Psychology
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No-makeup makeup
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1 min read
It’s easier to be oneself behind a mask to conceal the messy workings underneath. But the shame in acting is suppressing the person that we are. We can only mask our insecurity and vulnerability for so long until we yield to the unmasking powers of authenticity. Honesty is liberating. There is no stage nor carousel of personas…
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Avoiding the losses
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1 min read
Every story needs a villain that disobeys the rules. Bereft of the drama, we lose interest in the hero’s tale. Every single event that occurs in one’s life prepares them for a moment yet to come. Life begs for a beautiful struggle, where an exaggerated sense of faith begets a David versus Goliath triumph. When…
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The becoming
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2 min read
“To be or not to be. That’s not really a question,” quipped film director Jean-Luc Godard back at Shakespeare’s most famous line. To be is rather a false start. Not to be precludes trying. Becoming is more like it. We think that success happens, but it’s the mistakes along the way that build up our future. Struggle makes…
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Information is the sum of parts
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1 min read
The brain is just a collection of tangled wires with neuron connectivity levels. We call its output ‘information’ because we need some way of describing chemical synchronicity. The computer works the same way. On the inside, it’s a collection of chips and wires with various voltage levels. What we see on screen is what we…
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How to doubt your fears
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1 min read
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…
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How to stem the fright
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2 min read
The actor slips over their words; the violinist freezes mid-song; the shortstop misses an easy grounder. Mistakes happen, no matter the expert. But how many errors are due to overthinking? We worry as a preventative, living through hyperbole in our heads before experiencing any such horror in real life. Dizziness of anxiety indicates a lack…
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Gagging on the dizziness of freedom
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1 min read
Devoid of context, an abstraction so genuine it steers clear the badge of authenticity. We, meaning-seeking creatures are lost in the dizziness of freedom. We follow an inner narrative only to see it conflict with the ideal stories we tell ourselves. Dreams are saturated with misleading formulas that destabilize our consciousness. The truth lies between…
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How the mind designs itself
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1 min read
We are always making predictions about our future. When we infer, we ignite consciousness. Within the complex system of our neurocognitive wiring comes transparency we can’t explain. The external world processes through a symphony of brain loops. Thinking is on a mission to remain consistent, predictable, while wildly variable. To err is to make strides.…
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How to mirror the beat of our heart
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2 min read
It seems that in preparing to live up to our best selves, we often fail to follow the very advice we give others. Dizziness caused by the freedom of indecision goes at odds against reality. So we jump at the quickest cognitive register — whichever requires the least effort. Everyone seems to have a clear…
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From your mouth
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2 min read
Words signify a consciousness, of which a newborn or pet can only hear. The baby goes on to break a word up into its individual sounds, eventually coalescing into a communicative language of memes while your dog relies on its own form of internal narrative. There is some form of mental awareness in all creatures.…
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The script, the story
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1 min read
How many of us are just acting our way through life, adapting to different settings like chameleons? Situational elasticity lends its hand to the collaborative truth, that people inject each other with signaling serum. The slightest twang, the tinkle of dimples, the cleanest tucked-in shirt, belt, and Prada shoes – we try to demonstrate to…
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Are we still alive?
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2 min read
Somewhere upon the way of evolution, humans lucked out. We developed language. And we grew hands and fingers that allowed us to manipulate our environment. But a bigger brain didn’t make us smarter or more conscious than our other animal friends. Neanderthals had larger brains than humans, as too do dolphins and whales to this…