I have learned that suffering only increases when I dwell on what I imagine my life should be. My only hope for a peaceful heart is to give up the life I imagine for myself, to make room for the life that is. Making that choice, over and over again, is a daily – no, hourly – struggle. Sometimes I succeed but mostly I forget, and I suffer.
The Rapture of Being Alive
“People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive … so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.”
– Joseph Campbell
If Campbell is right – and he spent a half a century studying the religions, Continue reading “The Rapture of Being Alive”
Purpose of Meditation
The purpose of meditation is to no longer be perpetually identified by the content of my thoughts. The thoughts are merely thoughts, nothing in and of themselves, meaning they require some sort of action from me to become real. So meditation is a means to discover who is there, and what is he like, when the constant deluge of thoughts can be quietly set aside.
Our Hidden Secrets
It’s interesting the ways we isolate ourselves emotionally from each other. If we gauged only by Facebook posts and polite dinner party conversations it would appear everyone but ourselves has their life figured out and put together, their marriage/job/family/relationships/community working Continue reading “Our Hidden Secrets”
Humanality
Humanality is a famous multi-pitch climbing route located in Railay, Thailand. Set in an incredibly gorgeous location along the shoreline, the route is exposed and technical. With a grade of 5.10d this route is good fun for experienced climbers, intimidating for intermediates like me. I was not Continue reading “Humanality”
Missed It
Today I took a tour through Doi Inthanon National Park near Chiang Mai, Thailand. Some sightseeing, hiking (called ‘trekking’ in Thailand), swimming, shopping and lunch. Our guide was a freelance tour guide named Tee. I barely remember the company I booked through (Wild Continue reading “Missed It”
Framed Glory
One of our company leaders had a great idea. Our hallways and walls were utterly uninspiring: mindless motivational posters and a few Ansel Adams images mishmoshed with an assortment of oddball paintings from long-gone employees.
What if we had a contest to update our surroundings? Something personal Continue reading “Framed Glory”
What Einstein Knew
What Einstein knew: ‘No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it.’ In other words, you can’t solve your problems using the same mixed-up logic that got you into this situation in the first place. If you’re spinning in circles thinking about the problem, not Continue reading “What Einstein Knew”
Vision Boards
It’s so easy to let the precious time of our lives slip away, never getting around to the things we wish most dearly for ourselves and our loved ones. It’s easy and comfortable, and the busy-ness of life can hold a monopoly on our time and energy. We all have ways to try to mitigate this. We try to put the big rocks in first, and that helps. We try to stay present, and that helps. But the world is relentless and the perpetual onslaught of content and entertainment is a near-infinite playground of distraction. It’s no wonder people lose minutes, hours, days and weeks on their screens. Continue reading “Vision Boards”
Authentic Swing
I love this metaphor of the “authentic swing” as told by Will Smith in The Legend of Bagger Vance. All the coulda’s and woulda’s and shoulda’s that can rob us of being the person we were born to be. When I think of the people who have most inspired me, they are always people who Continue reading “Authentic Swing”
Turn 100 Years Into 1,000
My definition of an epic life is to be awake and aware every day.
Routine is the enemy of time – it makes it fly by. When you’re a kid, everything is astonishing and new. So your brain is awake and turned on. As Continue reading “Turn 100 Years Into 1,000”
More vs Better
It’s tempting to focus on a single metric ($ revenue; # social media followers; words written per day) especially as we’re getting things up and running, striving for that initial growth. A single metric is easy and it feels good to see each little step of progression. But it’s only a single axis of Continue reading “More vs Better”
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