The saint has no subconscious mind. The dark parts of their mind has been illumined by repentance, allowing them to make all thoughts captive to Christ. Then, the fractured psyche is reunified and healed.
Folks, we're dealing with a fraction of a percentage point difference, there's still hundreds of thousands of votes outstanding, and LA officials have given us the next 3 weeks to count! Let's git-r-dun!
Sounds like we live in a world where most people would tell Frodo not to take the Ring to Mordor because it might compromise his health and ability to live his best life now.
And so the Machine wins.
Men used to make vows. they promised to love someone until death and meant it. they named children after gods they hoped the child would live to honor. they stood at graves and swore revenge over sacred bread. at some point the vow died. we all decided quietly that meaning what you say was too much to ask
Romance has fled the world. People possess devotion only for their phones. They never pine for someone else or wait in delicious agony.
Feeling requires space to develop, and there is no void that is not filled with the foam of stimulation.
Evil can only create counterfeits.
Instead of love, it encourages allegiance.
Instead of wisdom, it develops cunning.
Instead of friendship, it fosters conspiracy.
Instead of peace, it offers control.
Instead of life, it promises death.
Solomon had a thousand wives and still looked over the wall. this is the only thing you need to know about desire. a man who thinks he will find satisfaction by getting more of what he wants is a man who does not understand what want is. want is not a hole you fill, want is a muscle that grows stronger every time you use it. the men who knew this turned their eyes inward and built kingdoms out of the same force that would have destroyed them. the men who didn't know this built harems that became prisons and died inside them, surrounded by flesh and starving for something flesh was never going to give them.
Very simple principle by which to live life is: every good and right thing I do makes everyone’s life better, and every bad thing I do makes everyone’s life worse. And I need to accept the blame for my part of a problem and not make excuses beyond my own weakness.
The more we are layered in tech, the more that the values of tech - efficiency, productivity, measurability - structure our daily lives.
But in-depth reading and thinking and writing requires a slow, spacious form of time. Cognitive scientists have shown that you don’t start thinking creatively until after at least seven minutes of boredom.
We are structurally sabotaging our ability to be wise, virtuous, and happy.
Do not underestimate what your mind is capable of when given enough space and time
- Prolonged silence, or listening to the same song on repeat for days
- Hour plus long walks in nature, noticing your environment and passersby
- Obsession over a single piece of art, your craft, or rabbit hole of curiosity
- The occasional 72hr fast from food, 48 from social media, & 24 from talking
- Prayer that persists beyond “prayer time” and permeates daily life
- Embracing boredom as an open sandbox for thoughts to flourish
Essentially, eliminate fragmentation. Allow what’s already floating within your subconscious to settle
Anything that provokes “flow state” is utterly ideal too. Often, 15 simple minutes overlooking water or gazing into dusk will do
We make distinctions in our heads that can, if taken too seriously, wreck our chances of coming into contact with reality. In some ways, it is profoundly sane to destroy our notions for the sake of love.
Your children, and basically everyone else, needs to feel that you like them.
Sure, you can love them in some abstract way. You can refrain from actively causing them harm, I suppose.
But unless they feel you actively enjoy their presence, that you want them, that they are a source of joy to you, that love will leave them untouched.
🚨 The real masterminds and backstage geniuses behind the rose petals falling from the Pantheon’s oculus on Pentecost Sunday?
The Rome firefighters!
Italy at its finest 🇮🇹🔥
Y'all—this optimization stuff can make you fragile.
If you are in recovery then yes, of course, a few glasses of wine will mess up your week (or worse). If you get drunk then yes, I could see it messing up a day or two.
But if going out to dinner and having a few glasses of wine throws you for this much of a loop then perhaps you've actually just become fragile?
I mean how would Steven manage having a newborn, or really any age kid? Or just the general uncertainty and messiness of life?
In my new book I tell the story of golfer JJ Spaun, who was up all night with his vomiting toddler. His Whoop sleep score would have been zero. The next morning, he went out and won the U.S. Open.
Actual excellence (not the elaborate, performative internet variety) demands resilience. It controls the controllables, no doubt. But it also ensures you don't optimize yourself into fragility, which is an increasingly common trap and performance killer. https://t.co/DXJIiW7M9z