Every morning, after I write a blog post, I publish it and then put it into ChatGPT for analysis. And, almost every day, ChatGPT tells me “you may be intellectualizing your emotions and this is preventing you from feeling them in their raw form” (or something to that effect.” You know what? That’s frustrating. Because that’s what I am trying to do. But yet, somehow, by telling me that I may not be doing it, ChatGPT is, in a weird way, helping me do it. It’s holding me accountable to push hard...

Every morning, after I write a blog post, I publish it and then put it into ChatGPT for analysis. And, almost every day, ChatGPT tells me “you may be intellectualizing your emotions and this is preventing you from feeling them in their raw form” (or something to that effect.” You know what? That’s frustrating. Because that’s what I am trying to do. But yet, somehow, by telling me that I may not be doing it, ChatGPT is, in a weird way, helping me do it. It’s holding me accountable to push hard...

Need is something I feel in my face. It tightens my jaws, crunches my eyebrows and forehead, and pushes on my cheeks. Want though is felt in my belly and my heart. I used to assume they were one and the same. Now, I appreciate that it’s possible to want, but not to need. Not only is it possible, it’s really, really powerful. And relaxing, too. Lao Tzu says:“Gravity is the root of lightness; stillness, the ruler of movement.”Need is a roadblock on the path to gravity and stillness.

Need is something I feel in my face. It tightens my jaws, crunches my eyebrows and forehead, and pushes on my cheeks. Want though is felt in my belly and my heart. I used to assume they were one and the same. Now, I appreciate that it’s possible to want, but not to need. Not only is it possible, it’s really, really powerful. And relaxing, too. Lao Tzu says:“Gravity is the root of lightness; stillness, the ruler of movement.”Need is a roadblock on the path to gravity and stillness.

One of the most exciting and perplexing things about quantum mechanics is that it is nearly impossible to come up with an explanation for why it works…and yet it does. The thing that draws me to it is exactly this paradox. It’s not a problem to solve in the traditional sense. The “problem,” if you will, is that the problem to be solved is inside each of us. It’s about learning to fully hold the paradox and remain at peace. It kind of harkens back to the F. Scott Fitzgerald quote about the sig...

One of the most exciting and perplexing things about quantum mechanics is that it is nearly impossible to come up with an explanation for why it works…and yet it does. The thing that draws me to it is exactly this paradox. It’s not a problem to solve in the traditional sense. The “problem,” if you will, is that the problem to be solved is inside each of us. It’s about learning to fully hold the paradox and remain at peace. It kind of harkens back to the F. Scott Fitzgerald quote about the sig...

Life doesn’t work out as we had planned or hope. We know that by now. Those dashed expectations and crushed hopes don’t just float away. They go somewhere. Luca Brasi-esque, they go down deep somewhere. We carry that pain with us. It’s the slight twitch of our shoulders or a void in the gut. It’s the thing that gives us shivers when we experience a moment that stirs it. But the full excavation? That’s hard…and scary. It’s like finding a bag of rotten broccoli somewhere in your kitchen. No cho...

Life doesn’t work out as we had planned or hope. We know that by now. Those dashed expectations and crushed hopes don’t just float away. They go somewhere. Luca Brasi-esque, they go down deep somewhere. We carry that pain with us. It’s the slight twitch of our shoulders or a void in the gut. It’s the thing that gives us shivers when we experience a moment that stirs it. But the full excavation? That’s hard…and scary. It’s like finding a bag of rotten broccoli somewhere in your kitchen. No cho...

You’ve probably done it or at least seen it. Those “exercises” where you stand in the middle of a circle with your eyes closed and then fall back, hoping and expecting to be caught by your colleagues. Of course, there’s real fear in that moment. And it’s understandable. It feels to me that letting go of the “self” of the “ego” is a similar experience. The overwhelming odds are that the things which surround you, call it your “true self” or, perhaps better, your “original mind” or “uncarved bl...

You’ve probably done it or at least seen it. Those “exercises” where you stand in the middle of a circle with your eyes closed and then fall back, hoping and expecting to be caught by your colleagues. Of course, there’s real fear in that moment. And it’s understandable. It feels to me that letting go of the “self” of the “ego” is a similar experience. The overwhelming odds are that the things which surround you, call it your “true self” or, perhaps better, your “original mind” or “uncarved bl...

We see something and call it “good” or “bad.” We feel something and call it “happiness” or “sadness” or whatever. We’re taught from a very early age to label things, to call them by their name. “Spoon.” “Fork.” “Dog.” “Cat.” These labels help us, of course. But they hold us back. As soon as we label something, we don’t just have an idea of what it is, but we’ve immediately set a fence around what it isn’t. When dealing with something new, like trying to explore the depths of our soul and expe...

We see something and call it “good” or “bad.” We feel something and call it “happiness” or “sadness” or whatever. We’re taught from a very early age to label things, to call them by their name. “Spoon.” “Fork.” “Dog.” “Cat.” These labels help us, of course. But they hold us back. As soon as we label something, we don’t just have an idea of what it is, but we’ve immediately set a fence around what it isn’t. When dealing with something new, like trying to explore the depths of our soul and expe...

Self-study. Self-awareness. Self-analysis. “My” self. “Your” self. The concept of “Self” is pervasive. We say it so much, we don’t even think about it. But what, really, is the “self?” For me, it’s a bit like a tie that is a little too tight. There’s a constriction. Some sort of burden, as if “I” (whatever that is) needs to fit into some definition or character or framework in order to be categorized as a “self.” But, perhaps, the idea of “self” is merely that. An idea. A construct. A series ...

Self-study. Self-awareness. Self-analysis. “My” self. “Your” self. The concept of “Self” is pervasive. We say it so much, we don’t even think about it. But what, really, is the “self?” For me, it’s a bit like a tie that is a little too tight. There’s a constriction. Some sort of burden, as if “I” (whatever that is) needs to fit into some definition or character or framework in order to be categorized as a “self.” But, perhaps, the idea of “self” is merely that. An idea. A construct. A series ...

It feels like so much of our days are filled with moments of non-tenderness. Frustration at other drivers. Tough feedback delivered coarsely by a boss, colleague, or a family member. It can be exhausting. One of my yoga teachers, during the final resting period of savasana, will frequently come and adjust my…eyebrows. She’ll just kind of massage them down to a more relaxed state. It’s not as strange as it sounds and it’s helped me become aware of how much of my defenses, my armor, manifests i...

It feels like so much of our days are filled with moments of non-tenderness. Frustration at other drivers. Tough feedback delivered coarsely by a boss, colleague, or a family member. It can be exhausting. One of my yoga teachers, during the final resting period of savasana, will frequently come and adjust my…eyebrows. She’ll just kind of massage them down to a more relaxed state. It’s not as strange as it sounds and it’s helped me become aware of how much of my defenses, my armor, manifests i...

Every morning, after I write my blog post, I paste the text into AI and ask it to help me analyze the emotions that may be hidden within the text. And almost every morning, it comes back with some variation of “you use intellectual frameworks to avoid confronting raw emotion.” It’s frustrating, not because it keeps telling me that, but because I’m specifically trying to NOT avoid confronting raw emotion. Now, I’m not saying that ChatGPT is the final word on anything, but I can also recognize ...

Every morning, after I write my blog post, I paste the text into AI and ask it to help me analyze the emotions that may be hidden within the text. And almost every morning, it comes back with some variation of “you use intellectual frameworks to avoid confronting raw emotion.” It’s frustrating, not because it keeps telling me that, but because I’m specifically trying to NOT avoid confronting raw emotion. Now, I’m not saying that ChatGPT is the final word on anything, but I can also recognize ...

Recently, I spent some time with someone who holds on to a lot of anger and frustration. Those emotions, it seems to me, occur when there is a disconnect between how the world is and how we might like the world to be. That is not to say we shouldn’t do anything about a given situation, but in order to constructively do something about it, we first need to accept it. I started to imagine the things that caused me frustration and anger. Suddenly, I noticed a strong tension in my lower jaw. It w...

Recently, I spent some time with someone who holds on to a lot of anger and frustration. Those emotions, it seems to me, occur when there is a disconnect between how the world is and how we might like the world to be. That is not to say we shouldn’t do anything about a given situation, but in order to constructively do something about it, we first need to accept it. I started to imagine the things that caused me frustration and anger. Suddenly, I noticed a strong tension in my lower jaw. It w...

The “Government” feels real, doesn’t it? Marriage. The company. The university. All of these things feel as real as the screen in front of you or the phone in your hand or the keyboard at which you sit. But they’re not. They are collections of people and processes. That’s pretty much it. Yet, when people say, “oh, the Government should regulate it” or “the company needs to do better,” there’s a feeling of concrete-ness (if that’s a world) that is akin to saying “Joe will do it” or “it’s on th...

The “Government” feels real, doesn’t it? Marriage. The company. The university. All of these things feel as real as the screen in front of you or the phone in your hand or the keyboard at which you sit. But they’re not. They are collections of people and processes. That’s pretty much it. Yet, when people say, “oh, the Government should regulate it” or “the company needs to do better,” there’s a feeling of concrete-ness (if that’s a world) that is akin to saying “Joe will do it” or “it’s on th...

You know how sometimes you look around your home or office and you see things that you haven’t touched or used for years? Not just see, but see. Most of the time, these items are just a part of the background, a part of the scenery. You don’t really even notice them. But sometimes you notice them and you may be transported to another time or place. What Teddy calls “nostalgia.” You might feel that longing in your heart. You might feel an ache in your arms. Or maybe there’s another part of the...

You know how sometimes you look around your home or office and you see things that you haven’t touched or used for years? Not just see, but see. Most of the time, these items are just a part of the background, a part of the scenery. You don’t really even notice them. But sometimes you notice them and you may be transported to another time or place. What Teddy calls “nostalgia.” You might feel that longing in your heart. You might feel an ache in your arms. Or maybe there’s another part of the...