Search Results for “doubt”

Without a positive doubt

October 13th, 2021

Thinking is the process of juggling with active uncertainty. Thinking is hard because it requires the mind to search for clarity in a sea of indifference.

The mind impedes itself, as it’s the source of all the information we seek to find. It is nearly impossible to control; the brain elides into a blob of mercury.

Regardless of what we see, the inner monologue is what one becomes. Interpretation predetermines outlook. Imagine all the countless micro-calls people make throughout the day that rests on the pillars of perspective.

Is she more content in sunshine or shades of grey? The ability to choose one attitude over another at any moment is a matter of free will.

As a bewildering mixture of people, the antenna of attention varies. Some see beauty in the chaos and exude frustration in simplicity. Others are delighted but worried. There is even contentment amidst struggles and sadness.

Without a positive doubt, a basket of mental conditions exists, rendering a wall of worry and excitement.
Busy living with doubt

July 23rd, 2021

The painful past, the anxious future, the joyful present — to be alive in any mood requires that we hop over the indifference threshold.

The more we feel negative emotions, the more we care. The caring fever remains scarce even when others don’t.

The fool ignores their own peril and remains stuck in a state of monotonous myopia. Reality bites hard.

The Self remains what it is — natural behavior and creative output are things we can’t change. But doubt is what keeps the identity plastic. Tightening is a response to fear.

Feel the fear and do it anyway.

Uncertainty compels us to live. If beliefs, like knives and forks, are tools for living, then the only reassurance we need is the faith to keep going.

We acknowledge the tentacles of past pain. We fret about the uncontrollable future. We dance in the present. We are too concerned with the “business of living” to worry about what comes next.

Take the plunge.
How to doubt your fears

December 23rd, 2020

Fears are the mind-killer. They will eat the soul if you let them have their way.

But fear is unavoidable — it’s in your DNA to fight or flight. There are no limits to what the lizard brain can fabricate. The imagination toggles with ‘what if’ scenarios, enduring anxiety before ever experiencing an event.

Yet the head is also psychologically safe, physiologically sound. You own the decision rights to the brain domain, driven by the string of your heart.

Fears are, in their very nature, abstract. Wade into them in their stark simplicity and irreality, and they lose potency.

Easier said than done, of course. It takes bravery to examine the validity of your negative thoughts to gain a more realistic perspective on them.
Defying expectations

November 23rd, 2021

There is conflict and harmony between doubt and applause. The art would not be so interesting had it been expected.

The audience seeks novelty and wants to be awed. The creator, therefore, goes beyond predictability and dances with the fear of disapproval.

When we’re making something, we’re almost always uncertain how it might be accepted. But we can’t resist the urge to be unique. That’s why it’s always easier when we’re constructing something for ourselves.

Authenticity propels confidence; the rest takes care of itself. As Francis Bacon reminds us, “We do with our life what we can and then we die. If someone is aware of that, perhaps it comes out in their work.”

Keep anything locked up enough it eventually explodes. There is no way to know if anyone cares about the work, but we at least we can say it’s the least bit derivative.
Relishing the doubt

December 16th, 2019

gif by @raphaellemartin

Enthusiastic in the front, skeptic in the back.

The dialectic of mind enframes the rational man. When we peel off the plastic of certainty, we uncover the beauty of chasing ambiguity.

When we see that the true bearers of consciousness are patterns of continuous variation rather than preprogrammed automata, we relish our idiosyncrasies.

Naïveté is on par with idealism.

What we demand instead is the thrill of belief, vacuuming up all the information around us without pre-consolidating our vision with the cockiness of mastery.

Every single person has their own blend of style, just like the unique acoustic signature of birds. Wonderfully different, in search of random incursions.
Doubting our own self-doubt

September 23rd, 2019

The only way to allay doubt is to do. We must face our biggest fears. Perhaps the only thing holding back J.K. Rowling from success was her fear of public speaking — she did it anyway.

Public speaking. I agreed to read live at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympics in the belief that it would either kill or cure me. https://t.co/I9rohBaHrU
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 7, 2016

It’s most often the thing we’re scared of is exactly the thing we should be doing. It takes courage to persist with tension that wants us to simply give up.

Accept doubt for what it is — it’s there to make you practice and force your confidence. It takes some getting used to.

The trick is not to get rid of uncertainty but rather to play with it, to feel its presence, to caper around as we relax into it. The approach is a bit delusional but no more faulty than suffering more in the imagination than in reality.
To doubt, to do

May 31st, 2019

A little doubt never killed anyone. In fact, it’s probably saved you from getting involved in unforgivable situations.

But it does pay dividends to live with some anxiety and do it anyway. The trick to confidence is being sure of yourself than they are.

It is for fear that our best selves come about, as being uncomfortable is the surest path to growth.

Attention eases the tension of uncertainty, disconnecting head consciousness from the anchors of doubt.
When in doubt…

November 3rd, 2018
- Let your art make the rounds. Don’t hide it.
- Don’t try to be everywhere. Pick a place and be consistent.
- Rules are recommendations. Feel free to break them, recast, and remix them.
- Rest when you’re underperforming. Don’t quit.
- The muse is nonexistent. Inspiration is bunk. Habit is a bicep curl for the brain.
I hope the above helps you push through CRAP (criticism, rejection assholes, pressure) like Meryl Streep once did. Bonus points for embracing the messy middle.
A mind run riot

September 12th, 2022

Creativity occurs when the imagination runs riot. The mind, an inherently jumpy organ, delves into its own fruitful space — probing fantastic and experiential possibilities.

Truth is not the matter. Searching for what’s real and pure invention harbor the same goal: to pile up ideas. So we write a shitty rough draft or build a prototype to drive the concept forward, all in the name of the affirmative.

But making time to focus and start the work is only half of the job. Maintenance is the biggest challenge. What sustains mental and physical energy for any great project is a crazy assertion of persistence.

All else flows when we make up our minds to show up, practice, and ship daily. Process — the groove of habit — fuels a numbness against anxiety, doubt, and fear. “This may not work” is a reason to keep going.

The arteries of life hinge on what we can create, let go and transform—action gestures at such possibility. Instinct puts us in the best position. We keep running the experiment, vaccuming up and spilling out alpha, freshly windexing perspective with effort, experience, and time.
The great gambling game

December 24th, 2021

The full functionality captivates its players, keeping them coming back with the intent of trying to conquer it.

The game of life poses the most rhetorical question. And it behooves us to answer its frustrating riddle rather than be tricked into combating it.

Whether we ruminate about the past or worry about the future, it’s all-important we remain flexible in the present. Living in the now is admirable, as Joan Didion reminds us, “because every day is all there is.”

The biggest gamble is not putting what we have into good use. How well something performs is less important than just getting some enjoyment out of it before it runs stale.

Quieting the negative thought loops is already a challenge in itself. We’re better off employing doubt as to silence any regret.
Above the rim

December 19th, 2021

The imitative instinct drives one into a field of copycats. It doesn’t take a miracle to mimic previous forms produced by someone else.

But it does take a lot of courage to be different. If one gets lucky, magic will cluster together with the advantage of creativity, discovery, and innovation.

One is at their best when they’re most uncomfortable yet float confidently in the trek. Because the fun begins just before the feet touch terra firma.

The security of insecurity, the absence of safety, and the peril of doubt are what provide the helping hand. That’s what rolling up the sleeves and facing the world with impressive persistence is all about.

Hanging in the air is where life is most exciting. Amid the uncertainty, the trick to feeling more alive is simply feeling unresolved. It’s the herd of the content who are touched down with storytelling. They are also liars.
Hope is a hedge against reality

May 23rd, 2022

We live in anticipation. The worker who looks forward to a vacation is probably far happier and more productive than one who toils away without the slightest carrot of free time dangling in their future.

Without lying to ourselves, how do we unlock the treasure of hope (of more time, more freedom, and other imagined scenarios, etc.) without fabricating it? Hope is a hedge; it sees the world for all its doom yet remains wide-eyed to know that bad times don’t last forever. The survivalist exploits hope to revenge against reality.

On the other hand, doubt is a disease that inhibits our perception of the world. It wants us to play it safe, do nothing, or persist through hell on a slow downward grind. Thankfully, the emotional muscle grows resilient to attacks of uncertainty and pessimism over the years.

Anxiety also gets pretty boring. People want to discover new things about themselves and their capabilities. So we take on new challenges and learn to be more patient.

As cliche as it sounds, hope offers something even if our eyes fail to see it. Experience teaches us that results take time and that failure is an opportunity in disguise. Every endeavor is another chance to uncover an unexpected twist.