⚡️ Enlightening Bolts

⌛️ Zen and Now: A 1969 short film narrated by Alan Watts that discusses the Zen philosophy of living for the present, developing sensory awareness, and appreciating the beauty of nature. Watch it here.​

🏦 How to Pay Off Your Emotional Debt: A toolkit for navigating stressful experiences and cultivating emotional mastery. Read it here.​

🚧 Life's Infinite Paths: Uncertainty, maximizing, and the paradox of trying to live the best possible life. Read it here.​

🎇 Image of The Week

"You may have heard of light as both particles and waves, but have you ever imagined the secret dance within? Researchers from the University of Ottawa and Sapienza University in Rome have just uncovered a groundbreaking technique that enables the real-time visualization of the wave function of entangled photons — the fundamental components of light." Read more here.​

🏆 Don't Shame Yourself Into Victory

"Dark motivation or light motivation. You can win either way, but one is sustainable, one isn't. When you shame yourself into victory, you win and it feels like you lost." -Russ

I heard this quote from an interview recently and really resonated with the message. I've found this true in my own life.

Years ago when I became entrenched in the world of "personal growth" there was an undercurrent of shame and a lack of self-acceptance driving my desire to change.

This resulted in a very start-and-stop kind of dynamic. Progress was never maintained because I would eventually resent that judgmental part of me and rebel.

Now my growth feels like tending to a garden and planting seeds into fertile soil. In due time, they blossom.

But in the meantime, I'm not racing away from myself today to be that man of tomorrow. The garden is already rich in splendor. I can sit and watch the sunrise as the dew drops dance upon the leaves.

It is not a day demanding escape.

👻 The Ghost of Loss

Enjoy this beautiful poem from John O'Donahue that he wrote for his mother:

"On the day when
the weight deadens
on your shoulders
and you stumble,
may the clay dance
to balance you.

And when your eyes
freeze behind
the grey window
and the ghost of loss
gets into you,
may a flock of colours,
indigo, red, green
and azure blue,
come to awaken in you
a meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays
in the currach of thought
and a stain of ocean
blackens beneath you,
may there come across the waters
a path of yellow moonlight
to bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours.

And so may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak
to mind your life."

🤓 Learn This Word

Kything is a term that originally gained popularity from the novel "A Wind in the Door" by Madeleine L'Engle. In the novel, kything is a form of non-verbal, spiritual, and telepathic communication that allows beings to connect on a deep, intimate level without the use of words or physical presence. It is described as more than just simple telepathy; it's a sharing of essence or being.

⏳ From The Archives

A hand-picked classic HighExistence article.

​Ikigai: The Shortcut to Your Reason For Being​

What is your reason for being?

What were you put here to do?

This is one of the most common questions we run up against. Often, it’s the most difficult to answer. Many of us go our entire lives searching for this illusive over-arching purpose. It causes great deals of anxiety and stress when we find ourselves scrambling or fumbling around for something that feels like the ‘right thing.’

And yet, others seem to stumble into it without any real effort. It just finds them. Somehow.

Objective discussions about the metaphysical nature of reality aside, humans are fortunate because we are meaning-making creatures. That’s what we do. We create and give meaning to things.

Money. Ideas. Personalities. Words. Activities. Life.

We give all of these things meaning. This sets the precedent that we can give, or create, the meaning in our lives as well. Through self-exploration, effort, and inquiry, you can create the meaning of your life.

That sounds great.

How do we do it?

If only there was a framework, a system that we could work through, where the end result would be this illusive purpose for our lives. If only we had a path to follow, one that would lead us to meaning and fulfillment.

Fortunately, there is.

It’s just not very well known, and it’s certainly not very well established in Western culture.

This framework is ikigai.

​[Continue Reading]​

🎬 Endnote

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Mike Slavin