When it comes to the ways we harm ourselves, two things have converged for me this month and I think it's the Universe, helpfully noodging me along like a kind grannie chivvying a toddler towards bath time. One is right here on Substack: Letters From Love with Elizabeth Gilbert: https://elizabethgilbert.substack.com/p/letters-from-love-with-special-guest-fd0
Another is that I'm resuscitating my long-dormant meditation practice with the help of Sharon Salzberg's Real Happiness Meditation Challenge (which she offers for free every February). My favorite takeaway: the magic moment is when you catch yourself becoming distracted — and do NOT judge or condemn or scold yourself. You simply begin again, with gentleness and kindness toward yourself. No matter how many times you go "astray" and have to begin again -- that's not failure: that IS the practice. And so it is with life.
I know this all too well! I have replaced 101 things with 101 other things in the course of my lifetime. I like to think I'm not an addict but one doesn't have to drink or smoke to be addicted to something! I won't get into what I waste precious time on but suffice it to say that I could really use an exorcism at times 😂😂
I'm not sure I have ever had as great a compliment as "slightly deranged-in-all-the-best-ways". Though when my friend who is a speech language pathologist told me that my brain was well-integrated, that might have been close.
I've used knitting as a way to calm the intense urge to react (to a device, to a screen, to a person) and to DO (running, eating, whatever) - and it's not bad. Even better, and frankly more useful in many ways: darning socks. You want to learn patience, and focus, and mindfulness, and an appreciation of life? Darn a hole (or a worn spot) in a wool sock. Brings you right into yourself and provides endless time for reflection.
And I really can't imagine becoming obsessed with sock-darning to the point it becomes a dopamine high!
When it comes to the ways we harm ourselves, two things have converged for me this month and I think it's the Universe, helpfully noodging me along like a kind grannie chivvying a toddler towards bath time. One is right here on Substack: Letters From Love with Elizabeth Gilbert: https://elizabethgilbert.substack.com/p/letters-from-love-with-special-guest-fd0
Another is that I'm resuscitating my long-dormant meditation practice with the help of Sharon Salzberg's Real Happiness Meditation Challenge (which she offers for free every February). My favorite takeaway: the magic moment is when you catch yourself becoming distracted — and do NOT judge or condemn or scold yourself. You simply begin again, with gentleness and kindness toward yourself. No matter how many times you go "astray" and have to begin again -- that's not failure: that IS the practice. And so it is with life.
I know this all too well! I have replaced 101 things with 101 other things in the course of my lifetime. I like to think I'm not an addict but one doesn't have to drink or smoke to be addicted to something! I won't get into what I waste precious time on but suffice it to say that I could really use an exorcism at times 😂😂
I'm not sure I have ever had as great a compliment as "slightly deranged-in-all-the-best-ways". Though when my friend who is a speech language pathologist told me that my brain was well-integrated, that might have been close.
I've used knitting as a way to calm the intense urge to react (to a device, to a screen, to a person) and to DO (running, eating, whatever) - and it's not bad. Even better, and frankly more useful in many ways: darning socks. You want to learn patience, and focus, and mindfulness, and an appreciation of life? Darn a hole (or a worn spot) in a wool sock. Brings you right into yourself and provides endless time for reflection.
And I really can't imagine becoming obsessed with sock-darning to the point it becomes a dopamine high!
You're welcome. :-)