Crazy People
““Our minds are all we have. They are all we have ever had. And they are all we can offer others.””
Location: Starbucks, Santa Monica, California.
Scene: Homeless man spinning in circles, talking to himself, having the time of his life
Kinda like this:
We’re all crazy.
Don’t believe me?
Think about it. We’re all continually having a mental conversation with ourselves almost every second of everyday. The only difference is we do it in our heads. The crazy homeless people do it aloud (also people at festivals — one of the reasons I love them).
*forgets car keys in house* “Dammit Jane, you ALWAYS do this. WTF. Now you’re getting angry at yourself for being angry. Stop being weird. Oh my word...I need to turn on the radio to silence the noise in my brain.”
Sound familiar?
There is only one solution to being as crazy as we are: training your mind. Stillness that is (credit Ryan Holiday).
When you are present, your thoughts and conversations with yourself are merely homeless people spinning in your mind. They will come and go. The only difference is, when you are anxious or tense, you tie your identity to the thought itself.
Let’s face it: whether you’re rich and famous or poor and poverty stricken — your mind is all you have (kudos Sam Harris). It’s literally all you have. Just in case you forget — your mind is all you have. So training it to enjoy whatever life presents it is a noble pursuit. A very hard one, but well worth the time.
Some starting points:
Download a guided meditation app like Waking Up, Headspace or, my new favourite — which is free — Oak
For 10 minutes a day, just try. Just try. Have zero expectations. Like going to gym and just moving, the idea is to form habit.
Being present is intrinsic to humans. When you are present, no experience is good or bad. There are non judgments from the illusory “I.” There are only experiences.
Wishing you a day filled with presence, craziness and everything in between.
Proost!
Josh.
Hey! Thanks for indulging in my writing. If you want to receive updates, I have a weekly newsletter, The Weekly Brew, which goes out every Sunday. It’s mainly a recap of the weeks blog posts or other shit that I have written or created or…whatever. You get the point. Would love if you signed up.
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