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@strangestloop

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Notes on Shadow

For this edition of the newsletter I am sharing excerpts from my notes from a lecture on the shadow that I attended in March which was led by Someone who Knows: The shadow can contain amazing qualities, but it is dark and mysterious and taboo. "I'm not a thief, but I steal from convenience stores when I'm drunk." This is an attempt to return to psychic wholeness, to acknowledge what is suppressed within us. Light: "I want to save everyone!" // Shadow: Uncompassionate acts. The shadow arrives...

As I work and play and live in greater alignment with my authenticity, I have experienced moments where something in my awareness strongly resonates with me. Something I'm seeing or hearing or reading provides instant clarity on an action to take, and all resistance falls away. When these moments of resonance occur, I am grateful to understand myself a little better and to know exactly what to do. I was procrastinating on organizing a meetup even though I knew that it would be a good thing to...

Time is the ultimate constraint. Anything that happens takes time, and to expect to accomplish something without putting in the time to make it happen is a fantasy. A few weeks ago I tweeted: gentle reminder that less time spent scrolling creates a void that must necessarily be filled by something else. I seem to be looping back on my most popular talking point. Yes, desires and intentions and plans are wonderful for providing clarity and having the right mindset, but that's all pointless if...

I've been seeing cardinals on walks. Red is my favorite color. It feels like a sweet gift from the universe. Remembering that I am not entitled to anyone's attention, and remembering to do my part. Ship it, send it, make the ask. And if there's silence in return, know that it is a gift. It's 85 degrees on December 30th. Sometimes I wonder what it's like to live in a seasonal place. I think I would appreciate the reminder that I am also cyclical. Whatever is natural and resonant to me needn't...

If I had seven lifetimes: I would think and write for a lifetime. Writing is one of humanity's greatest traditions, the distillation of weeks and months and years of exploring and questioning and observing into transmissions that others can receive in mere minutes or hours. I love how every writer is so themselves, they can't hide from their unique voice. The written word provides inspiration to act on one's whispers of intuition, to view their own circumstances a little differently. Words...

The question I want to explore here is: How can I analyze my inner and outer circumstances in a way that benefits the reader? That is the north star. I noticed that I didn't feel particularly good after my Sacred Eros page went live a few days ago. Why not? I'm doing an expansive thing! I'm putting myself out there! I'm following my intuition! This is good! The reason is that I have a lot of resistance around marketing myself, around letting myself be seen. This has been true for Masculine...

Joseph Kosuth, One and Three Chairs I live for the moments when I realize that what I thought was true was in fact a story in my head. This had previously happened for me with love. I'd put love on a pedestal, saw it as this Big Serious Thing, Very Serious. And so I'd gatekept it from myself. I'd thought that if I didn't feel a Big Serious Feeling, then it wasn't love. But then I relaxed about it and understood that love is simply a state of being. It's in my thoughts and my words and my...

I know that the mind can’t do it alone. Emotions tell us how it feels, the body provides energy and the foundation from which to act, and the spirit offers a vision of where to go and why it matters. Mind and emotions, body and spirit, they all have wisdom to share. I know that one reason dating culture is zonked right now is because there’s too much emphasis on “What do I want? What can I get?” and not enough emphasis on “What do I value? What can I give?” I know that optimizing for fun and...

I've tossed around three or four different topics for this edition of the newsletter and none demand my full attention, so I trust that. I've been relaxing into greater self-trust lately. Self-trust looks like recognizing that there are things that only I can see, only I can express, and joyfully allowing that expression to emerge. It looks like leaving tomorrow's concerns to be handled tomorrow, and focusing on what is in front of me today. It looks like flow and ease regardless of my...

Giorgio de Chirico, The Enigma of the Hour The world would have you think that mystery is in short supply. Look at how we've conquered nature and outer space and our own minds. But there's so much mystery, maybe too much to comprehend. I particularly appreciate art that dances with mystery. L O S T did it until the end, Sleep No More does it (RIP), Omega Mystery School did it. Every story has an element of mystery - what's gonna happen? Wonder, surprise, revelation. It's a beautiful process...