Your Feelings Swallow Your Thinking

“I’m creating my own nationality.” Intriguing statement from comedian Jim Gaffigan. Reminds me of a project I did about six years ago. After studying every sacred text from every major religion, I still wasn’t existentially satisfied. So I decided to write my own bible. Seemed like an funky adventure. A few weeks later, I booked a flight to Sedona, spent four days alone in the desert and cobbled together my own holy book. Powerful experience. Everyone can do this. Even nonbelievers. It’s got nothing to do with religion and everything to do with permission.

“Reframe discipline as devotion.” That’s a key distinction. Discipline means we make time do the work, devotion means the work is a permanent, daily fixture in our lives. It just happens. It’s a non-thought. Instead of burning calories preparing to get ready to think about the possibility of potentially doing something, we just start. We invest all our physical and emotional and mental labor into the work instead of debating whether or not we should do it. Solid advice from Pavarotti via Eric Maisel.

“It’s not fun, it’s satisfying.” I love fun. I seek it out daily. And I tend to have it wherever I go. But Ace Man makes an important point: Not everything we do can be fun. And that’s okay. If the experience is satisfying, that’s what matters. If the experience is satisfying, we’re excited to do it again. Fun is a nice bonus, but it’s not the only barometer of meaning.

“Your feelings swallow your thinking.” Love this interview with Aimee Man. As both a songwriter and a highly sensitive person, I can relate. The ongoing chess match between the head and the heart is one of those experiences that always confounds us. Humans seem to get better at playing that game over time, but I’m not sure which body part ends up on top. Game on.

“We’re running down the slope of stupid so fast in our country.” Spot on observation by FBI veteran Don Borelli. I totally agree. For a nation with so much freedom, so much privilege and so much technology, America sure does do a lot of stupid stuff. That’s why I try to invest a good chunk of my time listening, learning and thinking about what’s wrong, why it’s wrong and how we can fix it. Seems like our civic duty as working members of this country. I wonder how many of my fellow Americans agree.

“Blogging hasn’t changed, you have.” I started blogging about ten years ago. Best decision ever. Not only for my business, but for my brain. Since then, blogging has trended up and down multiple times. Internet pundits have dubbed blogging dead on multiple occasions. And like the electronics store in your neighborhood that never takes down their going out of business sign, nobody wants to deliver a final verdict on it. Which is fine. Blogging still matters to me. And my readers. Thanks to Hugh Macleod’s new book for the digital nudge.