The Mess Drives Me Crazy!

My husband and I were both messy people before we got married. Now with two of us, our house is a disaster area! We both are very busy people, he's a teacher and I'm a grad student. When we are together at home we would rather watch a movie and drink beer than clean. However, sometimes the mess drives me crazy! What should we do?

Many solutions there are. A time there was when I compelled Younglings to clean up after me. “A good way to practice using the Force, this is,” I’d tell them. A delight it was to watch the childinitiates in the Jedi Order telepathically move my dirty drawers. But then came the dark times. Yes. The purging of the Jedi Temple. Yes. To Dagobah I fled, and not once after myself do I clean. Mudhole? Slimy? My home this is! In touch with the Force I am through the mud and slime. The Force lives within the overwhelming mildew, the scraps of food, and even the flies. Perhaps another problem there is. Attached to too many possessions you are. No more than you can keep well should you keep. Need you more than one pair of shoes? If just two plates you had, would you clean them more? If you had no couch, where would you be a “potato,” as they say? Hmm? On the floor you should sit! Yes.

You can solicit Yoda's advice by emailing yoda@gregcarter.net. Protect your anonymity, he will.

Should I Go Back to My Academic Job?

Should I just keep traveling indefinitely after this visit to Asia, or should I go back to my academic job in the States in the fall?

A Jedi and a scholar, different they are, but very similar. Yes. A scholar must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind. This one a long time have I watched. All his life has he looked away to international travel, to exotic cuisine. Never his mind on where he was, what he was doing. Hmph. Adventure. Heh. Excitement. Heh. A scholar craves not these things. Will he finish what he begins? Only if he realizes why a scholar he is. Not fame. Not vengeance. Not wealth. To share deeper understanding is why one becomes a scholar, just as to guard of peace and justice a Jedi becomes. This purpose always remember, and hesitate you never will.

You can solicit Yoda's advice by emailing yoda@gregcarter.net. Protect your anonymity, he will.

In the Middle of Loving Someone

I'm in the middle of loving someone. And she loves me. But she needs to leave her boyfriend. In the meantime, she hasn't left him yet, and I, being STD free, have not been sleeping around, now in fear of getting an STD, finally being in a relationship with this woman, and bringing an STD to the table. I'm frustatred. I need sex. What should I do?

Hmm, complex and delicate matters of the heart are. Yes. A Jedi you are not. Fortunate you are to nurture feelings of affection for others. A vow of celibacy you have not. Lucky you. Patience, you must have. If the path of chastity is part of your generous devotion, then wait, you must. But on this need for sex you must meditate. Need this, do you? Air, you need. Food and water, yes, you need. But sex? For eight hundred years have I trained Jedi. An exercise there is that you can do. At the Jedi temple on Coruscant were countless chambers where Jedi Masters perfected their skills this way. Many soiled Jedi robes there were. Until the next action to you becomes clear, practice day and night. Go blind, you will not.

You can solicit Yoda's advice by emailing yoda@gregcarter.net. Protect your anonymity, he will.

More Than Two Children?

I am a smart veterinary student, and my husband is an uncommonly intelligent engineer. We have degrees from prestigious universities. However, diabetes and heart disease run in my family, and my husband has Crohn's disease and a congenital heart problem. If we had three kids, we would contribute to overpopulation, but perhaps (even despite the medical issues) marginally increase the quality of that population (aren't I pretentious!). May we ethically have more than two children?

Unclear the path is for you and your husband. Careful you must be when sensing the future. Yes, beware. Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. First, know what you hold onto most. Your idea of humankind? Your perfect family? Your post-baccalaureate degrees? Let go of them you must. Only then happiness will you have.

You can solicit Yoda's advice by emailing yoda@gregcarter.net. Protect your anonymity, he will.