The Emergent Self

Questioning what we're told it means to be human

Articles

Longer essays on how a self is formed, wounded, and remade — drawing on research into humiliation and dignity, on philosophy, and on lived experience. Choose a topic to narrow the list.

Watercolor of an older hand resting gently on another person's open hand across a wooden table, symbolizing human presence beyond thoughts and prayers

Beyond “Thoughts and Prayers”: A Former Priest on Where Healing Really Happens

A former priest on why "thoughts and prayers" fall short, and how presence, practical help, and human connection carry the healing that prayer once promised.
A hiker stands at a fork between a wide, easy road and a narrow, rocky path climbing into misty woods, with index cards scattered along the narrow path

The Road Less Traveled: Why Becoming Asks More Than Getting

Why do most of us take the path of least resistance? A dissertation Chair, nine drafts, and a social constructionist look at what it means to become, not just get.
Older woman standing in an open doorway, looking out from a cozy room onto sunlit countryside — starting over later in life

Starting Over Later in Life: Why We Never Stop Becoming

We tend to think becoming happens early, and that after middle age we just maintain what we have. My retired friends prove otherwise.