Welcome to my little corner of the internet

A new blog space

We often forget just how imperceptibly vast the internet is. So for you to end up here of all places is a mini-miracle — and I couldn’t be happier.

But where exactly are you? And who have you stumbled upon?

I’m Rose. I don’t have any fancy titles other than thinker and writer. So, I’ve created Be Astonished as a passion project for me to channel my ponderings — and in the process, find a like-minded community of people who ponder, too.

The blog’s title, Be Astonished, was inspired by Mary Oliver’s poem, Sometimes, where she describes the instructions for living as: '“Pay attention, be astonished, tell about it.”

My hope is that this blog will provoke new thoughts, ideas, and questions for you — and that you’ll go out and tell about it all, too.

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This blog, defined

In a bit more detail, the blog will be an exploration of some of our core assumptions about the nature of our own existence. Do we have free will? And what does free will even mean? Why is our conscious experience so vivid? Are humans fundamentally good? How should we let tech and work and education influence us? What practices or routines can we adopt to reshape our lives?

As noted before, I’m not a scientist or a philosopher or an expert — but my goal is to show you that you don’t need to be to step into this line of thought.

Many of these questions have occupied humans for millennia, leading to galaxies worth of ideas and yet few real answers or solutions. Our knowledge of this terrain is ever-expanding, so I believe we all have a place in its exploration.

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What you can expect here

Unfortunately, no real answers or solutions yet again. My questions are big in scope (sometimes, probably too big), so they’re simply meant to ease us into an idea or a new way of thinking about something or an old way of thinking I particularly enjoy — all with my personal spin.

Sometimes, I’ll reference authors, historical texts, podcasts and other outside media. Almost everything I cite here, I’ve found valuable in one way or another, and they all offer deeper dives into topics the blog touches on.

Since this forum is meant to help us build a bit of digital community, I welcome open-minded comments with your thoughts, questions, and responses. This is a dynamic space — and your voice can be part of it.

Finally, if this corner of the internet sparks even a tiny bit of interest, I encourage you to subscribe. You don’t have to read every single post — but when you subscribe, you’ll get an email when I post something new, so you can decide which speak to you the most. And it supports my work in such a meaningful way.

Talk to you soon. Much more to come.