After doing various drafts of this post I realised that there is really only one thing to say here, and that is that the neediness inside us will never be satisfied. Something inside—call it the ego, call it the small self—whatever that thing is will always want more, always need more, and will never be satisfied. So, we might as well be at peace now.
(Related Articles: Two modes of being: The locust and the lotus.)
Every so often I forget to make the present moment a priority. The mode I usually go into is one that spirals into a feeling of neediness and anxiety. It’s like being driven by a perpetual unrest inside. It feels like a grabby-ness, a wanting-to-get, or just a wanting-to-be-somewhere-else.
Continue reading “Two modes of being: The locust and the lotus.”I’ve been meditating for years but I guess you could say that at times I wasn’t really meditating as much as just having conversations with myself while sitting still.
Continue reading “When you no longer have to finish the arguments in your head.”
The other day I wanted to see if my local bookstore had any books on Python programming. A few years ago they used to have at least one or two, but I’ve recently noticed the IT section shrinking steadily. Today the IT section is a mere single shelf in a store where nearly 25% to 30% (by my own estimation) of the shelves are taken over by popular psychology, or self-help, or business tactics, or some combination of those. And when I say 25% to 30% that’s a fairly conservative estimation on my part—it might actually be more.
Continue reading “Is self-help the weed of the book world?”The deeper I go into restlessness, the longer I sit with that feeling of being chased around by a to-do list or random thoughts in my head, the more I realise that underneath that feeling is a more profound emotional discomfort.
Continue reading “Restlessness as a symptom”Sometimes during my morning meditation I get this sense of urgency to feel that calm centredness I often associate with being present.
Continue reading “Chasing Presence”
I never walk away from a running session feeling that I’ve failed.
Continue reading “Why running is easier than writing”Sometimes when I’m in the outline phase of a story, I get bogged down with this idea of writing something truly original. But no story is truly original. Especially when you zoom out far enough to take just the bare essentials into account.
Continue reading “Writing something truly original”When writing first drafts, don’t try. This is a counter-intuitive idea, no doubt. But here’s the thing: trying is often outcome focused whereas flowing is less conditional and more in the moment.
Continue reading “When writing the dreaded first draft, don’t try”I’ve often noticed that when I write a first draft of something, good days are followed by bad days. I’ve noticed this countless times, especially at the start of a novel or short story. It’s almost like I need those days of stuckness and stagnation to get to the good days. But it’s easy to get discouraged on those days where nothing flows, not the story, not the dialogue, nothing—everything you write seems like garbage.
Continue reading “When writing the dreaded first draft, be glad for the bad days”