The title says all. Go on – spend the rest of your life finding a better friend and guide than your inner one. [Shortcut: don’t. Look in the mirror]. I am no Potterhead, but there is one scene permanently etched into my memory. Harry has a premonition, looking across a lake, that his deceased father […]
The implicit or explicit TLDR of spirituality is Let Go. Let go of what? Everything. And, OK, fine, but does that mean, give up on life? No! It means moving artfully, skillfully. In alignment with the flow of things. Not forcing it. This is beautifully captured in the concept of Wu Wei, as articulated here […]
Not me. Often when we encounter mental health labels, or labels in general, our mind plays a little “not me” game. It’s almost imperceptible. We view a person’s circumstances sympathetically – like an alien experience we may never know – as opposed to empathetically – literally feeling what the person feels as they describe it, […]
Stutz’s Life Force I created the wellness stack in early 2022 as a way to help people. I started with three essential topics: sleep, nutrition, and mind/self (followed by others, but these three are huge). One year later, I found Phil Stutz in a documentary, sharing the same. It is validating to discover someone emphasizing […]
My younger self had this recurring intuition that any human mind, given enough experience and space, invariably finds optimism. It will see that it’s own wellbeing relies on the wellbeing of others. Others who are fundamentally the same- conscious creatures each making sense of their own pyrotechnics show: the emotions, the urges, the ever-accumulating stories, […]
[Note to a friend] Never let the wrong things influence your sense of worth, either as an artist or a person. Unfortunately… perception is part of life, and perception is way more often wrong than it is right, including our own perception of ourselves. Your worth is a pearl to be protected – make sure […]
“Is the truth depressing? Some may find it so. But I find it liberating, and consoling.”– Derek Parfit Santa, Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny — all shams. As kids this is our first lesson in sugarcoating — of being misled with good intentions. More surprise awaits us a few decades later… but honestly… life feels much […]
My favorite example of one human being discovering peace. What Merle Antoinette Roberson, (Gangaji) describes here, I had tasted myself, months prior. Seeing this experience in another person changed me. After listening, I vividly remember walking to work that morning in an altered reality, which has only deepened with time. Her and I traveled different paths, […]
20 unfinished essays – some will be published – others will never escape the Darwinian gravity of “draft”. 50 books I’d love to read, which will invariably lead to 100 more. Podcasts that need a second listen. Places I want to travel. Photos I need to edit. People I need to have long conversations with. […]
The date is January 1, 2024. One year ago, two people, Sarah and Tom, stumbled upon a helpful resource while searching for help. Sarah Sarah has since quit the job she didn’t like, left a relationship that was terrible, moved out of the city to be closer to nature, started playing piano (a hobby she’s […]
What does it mean to be Buddhist? All I’ve ever done is study it casually – no monkhood, no monastery, no meditation retreats. At the very least, I AM a sincere admirer and explorer of its ideas. And if Buddhism were somehow wiped from the human record tonight, I am convinced something like it would […]
My father would love nothing more than to finish one last half-marathon. Last year at 70, shortly after our last run together, his hip started bothering him. Was he running too much? Was it simply old age? Either way, after taking four months off to give himself a rest, and testing the water again, it seems […]
This will change your life. Whoever steps away from this without grasping that – I have failed you. But, I hope I budge some part of you, even an inch. Whether it’s this, a Kandinsky painting, a time of crisis, a walk in nature, a monastery in Tibet, or staring into your oatmeal tomorrow morning, […]
This is not a “life hack”. This is a SHORT/SIMPLE lesson about optimal eating, based on years of playing around. Optimal both physically and mentally. I will summarize my N-of-1 results at the end. I will also cite independent scientific sources that inspired this. The intention is not to prescribe a rigid diet, rather, it’s to teach […]
Let’s talk about food. “Huh?” Yes, humor me for 10 seconds. The average human can go for at least 72 hours with no food, with no consequences whatsoever. Yep. Your body uses fat for energy and actually recycles old broken muscle cells! This name for this magical process is autophagy (self-eating). Now, imagine if you […]
I have good news and bad news. Bad news, the world is fucked and hard to navigate. Good news, I am convinced we can find peace, despite this. On a personal level – everything is OK. I discovered this vividly for myself a couple years ago – somewhat unexpectedly. If you are ever so lucky […]
Apologies to donkeys – the carrot on the stick is a metaphor for humans to consider their illusory happiness! To humans: without a doubt, your life is made of patterns. Look at each one closely. Leave no pattern unchecked. Ask yourself, what good does it bring? Go slow, don’t be harsh. Consider the following two […]
Nutrition Forget physical appearance. Diet has a profound impact on how we *feel*, sleep, and live our lives. Yikes. One of the most confusing topics in human history. Some gall I have, to add my two cents… Consider this: As much as this is about food, this is about something deeper. This is an opportunity […]
Good Night’s Rest Why start here? It’s the easiest thing to change and affects all conscious experience. That’s a big deal 🙂. Quality sleep is the soil from which all things thrive. Deprivation of sleep can gradually lead to dementia, Alzheimer’s, and other health and psychological issues. Memory, intelligence, clarity, emotions, relationships, physical ability, and […]
What are your values? In other words, forget any religion, or laws, or ways of living that may have been forced upon you. If you peel all of that away, what is your idea of being a good human? And then further, if you follow those values, where does it lead you? This is hard […]
The future is rad and all, but it’s never here, so if we can’t be cool now, why defer? Our Future Fetish Just wait, until we land on the moon. How great everything will be! [producer whispers… off camera] Oh fuck me, sorry folks. I’m being told — we’ve done that. And it was indeed…
To anyone with pronounced empathy, I suspect observing humanity causes great pain? Which you are either living with — or — you developed a strategy to insulate yourself from. Put another way: Being alive begets knowing the majority of the human population is suffering. Further, it may (or may not), lead one to question the…
My optimism:pessimism ratio is solid 9:1. Hence why my editor finds this essay abhorrent. Very off-brand. It may beget our undoing… I’m publishing this while they’re on holiday. As pioneer Grace Hopper once imparted: ’tis easier to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission. What’s the problem? Me concluding – with suspiciously unshakable certainty -…
“The psychedelic ‘hook’ goes in way deeper than anything merely addictive. It’s a ‘conversionary’ stimulus of overwhelming personal ‘inspiration’ induced in many (not all) that ‘changes everything’ for those now exalted as ‘touched’ by that ‘angel’ – igniting a compulsion every bit as consuming and destructive as any addiction. But where an addict is driven…
“[Life] sums itself up for me as a lucid invitation to live and to create, in the very midst of the desert.” Albert Camus What does it mean to embody freedom? An interview with no self, for the sake of no self. Dear self, you are hard to pin. When I think I’ve found you,…
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