To hope is a state of being. It is an inner readiness, that of intense but not-yet-spent activeness.*
Erich Fromm
Resistance is a small, playful collaboration with my friend
Rebecca, who showed me her screenprinting project
exploring four forms of resistance–**
I loved it, offering to doodle each word–
Today’s resistance is hope;
I’ll be sharing some words
from Rebecca when I post the fourth doodle.
*Erich Fromm’s The Revolution Of Hope.
Pain, then, is often the teacher that transforms the hero into a guide. That is, if their attitude toward pain is accepting and redemptive.*
Donald Miller
“When choosing a new habit many people seem to ask themselves, “What can I do on my best days?” The trick is to ask, “What can I stick to even on my worst days?”**
James Clear
It turned out that what
I thought I wanted to do with my life
wasn’t,
Not really–
Pain tried to teach me this three times
(I’m a slow learner),
And then helped me find my way.
**Donald Miller’s Hero On A Mission;
**James Clear’s 3-2-1 newsletter: How to start a new habit, the power of responsibility, and prioritizing the long-term.
You’re either the person who creates energy. Or you’re the one that destroys it.*
Seth Godin
Rate your individual acts as good or bad, if you like. Seek to perform as many good ones, and as few bad ones, as possible. But leave your self out of it. One final implication of thinking about selfhood in this way – and arguably the most significant one – concerns the idea of selflessness.**
Oliver Burkeman
Tribal Leadership proffers five perspectives on life–
Life sucks!
My life sucks!
I’m great!
We’re great!
Life is great!
The first four include the destructive subtexts–
Life sucks!
Your life is okay but mine will never be!
You’re not great!
They’re not great!
There are too many reasons for destroying energy–
I don’t want to be here!
I don’t want to be with you!
I don’t want to be doing this thing!
I don’t want to look inside!
It’s all unfair!
You hurt me!
There are a few good place to begin changing the narrative–
Humility, truly seeing oneself and others–
Towards selflessness;
Gratitude, thankful for all that fills one’s life–
Towards generosity;
Faithfulness, giving daily form to humility and gratitude–
Towards wisdom.
*Quoted in Ryder Carroll’s The Bullet Journal Method;
**Oliver Burkeman’s The Antidote.
No matter how isolated you are and how lonely you feel, if you do your work truly and conscientiously, unknown friends will come and seek you.*
Carl Jung
He’d read The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People
but not Steven Covey’s sequel The Eighth Habit–
“What’s the eighth habit?”
“Find your voice and help others to find theirs.”
He’d come to make a survey of our home
but we spent more time talking about the books
on my shelves, our reading habits, and the work that I do.
He’s gone now,
On to his next appointment, but it was
an enjoyable way to start the day.
*Quoted in James Clear’s 3-2-1 newsletter: On thinking long-term, how to attract like-minded people, and one sign of mental toughness.
Well, Joe, to me a myth is something that never was but is always happening.*
Jean Houston
There’s the recklessness of creative generosity. This happens when we show up with our best work, regardless of how it might feel if it doesn’t land with the desired audience…And the recklessness of joy. When we allow ourselves to feel and express unbridled delight in a world that often expects measured restraint and cynical resistance.**
Seth Godin
As we figure out what our particular and good
recklessness looks like,
We could do a lot worse than shape a myth to ensure
it happens again and again
and again–
What is your recklessness about?
Why is this important to you?
Who are those who don’t see reckless but necessity?
What are the forces that push back against you?
How do you overcome these?
How have you grown as a result?
How do you sustain this?
*Jean Houston’s A Mythic Life;
**Seth Godin’s blog: Kinds of reckless.
Do your circumstances dictate your mood and emotions? Or do you choose your mood and emotions, and the situation is simply something you respond to?*
James Clear
What is in you
is ultimately stronger than
what is in the world–
It is as Viktor Frankl says,
No one can take from you
the freedom to choose your response
to what is happening around or
to you.
*James Clear’s 3-2-1 newsletter: On thinking long-term, how to attract like-minded people, and one sign of mental toughness.
In a world geared for hurry, the capacity to resist the urge to hurry – to allow things to take the time they take – is a way to gain purchase on the world, to do the work that counts, and to derive satisfaction from the doing itself, instead of deferring all your fulfilment to the future.*
Oliver Burkeman
Resistance is a small, playful collaboration with my friend
Rebecca, who showed me her screenprinting project
exploring four forms of resistance–**
I loved it, and wanted to get doodling,
And slow down.
*Oliver Burkeman’s Four Thousand Weeks;
**Rebecca is working on more.
A mystic.
Of course I am.
Aren’t we all?*
Rob Bell
You are a mystery–
This cannot be bought–
Only dive in–
*Rob Bell’s Everything Is Spiritual.
All things cry for forgiveness in their imperfection, their incompleteness, their woundedness, their constant movement towards death. Mere rage or resentment will not change any of these realities.*
Richard Rohr
If your output isn’t where you want it to be, try working on your input.**
Austin Kleon
Forgiveness knows me
and knows my need,
Feeding my heart and mind
and even my body,
It remains and always will be
my good beginning and necessary end–
*Richard Rohr’s The Tears Of Things;
**Austin Kleon’s Don’t Call It Art.
Love is a combination of attention, appreciation, and empathy.*
Derek Sivers
One way to understand the numinous right hemisphere is that it manages life’s complexity. Complex challenges in life are easy to understand but impossible to solve, so they can only be lived and understood.**
Arthur Brooks
More than a puzzle
to solve, or ignore,
You are a complexity,
And this whole thing
works better
when we meet
and listen
and share
and explore–
Over a drink
or taking a walk
or working on some project–
A real heart-to-heart,
As they say.
Love, I would say, is that capacity which allows him to grasp the other human being in his very uniqueness.^
*Derek Sivers’ How To Live;
**Arthur Brooks’ The Meaning Of Your Life;
^Viktor Frankl’s The Will To Meaning.
THIN|SILENCE 
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