“Loneliness is the human condition. Cultivate it. The way it tunnels into you allows your soul room to grow. Never expect to outgrow loneliness. Never hope to find people who will understand you, someone to fill that space. And intelligent, sensitive person is the exception, the very great exception. If you expect to find people who will understand you, you will grow murderous with disappointment. The best you’ll ever do is to understand yourself, know what it is that you want, and not let the cattle stand in your way.”
—Janet Fitch (via marchingbandofelegance)
July 2011
26 posts
“Beliefs are nothing to be proud of.
Believing something is not an accomplishment. I grew up thinking that beliefs are something to be proud of, but they’re really nothing but opinions one refuses to reconsider. Beliefs are easy. The stronger your beliefs are, the less open you are to growth and wisdom, because “strength of belief” is only the intensity with which you resist questioning yourself. As soon as you are proud of a belief, as soon as you think it adds something to who you are, then you’ve made it a part of your ego. Listen to any “die-hard” conservative or liberal talk about their deepest beliefs and you are listening to somebody who will never hear what you say on any matter that matters to them — unless you believe the same. It is gratifying to speak forcefully, it is gratifying to be agreed with, and this high is what the die-hards are chasing. Wherever there is a belief, there is a closed door. Take on the beliefs that stand up to your most honest, humble scrutiny, and never be afraid to lose them.” —www.globalone.tv/profiles/blogs/the-9-epiphanies-that-shifted-
Believing something is not an accomplishment. I grew up thinking that beliefs are something to be proud of, but they’re really nothing but opinions one refuses to reconsider. Beliefs are easy. The stronger your beliefs are, the less open you are to growth and wisdom, because “strength of belief” is only the intensity with which you resist questioning yourself. As soon as you are proud of a belief, as soon as you think it adds something to who you are, then you’ve made it a part of your ego. Listen to any “die-hard” conservative or liberal talk about their deepest beliefs and you are listening to somebody who will never hear what you say on any matter that matters to them — unless you believe the same. It is gratifying to speak forcefully, it is gratifying to be agreed with, and this high is what the die-hards are chasing. Wherever there is a belief, there is a closed door. Take on the beliefs that stand up to your most honest, humble scrutiny, and never be afraid to lose them.” —www.globalone.tv/profiles/blogs/the-9-epiphanies-that-shifted-
“I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do.”
—Robert A. Heinlein (via illuminatedbeing)
Document your day. – Take lots of pictures. Keep a journal. Document your day so you can review it in the future. Many moons from now, these old photos and journal entries will ignite your recollection of great memories from the past.
(20 Ways To Make Today Unforgettable - marcandangel.com)
After two and a half months, my transition period from using shampoo has ended. (Or it ended because I started using a boars hair brush to distribute the oil). Now that I feel more comfortable, and because I lost my baking soda, I started experimenting with baking soda and ACV alternatives. My favorite so far:
Cocoa powder!
I’ve been using it instead of baking soda when my hair gets a little greasy and after working out and like the results. I use plain Hershey’s Cocoa Powder, mix 2 tablespoons with 16 ounces of water, and keep the mixture in the shower. I like the smell and the color boost for my dark brown hair.
What to try next…?
“A vision, without a plan, is just a hallucination.”
—Will Rogers
“It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing. It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive. It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain. I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it. I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human. It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithlessand therefore trustworthy. I want to know if you can see beauty even when it’s not pretty, every day,and if you can source your own life from its presence. I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, “Yes!” It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children. It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back. It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away. I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.”
—Oriah Mountain Dreamer (via arreter)
Cure for an emotional hangover: caffeine, deciding not to use men for money, StumbleUpon, writing — and then acknowledging that meditation is the answer.
“If you want to build your self-esteem, you must do esteem-able deeds.”
—Anonymous
(Partial) solution to sugar/nicotine/laziness addiction: green powders. Late on the bandwagon, but I’m using Vitamineral now and will switch to Boku when I run out (better value). Here I come healthy lifestyle…
“If everybody loves you, something is wrong. Find at least one enemy to keep you alert.”
—Paulo Coehlo
“The fate of our world depends on all of us waking up to the greater reality of interconnection and helping others.”
—Mallika Chopra, “What is your intent to help others?”
“Your mind puts out a powerful broadcast of energy. It determines how you experience the world and what you create. Your thoughts are magnetic; they go out from you and draw to you those things you think about. Your inner dialogue is important, for the way you speak to yourself determines the events, people, and objects you attract.”
—
Orin, Personal Power Through Awareness
(via backpackish)
“I was drawn to all the wrong things: I liked to drink, I was lazy, I didn’t have a god, politics, ideas, ideals. I was settled into nothingness; a kind of non-being, and I accepted it. I didn’t make for an interesting person. I didn’t want to be interesting, it was too hard. What I really wanted was only a soft, hazy space to live in, and to be left alone.”
—Charles Bukowski (via melaniemandala)
“Mamihlapinatapai: A look shared by two people with each wishing that the other will initiate something that both desire but which neither one wants to start.”
Pick a cause, a goal, a vision and live it. People long to have a cause to rally around — something to believe in. You need to believe in it so strongly for that it animates your every gesture. Be self-assured in every scenario. Show that you don’t share the doubts the plague most people. Act as if you know where you are going, even if you aren’t 100% sure.
Utilize ‘The Burning Method.’
Whenever a fear or worry or complaint comes to mind, close your eyes and imagine writing down the thought on a piece of paper. Then proceed to light the paper and fire and watch it disintegrate. Even better, actually write it down and burn it. You won’t have any problem ridding your mind of the thought after doing this.
