Life Advice from Brilliant Minds
We know what we have and what is available to us. We know what is here right now. For a moment we are satisfied and then we yearn for something better. Something novel.
We look to the dreamers, the designers, the inventors and the creators for what is yet to be imagined.
We look to them to dream up something new.
Featured Art
You can’t bring anxious energy to long lasting change. By Madeline Johnson
More than 40% of our lives are spent in habit. Habits are those things we do, mindlessly, without any thought. Bingeing on Neflix, emotional shopping and overspending, obsessively checking your Instagram, that second glass of wine every night, working 15 hours a day, never holding eye contact, obliviously eavesdropping, eating too quickly, forgetting to floss, overpromising and under delivering, drunken raging at your partner, the list goes on. . .
Some habits are not as harmful as others, but many of them can cause some pretty big issues – like feeling drowsy at work from lack of sleep, large credit card balances that are impossible to pay down, digestive issues and early onset of gum disease and many a bad and torturous break up .
The worst approach you can take towards breaking bad habits is to rush – the race to the finish line approach. The force it in your brain with daily affirmations and ten minute meditations, this doesn’t work for long lasting change.
When you set out to be a better person than you once were, change doesn’t come easy. Correcting parts of your personality that don’t suit you anymore requires a change in thoughts, emotions, behaviors and habits – everything that creates the foundation of who you are.
You can’t bring anxious energy to long lasting change. Pushing, forcing and shoving your way to a new version of you doesn’t have the strong and deep energy to create that staying power. It doesn’t carve the deep enough grooves in our neural pathways to make the change stick.
I found what has been working best for me is the slow, deliberate and intentional approach.
Featured Photographer
Robert Wood Cox on Instagram
Your higher voice needs to be listened to. It is the one with the best advice. By Madeline Johnson
This new chapter of my life is called smiling again.
– Michael Singer, author of The Untethered Soul
Reinventing yourself begins by slowing down. Being at peace. Staying calm.
But how does one learn to chill out? A 3-minute listen to the wisdom of Jordan Bach here.
Your higher voice needs to be listened to. It is the one with the best advice. In the past two weeks my inner, deeper, more knowing voice told me loud and clear – do not complain and do not doubt.
Pope John XXIII
Featured Artwork on Instagram
Slow down and let your breath anchor you into this moment, where you remain at peace and with the pace of this universe. By Madeline Johnson
Today is the day I let go. I let go and for damn good reason. I let go of attaching myself to what I think I need and want. This is true freedom.
I have no control over when my last breath will be, so if I cannot control something as essential as my breath, which keeps me alive, who is to say I can control anything else.
The only thing between me and death is my breath. I don’t want to catch my breath, I want to slow it down and let it anchor me into this moment, where I remain at peace and with the pace of this universe.
Recommended Reading
Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life – Living the Wisdom of the Tao by Dr. Wayne Dyer
The Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
The Tao Te Ching is a series of meditations on the mysterious nature of the Tao–the Way, the guiding light, the very source of all existence. According to Lao Tzu (a name meaning “the old master”), the Tao is found where we would least expect it–not in the strong but in the weak; not in speech but in silence; not in doing but in “not-doing.”
Poems by Cristen Rodgers
“Once I made it through the darkest and most difficult parts of my personal adventure, I came to realize that this magic key wasn’t meant just for me – it could be a gift to others as well. I could use my pen to throw the doors wide open and allow the truths that had so profoundly improved my life to find their way to others who are stepping upon the path that I walked myself.”
Featured Artist
@miles_art on Instagram
Miles Johnston was born in the UK in 1993. He spent the first few years of his early childhood living in Brunei, Borneo, something that he is sure had a major effect on him. The totally different environment gave him the intuition early on that there is no true ‘normal’.
A morning manifesto that resets your mind to start the day with a stronger, healthier mindset.
Change. Transformation. Something new for you. It starts with ownership and attitude over your thoughts, words and deeds. You see, I take pride in owning my problems. I hammer away at them daily. Unfortunately, I also take on other people’s obstacles and challenges as well. Perhaps this makes me feel more important. Validated. Essential. Significant.
When Fixing Problems Becomes a Problem
By day, I deal with problems and concerns by constantly updating my to-do list. I also take time out of my day, time that I really don’t have, to help others solve their problems. And I get very frustrated when they don’t listen to my advice. It gets me so twisted. Have you been there? Do you know what I mean?
At night, I have a tendency to take those problems to bed and ruminate over them until I fall asleep from mental exhaustion. On occasion, I can even take that worrying to a whole new level of crippling pain and insanity. I believe I may have perfected the art of catastrophizing – believing that things are worse than they actually are. My mind a maelstrom of nighttime worry. Day in and day out. Night dreads and morning anxiety.
Believe It If You Need It
Meditate they urged. Journal it away. Pray they said. Clear your mind. I thought about it. I tried new ways and altered my approach. Crystals, sage, affirmations. Nothing really worked. Rote prayer never inspired me. I was seeking more. I wanted to focus on transforming my mind, breaking the patterns of rumination, tapping into the limitless, openness of possibility- – not just mechanically reciting phrases that meant nothing to me. I wanted to turn worry into wonder.
Show Me Holy Places Not Yet Found
Sometime last year, I considered writing down a morning manifesto that would reset my mind to start the day with a stronger, healthier mindset. This was to be my very own prayer, a promise to myself, my mantra for manifesting a more powerful and positive life. It’s working to help me reset in the morning. So on the start of a new year, I share it with you. Maybe it will inspire you to write your own. I believe it has helped me dissipate the morning anxiety that crippled my days.
I pray today that I remember that I already have the strength to sustain a positive open awareness and joyful caring presence through the gains and losses and the highs and lows that today will inevitably bring upon me and I to myself.
I know that I am brave enough to face this day and to be of benefit to this world. To be of benefit with a compassionate and loving attitude and to make sure it shines through with every smile, hug, word and deed that I do today. No matter what happens to me today, I remain constant and confidant that my loving acts will help me and others heal our pain.
Through it all today, I pray that I will be able to take full responsibility for my life and to groove through all the moments, the good and the bad without sinking into false refuge (drinking too much cheap wine, mindlessly snacking on chocolate and chips, gossiping about other peoples BS), without hiding from my pain and problems and without blaming others.
I pray that I remember that I have the strength today to positively face what is real and to take on each problem intelligently with love, humility and an open mind, knowing I need the help of others to grow and learn.
I continue today to remember what matters most. That no matter what happens today, that I have loved more that I thought possible and demonstrated that love to everyone I have the fortunate opportunity of spending time with today. I am so happy and blessed to be alive today.
I pray that I feel strong and confidant enough and passionate about my purpose and existence that I may understand and act on exactly, precisely what God has intended me to do with this precious life and that I may become a more inspiring human being.
I am strong enough to be radically and transparently open and honest enough with myself and everyone I encounter and that I see everything in my life as it truly is, not how I wish it would be.
And may I have the courage to take extreme ownership of my life and change what I believe is not serving me or others well.
I will embrace the magic of today. I do not wish to simply make sense of today. I choose to dwell and inhabit in life’s sacred mystery.
To expand my awareness and elevate my consciousness and my attitude.
To stay fully awake.
For I believe that this very life is one infinite, remarkable, unfolding miracle.
The important moment I’ve been waiting for is now.
Every single breath I take, you take, we take is a genius gift of infinite energy, an inhale and exhale breathing into a limitless universe, of which we are all connected to and supported by.
We are all so much more powerful than we realize. We must remember this daily. We are not alone, we have God as our co-pilot. We are in this together, supported and loved by our creator.
For every person I come in contact with today has this power as well and together we are meant to hold each other in reverence, now and forever. When I talk to you, I am talking to God. God loves us all.
I remain curious and humble today, for this life, this existence, is nothing short of magnificent.
Life for me is a daily, daring, epic adventure, a thrilling mystery ride to explore.
I live for the questions, the seeking, the learning and the breathtaking moments of awe.
I am content with the unknown, I do not need all of the answers, but simply love the experiential process of living. I look up at the cosmos with appreciation and awe in my heart and mind.
I pray that I remain on the right path today and every day and that I am always learning and applying what I have learned to become smarter, stronger and a humble servant to love.
Gratitude is my living, breathing, moving prayer, and my heart pours open wide with an enormous appreciation for everything that happens today. My soul cries out a passionate loving thank you to God and the universe. This is how I pray.
And when I forget today, I will let my heart soften and melt into the moment. Remembering, with discipline that we are all temporary tenants here and all we have is this very moment. . . . we are all just one exhale away . . .
There is nothing to prove or improve about my heart today. My heart is in the right place and on the right path. No fixing or controlling myself or others. I am remembering and honoring that we are all made perfect already and everything evolves in it’s own time. No mistakes, we are all made of divine intelligence. We connect and reconnect to our compassionate soul source in each moment with each thought, word and action, it is like this that we return to our innate goodness, to our loving nature right now.
If I am disappointed today by someone or something, I remember to love through it with patience and understanding. Love is the only real emotion, every other, the absence of it.
This is my best self, my connected self. Leaning on the cheek of of God, I sway through a divine dance with life each day.
I remain awake, aware, alive and here.
I will not waste a moment of this life today. Not a single second.
I will not doubt my greatness today, the beautiful essence of God within me. I will remain calm and at peace for there is no pressure to do anything at all if the spirit doesn’t move me, for I already am perfect with God and love in my heart.
Recommended Reading
“We’re talking about metamorphosis
We’re talking about going from a caterpillar to a butterfly
We’re talking about how to become a butterfly.”
How do you cope when facing life-threatening illness, family conflict, faltering relationships, old trauma, obsessive thinking, overwhelming emotion, or inevitable loss? If you’re like most people, chances are you react with fear and confusion, falling back on timeworn strategies: anger, self-judgment, and addictive behaviors.
Few writers have so brilliantly and poignantly conjured the desperation and absurdity of ordinary life as Charles Bukowski. Resonant with his powerful, perceptive voice, his visceral, hilarious, and transcendent poetry speaks to us as forcefully today as when it was written. Encompassing a wide range of subjects—from love to death and sex to writing—Bukowski’s unvarnished and self-deprecating verse illuminates the deepest and most enduring concerns of the human condition while remaining sharply aware of the day to day.
Featured art by Ouzo Kim
illustrator & graphic designer & creative director
We are limitless. Eternity. Capable of imagining anything. By Madeline Johnson
FEATURED ART BY EDWARD FAIRBURN
Origin of Riding Shotgun
Riding shotgun was used to describe the guard who rode alongside a stagecoach driver, ready to use his shotgun to ward off bandits or hostile Native Americans. In modern use, it refers to the practice of sitting alongside the driver in a moving vehicle.
Distractions keep us from focusing on our mission. If you don’t have a mission, that’s okay, think of your mission as anything you say that you really want to “focus” on if you had the time, the money, the resources. You know, your hopes, dreams, and aspirations.
Everything feels like a distraction at times, which can lead to feeling overwhelmed especially when distractions are inviting and enticing.
Do what Adam Robinson does. Ask yourself this question – my notes from Tribe of Mentors.
Art by Russ Mills
Artwork by Peter Beard.
He married a supermodel, photographed rock stars and came from a wealthy family. Easy on the eyes too.
Peter Hill Beard is an American artist, photographer, diarist and writer who lives and works in New York City and Kenya. His photographs of Africa, African animals and the journals that often integrate his photographs have been widely shown and published since the 1960s.
How to follow your intuition by becoming more mindful.
Three things I am working on right now.
Soul Singing
Question: What does my soul say today?
My soul doesn’t speak in thoughts. No, not at all. These thoughts that clutter my mind are just residual pain left over from the things I haven’t let go of yet. Thoughts of conflicts yet resolved.
My soul speaks in feelings, emotions, images, sounds, clues.
My soul speaks to me when I feel deep sadness, frustration, anger, contentment and happiness.
I can feel, see, taste, touch and listen to my soul when my mind is silent.
That’s why I meditate.
Weeding my mind garden so there is more room for a soul orchestra.
Good feelings can’t grow from grudges. Pure thoughts don’t come from residual pain.
These are the feelings from stories feared.
Letting these thoughts drift on by, help me weed my mind garden and clear the soil for a more softer, gentler and more compassionate state of being.
Recovering from the violent ways in which we communicate.
Judging, blaming, demanding, critiquing, name-calling.
Talk about your karma baby.
Softer thoughts lead to kinder words. Seeking more non-violent ways to communicate.
Inspired by Tribe of Mentors by Tim Ferriss & Turning Your Mind Into An Ally by Sakyong
Mipham
