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Tag: Analogies

Sponging Experience

Published on April 10, 2023

Spend a little time thinking about—and writing about—what happened each day.

This one, small habit will help you absorb exponentially more life experience than only ever thinking about what’s going to (might) happen next.

…Because those who are only ever future focused do little to no absorbing at all.

Absorbing happens when you stop, look back at the mess you made (or what you cleaned) and move the sponge of your mind over it a few times so it’s cleaner/ clearer and more ready for—now—whatever’s coming next.

I can’t tell you how many experiences I’ve had that seemed clear in the moment, but were actually quite foggy and temporary until I spent a little time thinking—and writing—about them.

Sponges work best, not against some future mess, but in response to what’s already there.

What to do when you don’t feel like yourself?

Published on April 6, 2023

I think it’s important to first point out that none of us is just one composition of feeling. We are a melting pot of ALL the feelings.

Like a melting pot, when all of the various ingredients (feelings) are getting combined in relatively the same ways… you’ll get relatively the same taste—which becomes what we might consider: feeling like ourself.

When one or more ingredients start to get added disproportionally to the pot, it’ll modify the taste. As is the case when one or more feelings get disproportionately added to our inner state.

The trick then, becomes identifying and reducing the ingredients that are “undesireably” affecting the pot while finding ways to increase the desired ones so as to get the pot back to “normal.”

For example, when cooking, it’s obvious when too much salt has been added to a recipe. A simple solution, is to (1) stop adding more salt and (2) add more of the other ingredients to dilute the power of the salt.

In life, when we feel a rise in an unfamiliar/ uncomfortable feeling, we start by identifying what it is. Once we’ve identified it and can name it, we trace the origin of the feeling to it’s root cause. Then we (1) stop allowing whatever’s causing it to make it worse and (2) add more of the other ingredients that lead to the more desired feelings we’re after.

And soon thereafter (maybe not right away, but soon), you’ll start to slowly feel more like your normal “recipe-d” self.

P.s. I also published: 37 Robert A. Johnson Quotes from Inner Work To Convince You Dreams Aren’t Arbitrary.

What Is Love?

Published on March 29, 2023

Love is an unconditional warmth that radiates outwards from a person’s center towards all other beings. More specifically, a warmth that’s really just a majestic composition of patience, kindness, joy, forgiveness, and gratitude. Different people are made up of different compositions, but each unique composition has the same outward radiating result.

Love is not selective. Love brings warmth even to those who are cold, impatient, rude, upset, angry, and/or ungrateful. Which isn’t to say we accept, ignore, or make it our mission to change these behaviors. It’s merely to say, as the backyard fire pit warms anyone and everyone who climbs near… so, too, will love warm anyone and everyone who steps near.

What you see when people radiate warmth towards some, but act ice cold towards others is blocked love. When too many layers of cold, corrupt, malevolent, manipulative, hateful, “un-burnable” actions/circumstances gets piled on top of a person’s innate love… they’re only able to partially radiate warmth on sides where there are unblocked openings. And cold towards all is a sign of a completely smothered love.

What you see when two people devote their love specifically towards each other isn’t selective love per se. What you’re seeing are two fires who enjoy each other’s warmth so much that they decide to combine to create a bonfire. This magnifies the warmth that either individual could radiate alone and creates a combined effect that (unconditionally) warms at scale.

When a combining of fires has the opposite effect (and cools), you know it isn’t a love that’s meant to be. Love shouldn’t be something that only makes one or two of us warmer… love is something that should warm us ALL.

The 3 Crucial Mind Tools For Clarity

Published on March 27, 2023

1. We meditate to settle the sediments of our mind.

By removing outside stimulation, we allow all of the swishing, swirling, and convoluted thoughts to relax into a kind of order: the crap moves to the bottom and the important rises to the top. Through meditation, our mental priorities become more clear.

2. We journal to filtrate.

We begin by scooping a spoonful of thoughts and pour them down onto paper or screen. Then, through a careful and focused effort, we update and revise what’s poured out so as to make those thoughts more clear, concise, and aligned. What results becomes the new, filtered spoonful that gets poured back in.

3. We speak with professionals of the mind to utilize their high-end filtration systems.

Therapy allows us to, essentially, pour our thoughts through the highly filtered mind(s) of somebody else so that we’re able to get a level of clarity we’re unable to provide for ourselves. Also, when something dangerous, toxic, or overly complex comes up through the filtration process—they can swiftly help us minimize or neutralize the threat. This can be extremely beneficial for the particularly dark and/or murky mind—especially in the initial stages of filtration.

The bottom line is this: our mind is either our greatest asset or greatest liability in life.

The use or disregard of these three tools can largely determine which category our mind falls into. All three aren’t required—any one of these tools alone can lead us all the way to the “asset” category. Applying two or all three, however, is a particularly effective strategy. One that I’d say, if you haven’t already, you at least consider.

Inner Calibration

Published on March 22, 2023

Imagine you had a GPS system that slowly lost its calibration.

When freshly updated, it’s precise to the centimeter.

But, when left ignored too long, it starts deviating in miles.

This is how our inner GPS system works. It’s not a calibrate “once-and-done” kind of system. It’s more like your smart phone and needs frequent software updates to keep it precise and up-to-date.

Now, you don’t need to do every single update (I know I don’t). But, if you skip too many update opportunities… that’s when centimeters start turning into feet which start turning into meters with start turning into miles…

The difference between outdated phones and inner GPS systems is you won’t be able to notice an outdated inner compass as easily. The only way to check the inner calibration of your compass is to do careful and deliberate inner work. Which is, in many ways, counter-modern-culture.

If you can’t remember the last time you calibrated, it’s likely you’ve skewed off course—and possibly in a big way. How much can only ever be determined by you.

This isn’t to say that inner calibration is needed every day—but, it sure doesn’t hurt to do some calibration daily.

The bottom line to meditate on today is this: inner calibration needs to be a regular priority—are you making it one? …Because the destination of your life depends on it.

P.s. Need help calibrating your inner compass? The guide I recently created, The Art of Forward, can help.

Onion Identities

Published on March 11, 2023

We are complex, multi-layered creatures.

What everybody sees are the exposed outer layers of our onion identities.

What we feel are the deeply influential inner layers that are encoded in emotion and symbolism that take quality time to understand.

It’s only when we learn to decode the complex feelings and insights buried within that we can finally change the vibrancy and authenticity of our exposed outer layers.

Trying to upkeep the appearance of an impeccable shell with a rotting interior is futile work. What’s rotting on the inside will inevitably make its way to the outside.

It’s only once we understand that we function as an integrated whole… that we might finally commit to developing and improving our innermost—most influential—layers.

And we can begin the inner work that’ll change our daily mission from “shell upkeep” to “core cleaning” and what used to be a facade will slowly crumble and what’ll be left is a vibrant glow that was there all along. 

Balancing Up And Down

Published on March 6, 2023

Our roots entrench themselves deeper through inner work.

Our branches extend themselves out further through outer engagement.

If you find yourself uneasy, ridden with anxiety, like your standing on unstable ground…

It’s root work that’s needed.

Don’t fool yourself into thinking that something more is needed from the outer (money, status, travel, etc). It’ll only end up making you feel more unstable by further extending out your branches without having any effect on the depth of your roots.

Proportional is what makes the tree stand firm.

We move up by going down. And the more we go down… the higher up we can go. Go too high without enough down… and we’ll tip and crash. Find the balance in up and down and stable, calm, secure, is where we’ll be found.

P.s. Know someone who may enjoy reading these? This is me kindly asking if you’d forward it to them :)