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Category: Understanding Love

Becoming More Connected To Life

Published on March 24, 2023

Most of what we do every day is work for others, digitally lurk in the background of other people’s lives, and consume other people’s content… all of which provides no meaningful two-way connection to either others or ourselves.

This is why so many of us feel so disconnected in the age of connection.

What brings us closer to people isn’t doing work for them, lurking, or consuming one directional content… what brings us closer to people is:

  • Meals spent together
  • Rich conversational exchange
  • Adventures embarked on together
  • Activities/ Hobbies enjoyed together
  • Long car rides/ walks in nature together
  • Chats at a coffee shop/ by fireside together
  • Projects/ art/ problem-solving done together
  • And so on…

And what brings us closer to ourselves is everything listed above… only by and for ourselves.

So, if you’re feeling disconnected and lonely, make it a goal to take the initiative on one of the above mentioned endeavors (for both others and for yourself) and continue to do so regularly.

Waiting for others to take the initiative only perpetuates that disconnected feeling and strips you of the control you have over your life situation.

I promise, if you can find ways to add even just one of the above-mentioned ideas into your days or weeks… you’ll slowly, slowly, start to feel more and more connected to this life.

P.s. The next book I’ll be uploading quotes from is Make Your Bed by Admiral William H. McRaven. If you’d like to read along… info, links, and such can be found here ➜

“Love Yourself”

Published on March 19, 2023

Saying to someone “love yourself” is about as helpful as saying to someone “become healthy.”

Like becoming healthy, self-love is a multi-faceted challenge that requires careful introspection, a profound determination or desire, and an extensive life-long commitment—it isn’t something that is just “fixed.”

Maybe, instead of telling people to arbitrarily love themselves, we can be an example for them or encourage them to do more of the things where the byproduct is self-love.

Things like exercise, healthy eating, meditating, reading, writing, therapy, joining supportive and uplifting communities, etc.

When I think back to the people who have inspired me the most in my life… I think of the ones who were modeling a way of life that I wanted to live… not merely talking about one.

So, before you go telling other people to love themselves… consider the idea that loving yourself fully might be the most impactful thing you might ever do for them anyhow.

Not to mention, of course, that the byproduct of this method is that you get to (re)focus your energy into loving yourself fully—which is the ultimate win in-and-of itself.

P.s. MoveMe Quotes got an update. I increased the font size/ readability, removed a bunch of unnecessary meta text, refreshed the look of the blog pages and articles, and more… enjoy :)

Love, Like Fire

Published on February 25, 2023

Sometimes love needs space.

What makes the fire burn strong is the balance between wood and no wood; burn and breath; presence and absence.

Too much of one and it’ll smother. Too much of the other and it’ll wane until there’s nothing left for the flames to grab. Navigate this balance mindfully and you’ll keep your fire—and love—burning strong.

Assume the fire will keep itself in order… or try to forcefully overkeep it… and it’ll die.

When you visualize the love you share with another as a fire… what do you see?

A waning, untended to, slowly collapsing fire? A huge pile of wood with a suffocating flame? Or a beautifully balanced, well ordered and maintained fire you can cozy up to at the end of a long, cold day?

Spend some time with this meditation and treat your visualized fire how you would that fire while camping at the outset of a cool, crisp evening.

Love, like fire, requires active involvement if we want to passively enjoy its emanating heat.

A Sign Of Hope

Published on February 13, 2023

When we are born, we are radiating packages of energy. Overflowing from every pore the very essence of life into all that comes near. As we grow, however, we come into contact with energy that’s dull, faded, confused. And in more cases than not—it slowly takes an effect. We slowly start to refuse our bodily energy. We slowly fold closed our open minds. We slowly restrict our pores and suppress our infinitely-sourced energy.

…Until eventually, we embody an energy that’s dull, faded, and confused ourselves.

The easiest way to reverse this process is to spend more time with those who are still radiating packages of energy. The effect can be instantaneous—it’s really an incredibly thing to see. Serious folks who never so much as smile start quacking like a duck; cranky, self-conscious teenagers playing peek-a-boo and poke-the-belly with cartoon toys; the angriest, most short-tempered relatives hitting high-pitch notes you didn’t know they were even capable of hitting—all from simply seeing a newborn.

I see this as a sign of hope.

One that says, nothing is permanently lost; you’re not “too far gone;” you’re not “unable to change”—you’re just under some deep layers of crap energy and crap behavior. If only you’ll start digging yourself out and letting that inextinguishable life energy flow freely once again, maybe you’ll start radiating and positively affecting all whom you come into contact with how you once did—all those years ago when we didn’t know a single thing, yet knew a truth so profound that even the most close-minded, stubborn around you fell victim to your shine.

Because It’s Not Said Enough…

Published on February 6, 2023
  • To the loyal, overworked, under appreciated parent…
  • To the initiative-taking, hardworking, underpaid employee…
  • To the relentlessly positive, upbeat, taken-for-grated friends…

Thank you.

P.s. Use this as a writing prompt: who do you think is overdue for gratitude? Even if you don’t express it to them directly, expressing it viscerally can have a rippling effect at later points in your life.

It’s Not Personal

Published on January 24, 2023

If you want to learn how to not take things personally…

Simply meditate on the times when you did something that another took personally that was completely unintentional, misunderstood, or misconstrued. Times when you:

  • Took your anger out on somebody who had nothing to do with what you were angry at.
  • Underwent intense periods of growth/ change that made you less available and more distant to those you used to spend time with.
  • Expressed an opinion that hurt/offended the person you were sharing it with, when you had a completely different person/ type of person in mind.

I think we’ve all been there.

The all-too-often shared reality we face as humans is that we often act selfishly before we think selflessly. We get consumed in being the center of our own worlds and forget about how our actions might affect the world of others.

The truth is: rarely does anything we do have to do with anybody other than ourselves and how we’re feeling.

So, when somebody does something that feels personal, remember, it most likely has nothing to do with you and everything to do with them.

P.s. Have you been taking these posts personally (in a good way)? You can support my ongoing work by getting me a coffee here :)

Mind I.D.

Published on January 20, 2023

When I see “Spam likely” pop up on my Caller I.D.—I don’t answer.

This choice saves me time/ energy/ and attention that can be invested in far more useful ways.

The real hack, though, is training your gut to start popping up “Spam Likely” in your mind’s eye for in real life and digital interactions.

  • Somebody give you a weird vibe, but you’re not quite sure why? Spam likely.
  • Somebody reach out with a request that makes you feel uncomfortable? Spam likely.
  • Somebody in the same room as you who’s triggering your nervous system? Spam likely.

Here’s the thing about spam: it’s everywhere and isn’t going anywhere.

That said, remember: how you choose to respond can quite literally make or break your days.