The Greatest Tax We Pay
The way this world of ours works, we pay a price when fellow citizens are unwell. The smoker, the drinker, the sufferer of cancer or heart disease — when we’re taxed, we pay our share of their health bill. Stress weaves an invisible needle through our daily lives, puncturing much and sewing great dramas. Property prices rise, interest rates come and go, coffee becomes dear and groceries seem expensive. So off we go to work, to pay for it all. At work, many feel surrounded by demanding people, unreasonable people. It is hard to escape them. If these people drive the ship, we’re
When Your Mind Has Visitors (Extended, Deep Version)
First, a disclaimer. This extended piece is not my best writing but I feel it goes deep into the complicated dynamics of emotions, states of mind, and the mind itself
The Key Hangs On The Door Unguarded
It scares them. The thought of other people gaining Awareness of themselves scares them. They think it’s dangerous if people think freely. They see this as a bad thing for society. They are afraid that unchained minds and unchained souls will topple the structures of stability. To them we say, ‘Don’t worry my friends — when the guard tower falls and the cell doors open, when the young people walk free from the penitentiary of stability, there will be nothing forcing you to follow…’ ‘You can stay in your cell if you so wish
THE EXISTENTIAL FLU — Diagnosing how we lose awareness and get back on track.
I had a crushing existential crisis recently… Don’t worry, I managed to dig myself out of it. Not only that, but I think I can reduce its occurrence in future. This experience is not just ‘feeling down’ — it’s a completely undocumented illness that plagues the modern world called the Existential Flu. What’s the Existential Flu? When your thinking is invaded by negative questions, self-doubt, low self-belief, a sense of meaninglessness, fuzzy-thinking, frustration for life and… well, that feeling of being hopelessly lost. These thoughts are not accurate, they don’t reflect your reality or progress in life — they are an invasion.
If you keep staring the devil in the eye, you’ll only see the devil
People are so often afraid to open the Door to a 'painful' observation about themselves or their reality. They want to go on living in the matrix
Heavy, Leaky Jars
I’ve talked about this idea before, but let’s be clear. A lot of those things you call goals, a lot of your desires are simply heavy, leaky jars. ‘Leaky’ because as Liam Hounsell puts it, you keep trying to fill them but they don’t stay full. ‘Heavy’ because they take huge energy to carry, to lug around. As such, they burden your existence. Take the young man who desperately wants to be a famous business CEO. By holding up such a goal, the boy immediately becomes less than his ideal self. From the outset, he is doomed. All due to his perspective, he must
The Mirror of Erised Test
The Mirror of Erised is a magical mirror from the Harry Potter series of books and films. You can familiarise yourself here. It does not simply show one their reflection. Harry’s friend, Ronald Weasley, looks into the Mirror and sees himself achieving sporting and leadership glory at their school, clearly jealous of his older, high-achieving brothers. Harry on the other hand sees his parents, who died protecting him when he was young, standing beside him. The two can’t make sense of their differing visions. It takes the intervention of the wise school Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, to fill Harry in on the mirror’s magic; the
The Nobel Prize For Anonymity
“Ego Is The Enemy” Ryan Holiday found this idea so important that he tattooed it onto his body and made it the title of a great book. Ego is not an enemy, it is the enemy. Not one of many enemies, but the one enemy behind every villainous mask. Any obstacle you are facing right now be it internally or out in the external world can be traced back to ego. Are you afraid of something right now… well what are you afraid of? Are you afraid of failing, being embarrassed, or letting others down? Ask then this; what do you stand to lose
Enough
The young boy played in the sand box. He spent all day making a sand castle, crafting it so that it was grander than all the other children's sand castles. He ran to his mother, grabbed her by the hand, and dragged her over to the play area. "What do you think of it mother?" the boy said. The mother looked for a good while, paused, and said "Enough". The boy put his head down, sad and disappointed, and walked away. The young boy was at school. He partook in a speaking competition in front of the entire school, all the teachers and students.