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Enter the paradox.
This isn’t the podcast I was supposed to create.
I had something polished and impressive in mind.
This is more interesting.
You should listen to it.
A bit of background:
I’d already committed to publishing a daily podcast when I got (very, very, very) sick with Long (very, very, very long) COVID.
So, I had a choice:
I could give up, or I could keep my commitment and include my constant exhaustion, fever, foggy-brain, relentless cough —and do my best.
I chose the latter.
My “best” varies quite a bit according to how well or poorly I feel on a given day.
The episodes are raw, out of order, unedited, with uneven audio quality, You’ll often hear my Pekingese, Bija barking in the background.
Sometimes I talk to myself, sometimes I talk to you. Sometimes I have no idea who I’m talking to. It’s a true potpourri.
And it’s not just overhearing me wax poetic through a stuffy nose about new insights and the insufferable discomfort of upended plans. There’s more!
In between the fragments of thought, feeling, and utter nonsense, is a timely and universal story about expectations, meaning making, dropping all agendas, and discovering what’s possible when we Open to What Is.
Tune in.
Sample a few episodes.
See if you can drop all expectations and allow yourself to be surprised and delighted by something you didn’t know you were looking for.
why am I wearing a clown nose?
because I
am someone-
and maybe you can relate to this -
I can take myself very seriously.
I can get really really uptight about
my life.
whether I'm doing it right
whether everything's gonna be okay.
I can get very uptight about my problems.
about my emotions.
I can get
worked up.
I have intense emotions.
I feel things intensely.
And this is a reminder to me as much as it is to you,
that this human thing,
it really it doesn't have to be such a big deal.
we can talk about hard things
we can go delve into
the nature of suffering
and we can do it
with a little bit of humor.
at least that's my hope.
so-
we'll see how long this lasts.
it's a little hard to breathe.
...but you know
All For the Love of humaning
we'll start out just by looking at
what are the obstacles,
what are the expectations to having a really wonderful life?
So we have to start with what is a Wonderful Life?
and of course that is very subjective.
it's different for me than it is for you
than it is for your parents
than it is for, you know,
Generations past and generations future.
so-
what is the barometer that we use to assess a good life?
we could say
happiness
but is it just about being happy?
I'm going to offer up the notion of a
life worth living and that could be an
ongoing conversation that we have but
that really is a life worth living
whether or not we believe our life is
worth living that creates
a good life
so
ask yourself right now
what makes my life worth living
is it your relationships is it your work
is it
nature?
creativity?
what are the experiences?
qualities?
what are the ways of being?
is it reading?
what what makes your life rich?
and how much of your time are you giving to
those things that make your life worth living?
this of course will vary for all of us
and it varies from day to day but
if we are chronically
like
giving
or chronically
under
attending
to
those
things within us that
give life meaning
we will be chronically unhappy
I think that's a pretty easy place to
start.
so
again this is just
a jumping off place and
an offering to start thinking about you
know what
kind of life
would make
the ordinary course of human suffering
worth it.
is it
feeling like you're making a difference
in the world is it feeling like
you're being really successful we all
have different different
standards
for what makes life worth living and a
good place to start in terms of really
assessing and articulating those
standards is a conversation about values
so
you know what do you value we typically
have
five
core values
and you know
experts
differ on whether or not these values
are static over time or or whether they
they can change I believe everything is
flexible and can change but I think that
there are a few that will be pretty
5:41
consistent
and
and it's really clear what you value
or it gets pretty it can get really
clear
if you're unsure off the bat what you
value when you think about times when
you've been really unhappy
like what
what was missing
particularly think of when you were
maybe less
proud of yourself
or when you had all of the
the things all of this stuff all of the
outward expressions of happiness or
success or whatever but inwardly you
felt
maybe empty
what was missing what would have changed
it and that can be a first clue
to what you really value
like
is it
is it a sense of connection
can you have a million friends and feel
empty because you really need to feel
truly connected
to someone is it
power
are you someone that really really
values
power and the sense that you know
what you say do and want
can we actualize or will be actualized
in the world around you
is it art and creativity and a sense of
you know
making things a sense of transforming
something from
one thing into another or from nothing
into something
to start thinking about it it's a
curiosity imagination is it maybe your
faith
is it
physical fitness
Health well-being
is it family
there are no right or wrong answers but
see if you can come up with five
and that
is it for today