Category: Perception Is Reality

Before I publish or share or create anything—I want it to be subjectively perfect.

I obsess over the smallest of details and will stubbornly refuse to ship until I either exhaust my list of details or myself.

And even when I exhaust myself… I still oftentimes won’t ship. In fact, I’ll use it as an excuse to further delay projects.

Most recently, I’ve been recording videos. And my goal is to keep the process as simple as possible—for the reasons I just outlined. One platform, one message, one take.

And of course, like clockwork, my social media algorithms have suddenly started feeding me video optimization content.

Things that talk about angles, and lighting, and transitions, and iPhone camera settings, and titles, and subtitles, and hashtags, and music choice, and captions, and hooks, and triple hooks, and the god hook, and green screens, and editing tips, and virality hacks, and…

…And this is exactly why I stopped making videos before.

My current mantra is this: reject optimization at the outset.

…Simply get into a rhythm producing content in a way that’s aligned with me—not the algorithm.

Not that there’s anything wrong with playing the social media game… just that it’s not for me right now.

The reason this blog has lasted as long as it has is because I’m not trying to hack anything. I’m not trying to optimize or broadcast or write for what ranks well on search engines.

I’m writing for myself—in hopes that it also might help others.

And I need to remind myself that these videos are going to serve the same purpose.

Onward.

What if you started believing that repetition didn’t exist?

Even in—especially in—the moments that seem to repeat themselves day-in and day-out.

Are you waking up again to the same alarm, at the same time, in the same way again? …Or is something different? …Have some things evolved? …Have some things regressed?

Are you seeing the same people at the same times and in the same ways again? …Or are they different? …Has your connection evolved? …Has it regressed?

Are you perceiving your world in the same ways at the same times and in the same ways? …Or it just because your perception is boring? …Or maybe it’s fatigued? …Or maybe it’s lazy?

The thing is: repetition doesn’t exist.

Life is always fresh.

We never step into the same river of reality twice. Both the river and us—the stepper—are constantly changing. Evolving. Regressing. Learning. Unlearning. Absorbing. Releasing. Crashing. Flowing…

The reality is we stop investing into the freshness of our perception so, of course, it goes bad. Spend a little time looking closer, however, and you might start to see that the changes aren’t even tiny… but are profound.

I wanted to watch a fight on tv tonight.

…But I didn’t have the right subscription.

…What a great opportunity to reach out to friends to see if they wanted to watch it together at a local spot or house that had the right subscription.

Are the obstacles in your path the end of that journey? …Or are the obstacles in your path actually the way?

I can’t express to you enough the importance of creating your own weather.

This becomes particularly important when you live in a chronically overcast, gray, cold, rainy place like Buffalo, NY.

If I let the weather dictate my mood, I’d be chronically miserable.

Instead, like the Good Mother herself, I gather various ingredients from what’s available in my immediate surroundings and cast a forecast over my day that’s aligned, predictable, and intentional with the mood I’m looking to nurture.

Music is a fundamental key in this practice. The vocals, instruments, and added sounds play at the exact vibration I’m looking to resonate at. And so rather than look outside at the literal weather, become miserable, and try to think myself into a joyful state… I’ll listen to music that matches what I would define as a joyful frequency and let it pull me upwards and outwards of my mind and into my body.

Mindful consumption is a strong second in the practice. Like food to the body, what gets consumed via the eyes, ears, and other senses has a direct impact on our inner weather. Watch news, gossip, and hate-based media—and so, too, will your mind become. Watch art, contribution, and love-based media—and so, too, will your inner weather become.

And digestion is an under-discussed third. Like food to the body, if you never stop eating—regardless of how healthy the food is—your body is going to feel like it needs to explode. We have a daily calorie limit for a reason—and the same should be true with the amount of minutes we spend consuming. The rest of the time? Digesting. Meditating. Relaxing. Playing. Being.

Words are the colors you use to paint the picture(s) of your mind.

And as much as you might want to step into a Caribbean color palette with sky blues, lush greens, and warm yellows…

Choosing words that paint dark browns, deep reds, and harsh blacks will elicit a much different kind of picture.

Hate is not a path towards love. Love is a path towards love. And the colors of love are the words you should choose to paint with.

Resentment is not a path towards peace. Peace is a path towards peace. And the colors of peace are the words you should choose to paint with.

Anger is not a path towards happiness. Happiness is a path towards happiness. And the colors of happiness are the words you should choose to paint with.

And each day is a blank canvas. Your mind has access to an entire array of colors. Which will you choose to paint your day?