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Category: Inner Travel

Quiet Contentment

Published on April 12, 2023

Below are my answers to yesterday’s inner work prompt questions.

Who can you spend an hour (or several) in silence with—unawkwardly? This past weekend, I drove to Philadelphia, PA with my mom and grandmother to visit my aunt and her family. It’s about a 6 hour drive from where I live and one of the interesting dynamics in the car was that nothing was played through the car’s speakers for the entire ride.

No music, no podcasts, no videos, no radio, no nothing.

It was just me, my mom, and my grandma for 6 hours in the car either talking or sitting in silence. And while there were many great conversations—there was certainly more silence than chat. Yet not a moment, either there or back, that felt awkward to me.

How did you get to that place? I think it was largely through the example that my mom and grandma set. They each have this ability to sit unawkwardly in their own silence and remain perfectly content for the entire duration of a sit and it’s something I noticed and emulated. To take it a step further, I think getting to this place is a byproduct of having completed sufficient inner work.

When you don’t have to drown out an inner noise, distract upsetting thoughts, or entertain a dopamine addicted mind… sitting in presence becomes pleasurable in and of itself.

How might you get to that place inside yourself? One inner work session at a time. Every time you introspectively write, meditatively sit, and/or honestly answer inwardly pointed questions, you get closer to that state of quiet contentment.

…Which is worth every ounce of effort invested.

On Serving Others

Published on March 23, 2023

To the person who’s too busy serving others to serve themself,

Remember, the outer community you’re a part of isn’t the only community that needs to be served. There is an entire inner world of characters who require time, energy, and attention, too. And when those inner characters aren’t served… they start to act out, create conflict, and rebel. This can be felt in emotional uprisings, a nagging resistance, and a lurking uneasiness. If serving others makes you happy (which is how you’ve always justified the corresponding inner consequences) maybe seeing what’s happening within as its own community of characters will help? Not only will prioritizing your inner characters allow you to still serve others (e.g. your inner child) but it’ll allow you to enter a more emotionally light place, with less resistance, and with an ever-increasing feeling of ease. And how much happier (and better able to serve others in reality) might you be if you did that?

Sincerely,

Your Inner Work Person

P.s. I finished uploading quotes from Inner Work by Robert Johnson. This post was largely inspired by what I learned from that book. Check out my 40 favorite quotes here ➜

Inner Answers

Published on March 12, 2023

Deep within us there lies a guide who is exceptionally wise and who knows the answers to most (if not all) of the life challenges we’re currently facing.

But, most of us never consult this deep inner wisdom.

We bury ourselves with busywork, hide behind distractions, and absorb passive entertainment like it’s our job.

Before you go Google searching, impulse buying, or friend venting… try consulting the inner wisdom that’s already there… Deep within you… by closing your eyes… blocking out distractions… and asking your deepest self… the very questions you’ve been avoiding.

And remember, inward travel takes time—so be patient.

It’s also important to remember that the messages you’ll receive won’t come in the form of words, but in the form of symbols and feelings. Learn this language and interpret it intuitively (or get help from a book like this)—it was created by you after all. Herein lies the answers that you so deeply crave, yet so consciously avoid because of the implicit work.

This is where the life changing choice is made.

Keep running, hiding, and burying? Or veer onto the path less traveled and turn towards, confront, and face. Deep down, you know what you need to do. The only question is, will you listen?

P.s. In case you missed it, you can read the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week, here.

The Language Of The Inner

Published on March 8, 2023

Do NOT underestimate the power of:

  • Dreams
  • Daydreaming
  • Visualizing
  • Play
  • Art

One of the primary ways our deepest self communicates with our conscious self is via symbolism/ abstraction/ art.

What I’ve been taking for granted for most of my life, I’m slowly learning, are key insights encoded as symbolic messages from deep within.

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 :)

Where’s the best place to start with inner work?

Published on March 2, 2023

Good questions.

…Not good question. My answer is: with good questions. Although it is a good question.

Okay moving on.

Here’s a great starting formula:

A good question + a good block of uninterrupted time + honest attempts at answering = excellent inner work.

It doesn’t have to be any more complicated than that.

Going on meditation retreats, taking intense treks through nature, doing intensive therapy sessions are undoubtedly powerful and worth every ounce of effort that you invest into them.

But, the barrier to actually doing those things is quite high. And anything that’s hard to do will get avoided and confronted with a proportional amount of resistance.

This is why we need to simplify our process. We need to meet ourselves where we are. We need to invest in little steps, start with small inquisitions, and explore our inner caves one piece of tunnel at a time.

Step by step, question by question, day by day is the way forward that fits into the busy person’s life. You just have to decide and commit.

Questions you might consider starting with:

  • If you burned away everything you knew about yourself… what would remain?
  • What/Who makes being yourself easier? Harder? Why? What might you do with this insight?
  • What have been the defining events in your life—events that have impacted you the most both positively and negatively as a person? How have they shaped you into who you’ve become? What events might you pursue that could shape you into the person who you most want to become?

P.s. Each question above was pulled from my guide: The Art of Forward (Direction > Speed). More info here.

The Walk From Lonely To Alone

Published on January 28, 2023

“Lonely” is the state of being avoidant and discontent with yourself—an indication that inner work is required.

“Alone” is the state of being present and content with yourself—a healthy indication of inner acceptance.

The transition from lonely to alone will vary in difficulty one person to the next.

But, in each case, when we start small and commit to incremental increases in things like journaling, meditating, solo walking, etc… we can slowly head in the direction of alone.

Which, is an imperative direction to head as being without people will only increase as we grow older. Better to learn the skill now and acclimate before you’re thrusted into the position, unprepared later.