Since I'll be undergoing surgery again this week (ugh!) and I've been rushing around trying to get as much work done as possible this so I can focus on my recovery, I decided that, instead of doing my regular blog post this week, I'm going to try something a little different!
Almost every day, I find myself jotting down notes and ideas on my phone or iPad — miscellaneous ideas, potential blog post prompts, random thoughts — and I've always thought to myself, What if I just shared these and let people think about them instead of writing a full blog post with my thoughts on them? So that's what we're going to do this week!
Here are some of the random thoughts and ideas I've had over the past year or so. If you like this style of post (it's quite a bit easier to read than my longer posts!) or you have any commentary on these random thoughts, let me know in the comments below!
Can you be addicted to acquiring knowledge? Or is there no limit to how ardently you can seek it?
It's such a cliche — "be yourself" — but, honestly, how much better does it feel when you're 100% being who you really are? Almost every industry in this culture is designed to discourage you from loving who you are, to encourage you to become the best version of yourself. But maybe we should try just being ourselves and not worry so much about the "best" part.
Anything I hold onto too tightly or make too special, I end up abandoning or neglecting.
There are some things I'm really not good at doing, and that's okay.
Maybe it's not even possible to be 100% yourself 100% of the time, but isn't it odd that most people aren't even actively striving for it?
It's okay if you're still trying to figure out what's good for you. It's okay if you still don't have a plan.
How many times a day do you work yourself up to be more irritated or upset vs. how many times a day you strive to calm yourself down, to be more mindful, loving, or peaceful?
Doesn't it always feel like you're chasing a better feeling than what you're experiencing right now? (That pretty much sounds like the opposite of being positively present!)
There are times in your life when you have clear direction, and there are times when you have no idea what's going to happen next. Those times are the hardest, but they don't last forever. Just be patient. Directions are coming.
Solitude is a state of possibility.
When you let go of the "I should be doing something else" mentality, you can just be in the moment. If you're going to be doing it anyway, why feel guilty about it? Just enjoy it.
It's okay to be anxious when experiencing new things. Newness and anxiety are likely to overlap, but they are separate things. The anxiety might go away, and then you can give that new thing a real shot. It's normal to be anxious in the beginning, and I suppose that's where it gets tricky: figuring out when the beginning ends.
Even when you know what's best for you, you won't always make the right choices. That's okay. (And probably very normal.)
I don't think we listen to ourselves as much as we did before we had so many distractions. There's so much to look at that sometimes I forget to listen.
What would it be like to have no attachments, to feel completely and utterly free? How does one even begin to cultivate that state of mind, to not cling so tightly?
Does everything with a dark side have to have a light one, or is that just something we tell ourselves to feel more sane in the chaos of an uncertain existence?
It's not always easy for me to be alive. For some people it's effortless, but for a lot of us it's not. Some of us have to swim harder to keep our heads above water.
Music can make your life feel like a movie. What kind of film do you want to be starring in? What do you want the background to sound like?
Yes, some of your biggest fears will happen, but they will teach you that you can survive.
Some view self-love as egotistical, but that's an unfair judgment, an assumption that loving yourself means loving yourself more than loving others. But love is limitless. We know this because we can love our parents, partners, pets, friends, and not run out of love. Adding yourself to that list will not diminish the love you have for others.
Don't outsource love for yourself.
How strange that there's a voice in your head talking to you at all times! Is that voice you, or is it something separate from the self?
We experience everything alone. Every emotion, experience, person, we feel and partake in only in our own unique way. For example, we all feel sad, but it's never the exact same sad. If every moment is truly experienced alone, why then are so many people frightened of being on their own?
Did you know that it's possible to simply refuse to live like everyone else?
Whenever I'm doing anything that doesn't involve thinking, learning, or creating, it feels like I'm wasting moments of my life. I feel resentful of everything — people, experiences, even my own mortal body — that steals my time.
If discomfort is what creates new and amazing things, why are we all so afraid of being uncomfortable?
It's so hard to understand the self and what it truly means, but we have to try. Do you really want to go your whole life not knowing who you are?
Pain makes you intensely present. When you're in true, acute pain, you are so profoundly here. Learn from that. (Also: the fear of the pain is almost always worse than the pain itself.)
Figuring out who you are is a nice idea in theory, but "who you are" isn't a constant thing. It's always changing, which means that to truly figure yourself out, you have to constantly be paying attention.
Will I always have more questions than answers?
I hope you enjoyed getting an insight into my strange (and sometimes dark) little brain. If you have any random thoughts of your own, leave them in the comments below!
