Life
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A catalog of emotions
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1 min read
We live with a catalog of emotions, whipsawing between highs and lows. Most of the undulation is due to poor internal weather. We are not neutral, pushed inside and outside by competing forces. One minute we’re a lover of rule-breakers with scrupulous indifference; the next, we’re just another lemming, a sheep jumping through hoops. We…
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Together as spiritual completeness
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2 min read
It is human desire to share. It is also human desire to compete. The two — cooperation and competition — bleed into each other to test human resolve. One excels in their particular field to consume another’s comparative advantage. As soon as those walls close down, trouble is lit. Every man for himself, absolute freedom,…
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Under the trained eye
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2 min read
The eye works as a paintbrush, coloring the world with a palette of vitality. Unfortunately, the constant bombardment of external stimuli torpedoes our attention, bankrupting what’s interesting. After all, the attention merchants plant eye candy and other UX wiles to captivate us and throw us into a ludic loop. But we can see our way…
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A mind run riot
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1 min read
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…
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Inseparable opposites
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2 min read
We’re always in the middle of fictional thinking — vacillating between what we’d like to do versus what we’re scared to do. Utopia and dystopia keep us on our toes before we filter for the truth. We’re also paradoxical role-players — toggling between obedience and standing out depending on our internal weather. Authenticity often remains…
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The spotlight of attention
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1 min read
Willpower rests on the brain’s set point for pleasure. Get used to indulging doses of dopamine, and the mind goes numb to any lack of stimulation. Redirecting the spotlight of attention enforces a deliberate curb on the amygdala’s hijackings. Overriding how we feel is at the core of managing life’s compass. When we’re under control,…
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Writing takes guts
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2 min read
Writing is a bitch. It takes routine, grit, and lots of induced anxiety to show up every day and put pen for paper. There’s a reason few do it: it’s depressing. But for those who do, like runners, consistency means everything. Putting words together is like jogging the brain; working on prose keeps the artist…
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The invention of things
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2 min read
Most creativity depends on building on top of what’s already there. Novelty exploits and aggregates preexisting stems to manufacture new and different, which is all people pay attention to. However, what’s new isn’t always copy-pasta, nor is it always welcome. Most inventions and reinventions are dull and undeluded, shocking just at their orientation. No to…
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Tackling the brain’s anxiety bias
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1 min read
We take out the wind of anxiety by going toward the fear. The nerves left alone in anticipation, attrit our resistance with cruel swiftness. Uncertainty pervades all those who wish to consult it and acquiesce. The only way forward is to adopt the most extreme outcome and hyperbolize it. That’s right — export the scariest…
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We are nobody’s establishment
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2 min read
Good, bad, and ugly — honesty is what’s at stake. Of course, we strive for the perfect edited self. But such is a fallacy, as even influencers have adopted the strategy of no-makeup makeup. Social media intends to captivate and drive mimetic desire. But all marketers are liars, as are the followers who buy the…
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Strength through struggle
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2 min read
Everything we know we learn from our handicaps. They are far better teachers than strengths. As the author Bernard Malamud quipped, “if you haven’t struggled, you haven’t yet lived.” Mental illness, speech impediments — these brain sprains muddle thoughts and make life hard to read. But the cognitive tips and tricks we use to cope…
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Passion project be damned
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2 min read
The banality of doing what we’re told gets bottle-necked at the top of free will. Eventually, one balks at the factory of someone else’s to-do lists. We do what punctures the heart. When we feel compelled to create life intentionally, the very bottom of our souls opens up. But outsourcing the work to robots is…