Collaging 2024
This is a collage of fragments from my personal journals—observations, inner monologue, dreams, and quotations, from 2024.
- Sometimes it's not that you lack the motivation for change. It's that there exists within you a resistance to change which stands defiant against all the motivation you have for it.
- Faith requires doubt; faith and fear occupy the same space.
- Prayers are not wishes; they are moments to exercise faith.
- Perhaps we are eager to tell others of our good deeds because we do not think God is watching.
- You can allow the flow of the river to carry you downstream, or you can exhaust yourself by swimming against the current. Everything in the universe follows a path of least resistance, so turning towards God means embracing this path—the path the universe has laid out for you to discover.
- Surrendering to God relinquishes the ego.
- Concern yourself with what your dreams are telling you.
- PSA: Remember to occasionally squeegee your third eye.
- Surround yourself with people, art, or activities that pique your imagination.
- Yūgen roughly means 'beauty only partially perceived.'
- Through the pursuit of discovery, we destroy mystery.
- Modern Art: Art, created by artists with art degrees.
- Some of our beliefs are as profoundly helpful as they are profoundly untrue... and so what?
- “Letting go” doesn’t happen over time because that’s the natural order of things. Letting go happens over time because it's a choice—a choice not made once, but over and over again throughout the course of our lives.
- Daily work like chores, exercise, or hygiene, is Zen—and engaging in Zen activities cultivates patience, mindfulness, and acceptance towards life.
- Okay, something practical: have different spaces for different activities. This means your office is only for work.
- Everyone has a vice, so choose yours wisely—and before it chooses you first.
- There is a hell on Earth and that can be found in the languishing of the mind…so maybe give yourself a break from time to time.
- Ha! Don’t be fooled, anxiety is just your mind spinning conspiracy theories about itself!
- "Azula always lies, Azula always lies, Azula always lies…"
- Start your day wearing something you like.
- Experiment with new changes before making a commitment to them; take your new habit out for a test-drive, then contrast the results of your new changes back-to-back with that current habit.
- If you want to integrate regular reading into your schedule, make it easier by reading topics that genuinely interest you. Don't worry so much about what you 'should' be reading. Trust that by following your interests, you'll find something fruitful.
- Self-help books are not meant to be directly applied to your life. They are meant to teach you how others have found ways to navigate their specific walk of life, offering philosophies and frameworks to be tried on or be inspired by.
- Intellectual honesty improves your ability to separate the wheat from the chaff (your ability to find wisdom in unexpected places).
- Lessons are fully learned when consequences are experienced firsthand.
- It's not enough to be careful when deciding whom to ask for advice; it's also about determining what kind of advice you should seek from that person.
- Let's face it: most people don't really care about our thoughts and opinions even when asked of us. But take solace in knowing that valuable insights will naturally find their audience.
- If you wouldn’t ask them for their advice, why are you taking their unsolicited criticism!?
- If you give advice: (1) don't base your advice on what you would do. Understand the person you are dealing with, and tailor it to what you think they should do. (2) Avoid parroting stale, clichéd sayings that would make you groan if it was said to you. If the compulsion to use them is too strong, at least try to convey your message differently.
- 'I should' is a bad word! And it sounds to me like you're feeling guilty for not meeting the expectations someone else set for you.
- Adults are just kids who grew up.
- If you want to understand what's bothering someone, don't ask 'What's wrong?' Instead, ask: 'What's on your mind?
- “Climb the hill in your own way.”
- Perhaps I am no better than anyone else... but wouldn't that just mean no one else is better than me, either?!
- Authenticity is the “virtue of defiance.”
- Testing boundaries isn't the same as breaking them!
- Your life is yours to forfeit. "Go down in your own way."
- There are times when you should ask for permission, and times when you should plan to ask for forgiveness. Godspeed!
- Never should another’s view of me be more important than how I view myself.
- "A man interested in buying a circus was being toured around by the current owner. As they walked, the owner showcased his magnificent specimens to try and impress the man. 'Here are where the monkeys monkey,' he said, and 'there are where the contortionists contort.' Out of all the splendid things to catch the man's eye, it was the elephants that truly intrigued him. He observed that, despite the blatant power their presence alone projects, the elephants were kept tethered to small stakes in the ground with thin ropes. No fences were in sight. Puzzled, he asked the circus owner, 'Why don't these elephants just break free from these tiny ropes? They could easily pull the stakes out of the ground.' The circus owner laughed and explained, 'When they were very young and much smaller, we used the same size rope to tie them to the stake. At that age, the rope was strong enough to hold them. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't escape. Eventually, they gave up trying. Now, even though they've grown into huge, strong creatures, they still believe they cannot break the rope, so they don't even try anymore."
- Soul-murder is a most egregious crime.
- “And all you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be.”
- Anger’s undercurrent is equal parts hurt.
- "A peasant’s lot is to serve their lord!"
- Some of the most dangerous people are those with nothing left to lose.
- Suffering on Earth is the rule, not the exception; absolutely nothing in life is guaranteed.
- "Balloons are the first thing we learn to lose."
- Every soldier who ever stormed a beach believed they had God on their side.
- Useful people have consequential knowledge.
- Each decision you make that aligns with your beliefs is a 'vote' in their favor.
- You go through life with the one you marry, so find someone compatible with your nonsense!
- Parenting hack: To teach your child about personal boundaries, give them a cat!
- It's crucial to trust that kids can often handle content that seems "too deep" for their age—they can often take away as much as adults do.
- Don't confuse differences in ‘worldviews’ as differences in ‘politics.’
- To best understand realpolitik: read A Song of Ice and Fire.
- Humor risks being offensive in its pursuit of truth. Those who interfere with comedians are only projecting, and in this way their insecurities will drive them to dictate what others are allowed to hear. They are enemies of the people.
- Sex workers commit a kind of spiritual self-harm every time they commodify their bodies.
- “Sins” are best understood as our own personal moral failings.
- If you are chivalrous, at least you know chivalry cannot be dead.
- Good or bad, each decision you make recalibrates your inner judge. Trust yourself, and never outsource your judgment to others.
- If you want to reduce all you are to that of a baseball card: try online dating!
- Our eyes reveal more than we often realize about our inner selves.
- Only in privacy are we truly free to be ourselves.
- There is a fun correlation between how authentic you are and how offensive others consider your language to be.
- If your political philosophy leads you to a place where you have more sympathy for those who commit crimes than those who are victims of crimes, you're confused.
- Poor people pay twice.
- Your name is something that is given to you, not something you give yourself.
- Sunlight is the best disinfectant.
- We may not have the best way of life—but it is our way of life.
- It is the responsibility of the strong to do what the weak will not.
- It is hard to hate up close.
- Not everyone is meant for this world.
- A difference between people can be found when we observe violence—and that difference lies in our ability to recognize ourselves as equally capable of it.
- Envelop the downtrodden with your warmth, and overwhelm the Evil by revealing to it the darkness that exists deep within your own heart.
- You must meet reality on reality's terms. “So it goes.”
- Voters: You are waiting for someone who doesn't exist.
- History is just past politics; it may not repeat, but it does rhyme.
- Having the right to vote does not automatically grant you political insight—you've gotta do the work.
- The future is now. Adapt or be overwhelmed.
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