Category: Being Human

Time is Thought

A habit or ongoing problem, by definition, requires memory. It requires a brain that pulls ideas, concepts, and memories through time and draws sweeping conclusions about them. A brain that says, “This thing happened in the past, so I assume it’ll happen again in the future.” Without a past and future conversation, there’s just Now. Anything that’s

Life Is Change

It can look like we’re responsible for making things happen. Life looks like our responsibility. Our outcomes, including our own peace of mind, happiness, and anything we want to change, appear to be up to us to figure out. But what if change is not up to us? What if human minds love to take credit for things,

Attachment to Ideas is Supposed to Hurt

Suffering is feedback, showing us that we’re attached to ideas and thoughts that appear true, but aren’t. For example, when you believe you’re not good enough or life should be other than how it is, you suffer. That suffering is alerting you to your identification with a fleeting, false idea. Like suffering, habits and anxiety are

A Watched Pot Boils (it Just Feels Like it Doesn’t)

We’ve been led to believe that our thoughts and feelings are ours to manage and control. At the very least, most people believe there are things we can do to help our mind relax or to help ourselves feel better. But what if thoughts and feelings change completely on their own, all the time? You couldn’t stop

Subtraction, Not Addition

Continue to see thought for what it is. It’s the always-on narrator in your mind that is very opinionated and full of problems and solutions. But that narrator is not you and the narration is not the truth. There is a healthy, happy, free space beyond the narration. There is an awareness or space within which

We’ve Had It Backwards

Deep, lasting change happens when we see things in a brand new way. As I wrote in The Little Book of Big Change, the kind of deep, lasting change we all want isn’t dependent on willpower, daily practices, or hard work. It happens by insight. Insight, “a sight from within”, is simply a brand new way of

The Quest To Feel Better

“Feelings don’t want to be healed; they want to be held.” —Jeff Foster “Be curious, not judgmental.” —Ted Lasso Last Thursday, a strong, somewhat nondescript feeling of “ick” pervaded my body. The feeling arose after receiving a comment that wasn’t overtly offensive, but was nonetheless taken as a “hit” to this well-formed ego of mine. The “ick” was

Spirit + Science

When you combine the spiritual truth that you are perfectly and completely mentally healthy and habit-free (but for your temporary, habitual thinking) with the scientific finding that your habit is made up of thoughts that fade on their own, your habit begins to look far less powerful and stable than it has.When you consider the

When You Feel Lost – Part Two

Last week I told you about the woman who said she was LOST while in the middle of a lot of big energy. You can read Part One here. “I’m lost” tells the story that she should feel some way other than she does. Something else should be happening. These feelings are wrong and unwelcome. What comes

When You Feel Lost – Part One

I was emailing with a woman who said she feels lost. She even capitalized it. Depression and darkness and fear are present, unwanted circumstances are happening, a handful of painful thoughts are constantly repeating, and I feel LOST, she said. I was curious about how, in the middle of plenty of other stuff, “lost” was the part