You know how there are lessons that take forever to learn? Like, YEARS? And they’re not things you can learn on YouTube or Google or even pay someone else to do for you — they’re the lessons you. have. to. learn.
This is a group of six of those lessons from my own life: the wisdom that seems SO OBVIOUS until you try to incorporate it into your being and actually live it.
I’m revisiting my favorite podcast episodes for the summer, and your support means the world to me! I suggest paying $10 per 100 minutes of listening. This keeps the podcast sustainable, ad-free, and accessible. 90% of my work is completely free. The other 10% is breathwork and coaching clients, which is when I use my most potent energies for pay. The podcast is an act of love, of sharing, and of my truest work. Your support means the world to me, and to those who aren’t in a spot to pay for any of it right now. Donate here.
When you say you’re ‘tired,’ what exactly do you mean? These four choices give options that will help you explain why you’re more than ‘just need a nap’ tired, and how to restore the wells of each one. Sometimes articulating the way you’re feeling brings you closer to finding a solution for your exhaustion.
Your shame is not interesting.
One of the ways we tire ourselves out is by making ourselves small, denying our instincts, and otherwise pretending we’re too ‘broken’ to do our work in the world. Shame holds us back in all things — from the size of our thighs to the voice in our head that asks ‘who are you to……’ where …… is your most treasured dream. How do you grapple with and move through shame, in both big and small ways? This is a start.
One of the ways we separate ourselves from others is by hiding behind ‘fine’ — as in, ‘How are you?’ ‘Fine!’ when we’re really awful, miserable, scared, depressed, disillusioned, struggling, tired, or otherwise in need of some companionship. What if you can learn to tell on yourself? What might it look like to move toward the discomfort of intimacy — with both yourself and those closest to you? How might you defeat asshole brain in direct combat, through telling the truth about your most difficult moments? Listen in.
THIS WISDOM LESSON IS THE VERY WORST. I mean, I’d like to finish my best work tomorrow, and then retire to somewhere amazing to do nothing but read books and swim in the sea — wouldn’t you? But um. Your best work takes a while. Life takes a while. Creativity takes a while. How might we begin to engage with projects for the long (long long) haul? How would we treat ourselves if we treated our work as ongoing — and therefore not worthy of rushing or speeding through? What would we do if we knew we had not one opportunity, but shit-tons of ’em, and we don’t have to prove ourselves by taking every single one that comes down the pike? This might take a while.
It doesn’t count if you don’t enjoy it and Joy is an act of resistance.
These are two facets of the same coin: when you look at the news and see only suffering, you’re not getting the whole story. There are many, many reasons to enjoy the life you have today, right now, at this very hour. Waiting until an undefined ‘later’ or until everything is perfect or until that person is out of office to feel good, do your work, or bring your gifts to the world is a waste of your humanity. What if you started enjoying every good thing?
P.S. Breathwork for asshole brain is incredibly helpful if you’d like to start tackling those asshole brain thoughts from the inside out! Promo code SUMMER takes $11 off here.
