</guid><category><![CDATA[Emotional Growth]]></category><category><![CDATA[Meaning & Spirituality]]></category><category><![CDATA[Life Transitions]]></category><pubDate>Sat, 21 Feb 2026 00:22:44 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c962e_eca762585da64964bde55d2a2b440fbc~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Monnette</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[What Broke]]></title><description><![CDATA[I love Colorado. I have since the first time I visited more than thirty years ago. I remember thinking, I’m going to come back here someday , and I did. After sixteen winters—five after I stopped skiing—it felt like time to try something different. Marilyn, who had spent even more winters there than I had, agreed.   So we loaded up the RV and headed to Florida.   Twenty-five hours of driving and four days later, we arrived in St. Augustine. I began this essay sitting inside the RV while the...]]></description><link>https://www.chrismonnette.com/post/what-broke</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6987b86840d7c5baf3ac8024</guid><category><![CDATA[Mindfulness & Stillness]]></category><category><![CDATA[Meaning & Spirituality]]></category><category><![CDATA[Emotional Growth]]></category><pubDate>Sat, 07 Feb 2026 22:22:59 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c962e_e518e1c61abc4d8b89d1b4eb6c6bcb50~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Monnette</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Are We Living Inside a Simulation?]]></title><description><![CDATA[An essay on neuroscience, perception, and memory, examining how the brain simulates experience, why certainty is fragile, and what that means for how we understand ourselves and others.]]></description><link>https://www.chrismonnette.com/post/are-we-living-inside-a-simulation</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6949aadb604ff88d13aeafa4</guid><category><![CDATA[Meaning & Spirituality]]></category><category><![CDATA[Philosophy & Ideas]]></category><category><![CDATA[Vision Loss & Disability]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 22 Dec 2025 20:48:41 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c962e_d4d0e7ae37fe4b09a72915b0b4b5bb45~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Monnette</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Mirror is Curved]]></title><description><![CDATA[A reflective essay on identity, certainty, and change—why the self may be less solid than we think, even when we polish the mirror carefully.]]></description><link>https://www.chrismonnette.com/post/the-mirror-is-curved</link><guid isPermaLink="false">693f16669e9e3b349191e6c9</guid><category><![CDATA[Meaning & Spirituality]]></category><category><![CDATA[Philosophy & Ideas]]></category><category><![CDATA[Emotional Growth]]></category><pubDate>Sun, 14 Dec 2025 20:37:08 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c962e_0fdd09ff864c408abdb7d0f6103412ed~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Monnette</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Learning the Steps]]></title><description><![CDATA[A reflection on how dance lessons revealed the different ways my wife and I learn, and how shared effort brought us closer than the steps themselves.]]></description><link>https://www.chrismonnette.com/post/learning-the-steps</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6935b97404019cd6c2cf53f0</guid><category><![CDATA[Philosophy & Ideas]]></category><pubDate>Sun, 07 Dec 2025 17:37:10 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c962e_47eaac58bea44c859b7d14545993721f~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Monnette</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Cost of Being Fixed]]></title><description><![CDATA[A reflection on vision loss, identity, and technology’s promise to “fix” what might not be broken.]]></description><link>https://www.chrismonnette.com/post/the-cost-of-being-fixed</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69052ce2f950c2400bae71d6</guid><category><![CDATA[Vision Loss & Disability]]></category><category><![CDATA[Meaning & Spirituality]]></category><category><![CDATA[Emotional Growth]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 31 Oct 2025 21:49:45 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c962e_66d782211b824bdbacc9766f8752b047~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_975,h_761,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Monnette</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Stillness]]></title><description><![CDATA[We call it productivity, but often it’s protection—the mind’s way of staying busy to avoid what stillness might reveal.]]></description><link>https://www.chrismonnette.com/post/stillness</link><guid isPermaLink="false">68fbd9b0f591df2a57b76ee1</guid><category><![CDATA[Mindfulness & Stillness]]></category><category><![CDATA[Emotional Growth]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 24 Oct 2025 19:59:59 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c962e_94f67260aba040e29335a2800e043f45~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_975,h_650,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Monnette</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Spaces Between Us]]></title><description><![CDATA[“The Spaces Between Us” explores how the meaning of family and belonging has shifted—from the intimate bonds that once defined our lives to the vast, impersonal systems that shape them today. Through personal reflection and insights from Yuval Noah Harari and Adam Grant, Chris Monnette asks what real connection still looks like in a connected but lonely world.]]></description><link>https://www.chrismonnette.com/post/the-spaces-between-us</link><guid isPermaLink="false">68f2fe7d50873aaf5db36b23</guid><category><![CDATA[Meaning & Spirituality]]></category><category><![CDATA[Life Transitions]]></category><category><![CDATA[Philosophy & Ideas]]></category><pubDate>Sat, 18 Oct 2025 02:57:05 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c962e_5b4153444e9641ca94e7b776f17602d3~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Monnette</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Second Act]]></title><description><![CDATA[Reflections on aging, accepting what is while discovering what still can be, and finding purpose in life’s second act.]]></description><link>https://www.chrismonnette.com/post/the-second-act</link><guid isPermaLink="false">68ddeacc3501f85130a9b00c</guid><category><![CDATA[Life Transitions]]></category><category><![CDATA[Meaning & Spirituality]]></category><category><![CDATA[Emotional Growth]]></category><pubDate>Thu, 02 Oct 2025 03:03:32 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c962e_1dffb2a8e62e4ea69029a8a0f4de8662~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Monnette</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Out of the Foxhole]]></title><description><![CDATA[Creative Interchange is a process for building stronger relationships and better solutions through curiosity, respect, and shared understanding. Learn how this approach connects with emotional intelligence, Stephen Covey’s paradigms, and Malcolm Gladwell’s insights on memory.]]></description><link>https://www.chrismonnette.com/post/out-of-the-foxhole</link><guid isPermaLink="false">68cc95b4860daee44b30a747</guid><category><![CDATA[Philosophy & Ideas]]></category><category><![CDATA[Writing & Creativity]]></category><category><![CDATA[Emotional Growth]]></category><pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 23:38:05 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c962e_43b361a4497c41f6913016d2e7c47970~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Monnette</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Equations and Starlight]]></title><description><![CDATA[On a backpacking trip in Colorado’s Indian Peaks, a friend taught me differential equations on a log, and I tried to capture the Milky Way with fading eyesight. I didn’t bring home a photo, but I rediscovered the quiet joy of learning and the freedom of what I still can do.]]></description><link>https://www.chrismonnette.com/post/equations-and-starlight</link><guid isPermaLink="false">68bc8b37b3939f37105979fa</guid><category><![CDATA[Mindfulness & Stillness]]></category><category><![CDATA[Meaning & Spirituality]]></category><category><![CDATA[Vision Loss & Disability]]></category><pubDate>Sat, 06 Sep 2025 19:39:41 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c962e_64e6099c136840c398590d83bc246e03~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Monnette</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Expansive or Contracted]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Mind I Choose I like to think of myself as someone with an expansive perspective, someone who tries to stay open and curious. But I can catch myself shrinking fast, especially when it comes to politics. Over my life I’ve probably voted Republican more often than Democrat, but in recent elections I’ve moved much farther to the left. I’m quick to pin unflattering labels on today’s Republicans, dismissing their motives outright. Some of those criticisms may be fair at times. But if I’m...]]></description><link>https://www.chrismonnette.com/post/expansive-or-contracted</link><guid isPermaLink="false">68b0f1fd083118f1daaaa308</guid><category><![CDATA[Emotional Growth]]></category><category><![CDATA[Meaning & Spirituality]]></category><category><![CDATA[Mindfulness & Stillness]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 29 Aug 2025 00:29:44 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c962e_e839a593476544b0b9149c8e924bcd13~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Monnette</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Better the Devil You Know?]]></title><description><![CDATA[I never set out to be a writer. In fact, I did everything I could to avoid it. But life has a strange way of teaching us through the paths we resist most. Sometimes the real gift isn’t the devil you know, but the angel you don’t.]]></description><link>https://www.chrismonnette.com/post/better-the-devil-you-know</link><guid isPermaLink="false">68acd35e42d52051831aa66c</guid><category><![CDATA[Writing & Creativity]]></category><category><![CDATA[Life Transitions]]></category><category><![CDATA[Philosophy & Ideas]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 25 Aug 2025 21:27:11 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c962e_f13baa9310354c689f458bb8db4d43e0~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Monnette</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Reacting, Responding, and the Wounds We Carry]]></title><description><![CDATA[A message from a former colleague stirred emotions I thought were long behind me. It reminded me how easily old scars can ache—and how acceptance, not reactivity, is what frees us.]]></description><link>https://www.chrismonnette.com/post/reacting-responding-and-the-wounds-we-carry</link><guid isPermaLink="false">68a7a06312a9126f7a97f118</guid><category><![CDATA[Meaning & Spirituality]]></category><category><![CDATA[Mindfulness & Stillness]]></category><category><![CDATA[Emotional Growth]]></category><pubDate>Thu, 21 Aug 2025 22:51:13 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c962e_5671713eb3cd4c35b74d2b7e62704bea~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_900,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Monnette</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Moments of Beauty]]></title><description><![CDATA[Beauty isn’t something to capture or measure. It’s something to notice and feel: a quiet forest, a sailboat on the water, a piece of music that lingers in the heart. These are the moments that stay with us.]]></description><link>https://www.chrismonnette.com/post/moments-of-beauty</link><guid isPermaLink="false">68a23bbd34b07f0731c14380</guid><category><![CDATA[Meaning & Spirituality]]></category><category><![CDATA[Vision Loss & Disability]]></category><category><![CDATA[Mindfulness & Stillness]]></category><pubDate>Sun, 17 Aug 2025 20:47:43 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c962e_c202466e1ffb4b78a588a89d045180d6~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Monnette</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Am I Still Useful?]]></title><description><![CDATA[What does it mean to be "useful” once the career milestones are behind you? For most of my life, my value was measured in numbers — revenue, deals closed, jobs created. These days, my usefulness shows up in quieter ways: walking with my wife through life’s changes, encouraging a friend, or sharing words that spark reflection.
This post explores learning to fill my own well first so I can keep giving to others, and discovering that purpose can be found in small, intentional acts.]]></description><link>https://www.chrismonnette.com/post/am-i-still-useful</link><guid isPermaLink="false">68990d074d23f3b354188251</guid><category><![CDATA[Meaning & Spirituality]]></category><category><![CDATA[Life Transitions]]></category><category><![CDATA[Emotional Growth]]></category><category><![CDATA[Vision Loss & Disability]]></category><pubDate>Sun, 10 Aug 2025 21:30:31 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c962e_ba83a55e4040491bb199e88f3c3c769c~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Monnette</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Stone in the Stream]]></title><description><![CDATA[What a worn rock taught me about acceptance, peace, and the search for something deeper I picked up a stone last week. It sat half-submerged in the creek that runs through the Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Center near Ward, Colorado, where I had been camping alone as part of a weeklong silent solo retreat. Much of those five days “on the land” were spent beside that creek: listening to the water, feeling the breeze on my face, watching the aspens sway above me, each one reaching a little...]]></description><link>https://www.chrismonnette.com/post/the-stone-in-the-stream</link><guid isPermaLink="false">688e48f47ae5e5096a950fad</guid><category><![CDATA[Mindfulness & Stillness]]></category><category><![CDATA[Meaning & Spirituality]]></category><category><![CDATA[Philosophy & Ideas]]></category><pubDate>Sat, 02 Aug 2025 17:53:39 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c962e_f64a3c485d1f4d86ac12df52857ad2fd~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Monnette</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Second Arrow]]></title><description><![CDATA[A Story About Suffering, Accepting, and the Choice to Begin Again I reached out to a friend the other day to see how he was doing. We’d previously talked about a health concern he was dealing with. It didn’t sound life-threatening or life-changing at the time; just something worrisome. Something that needed to be understood and resolved. His two-sentence reply stopped me cold. He said he was learning that it was part of something far more serious than I had expected or imagined. Certainly...]]></description><link>https://www.chrismonnette.com/post/the-second-arrow</link><guid isPermaLink="false">68840e1d6ab2534c7b036077</guid><category><![CDATA[Meaning & Spirituality]]></category><category><![CDATA[Emotional Growth]]></category><category><![CDATA[Philosophy & Ideas]]></category><pubDate>Sat, 26 Jul 2025 16:35:05 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c962e_99a88bafe79841de810b578c775812d3~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_900,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Monnette</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[When the Lights Come On]]></title><description><![CDATA[What is consciousness? Is it fundamental or emergent? Maybe the only thing that matters is that we ask the question.]]></description><link>https://www.chrismonnette.com/post/when-the-lights-come-on</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6880097256d6ad4c0ef0c6a5</guid><category><![CDATA[Meaning & Spirituality]]></category><category><![CDATA[Philosophy & Ideas]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 22 Jul 2025 22:04:16 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c962e_808a260b82704046bf5b07f0524cfb8f~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_741,h_741,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Monnette</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[When Belief Replaces Truth]]></title><description><![CDATA[How tribalism, not truth, became our moral compass. Here’s an astonishing fact: in the last two-thousand years, approximately 60 billion people have been born into this world. More than 55 billion of them—over 90%—have since died. Roughly 95% of those deaths can be attributed to just five causes: 30–35 billion from infectious diseases like smallpox, plague, tuberculosis, malaria, pneumonia, flu, cholera, and measles. 10–15 billion from childbirth complications and infant mortality; for most...]]></description><link>https://www.chrismonnette.com/post/when-belief-replaces-truth</link><guid isPermaLink="false">687eba4b56d6ad4c0eed1cfd</guid><category><![CDATA[Philosophy & Ideas]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 21 Jul 2025 22:11:51 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c962e_f83a7467911444969c7aca621ca4eb4b~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Chris Monnette</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>