We are a people of achievement and productivity. Or so we aim to be. Advice such as “eat the frog” and “move the big rocks first” are accepted as 21st century gospel. There is merit in that and it is often the fast track to recognition and promotion. In an organization that allows for delegation it makes good sense. In normal, common, everyday life, not so much. Too often doing “the big thing” is fraught with insecurity and doubt. Doing the big thing requires big commitment and big blocks of time. Things must be set aside, prioritized, committed to. Sacrifices must be made. Writing that book, making that film, building an addition or a business. Such things might require months or years of effort. So perhaps getting certain things in order prior to beginning makes sense. If you can do that, by all means do so. Except order, the necessity of which is debatable, is an alluring and a fluid thing. Simple procrastination this is not. It is a misunderstanding of how things work. A house is build one nail at a time, a book one word at a time. Big things come from an accumulation of small things. Unfortunately, the grandest and clearest vision does not simply manifest itself to completion. Doing the small, easy things is not merely building momentum. Doing the small, easy thing is enabling the big thing. ...

This is not the same as “stop being you.” There is quite a difference. You can never not be you. No one can. Not really. Each of us is unique in ways beautiful and painful. Likewise, each of us is “enough.” Wise men and women across the ages have said as much. And still we find that fact hard to accept. Something must be missing from us and relegating us to “less than” status. ...

That may sound stupid. Perhaps it is. We’ve certainly been told ad nauseam about the benefits of doing the opposite. The problem, really, comes in how we look at and embody love. Think of those you consider “loved ones”–parents, family members, spouses, children, etc.–and how you actually treat them. Too often we burden those we love with expectation, judgment, and recrimination. Loving us means they should do certain things in a certain way. If not, we treat with some manner of disdain, as though by loving us they have demeaned themselves in some way. Can an emotion couched in such attitudes be called love? ...

How do you look at…work, relationships, life? A challenge? A fight? A struggle? A losing proposition? I’m not sure if it’s a “western civ” thing or a modern world thing, but often it seems we view parts of (or the whole of) our life as some type of confrontation. We go to war with life. We have to fight for what we want, conquer obstacles to happiness or success, defend against enemies who intend to take what is ours. There is always some battle to be fought. ...

Gravity, as generally understood, is a good thing. It keeps the coffee in the mug and the mug on the table. It allows the pitch to be hit or caught. More or less, it makes life on this planet possible. Without it, we literally have no idea where we would be. Yet, though it is ever present and necessary, more is not better. When we are overcome with a sense of gravity, a sense of weightiness and importance, we begin to close down. Suddenly everything feels more significant and fear of some perceived loss arises. Life gets heavy and less fun. ...

Surely thought is the most powerful force in existence. You can use thought to achieve full aliveness or to effectuate your own death. You can use thought to create a new story or song or product. You can use thought to redirect the course of your life and the lives of others. Everything we create or experience is rooted in thought. But thoughts are more numerous than the stars in the sky and by their sheer volume they often overwhelm us. They exist inside and outside us. For much of the time we are barely treading water in a non-stop torrent of thought that pollutes our stream of consciousness. ...

Could it be that we attain our spiritual apex when we, as infants, discover our feet? Our eyes are undeveloped and so our range of vision is limited. People, at that stage in our development, are forever getting in our face and demanding our focus. However, when they move away, everything is soft and liquid and lovely. This peculiar thing appears in the glow – it later becomes known as a foot – and captures our attention. Instinctively we reach out, stretching far beyond the known world, and meet it. There is a burst of sensation, exciting, satisfying, as we feel this amazing thing which sends waves of pleasure through us. We are the universe. Everything registers within us. ...

For the most part we think we are good communicators. We may not necessarily enjoy all aspects of it (i.e. public speaking) and we may stumble with or over words and phrases, but we can get a point across. If we have to turn up the volume a little bit, it’s no big deal. We can make ourselves be heard. Communication, however, is a two-sided affair. Even if you are talking to yourself, there is the one speaking and the one listening (or the one writing and the one reading, etc). The speaking role is the one that often comes most naturally. We seem to have an innate urge to express ourselves and language quickly becomes the default means. How often are young children told to “use your words”? Early in life, speaking becomes the acceptable way of seeking reward or necessity. Hell, some even attempt to require it of pets! We associate speaking with power and influence. Be they ministers, entertainers, or politicians (ugh), we elevate and attend to those who speak effectively. ...

There’s something fey about intuition. Hearing “Well, I just had a feeling,” is an unsatisfactory experience. Often an intuitive hit is likened to making a guess, taking a chance. On any given coin flip, one has a 50% chance of being right. But it goes beyond that. Modern society has less respect for the heart. We have the internet, the accumulated wisdom of the world, just a tap away. We have AI. We have satellites orbiting the earth tracking our every action. Such things are creations of the modern mind at work. And we adore the mind. ...