330. be curious
Be curious, not consumed. There is no competitive edge to consuming the same stuff as everyone else. While the endless bombardment of media messages have no real power over what we think, they definitely do influence what we think about. And in this world of commotion, where competition for attention is everywhere, it is silence that offers us what we’ve been after all along — a way to make sense of the world. So, turn off. Go silent. Focus. Let your curiosities dictate your moves, instead of what is being sold as the popular idea. Search through different and competing sources. Explore new ideas and methodologies. Connect the dots that make that most sense and develop a new way to look at the world because if you don’t do it for yourself someone will do it for you.
324. adrift
we’re all lost in the deep
fighting against the tide
that our monsters intend to keep.
adrift,
in a sea of confliction
we search in order to be found.
reaching,
for any connection, allowing us
to find our feet on solid ground.
it’s said, that anxiety
is quickly quelled by action.
and it’s known that grasping
makes finding easy.
yet, if we aren’t careful
our fear will anchor us into reaction.
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We’re lost in an ocean of opinion, not knowing where to look for the right answers. Much of the time, information is merely opinion, backed up only by what fortifies the accepted narrative. This is as true for the way we talk to ourselves about if we are worthy of that raise, as the way the news intends to inform us.
We are what we pay attention to. The ideas that we consume — about ourselves and the world at large — are what create the world we see. If we are fearful and looking for answers, we will grasp at the closest thing that makes sense to us. Unfortunately, the closest thing (or idea) isn’t always the right answer. You thinking you didn’t get that date because you weren’t enough, is an idea you believe because it fits your narrative about yourself. You thinking the sky is falling because the news continues to tell you so is an idea you believe because it fits the narrative that is being reinforced.
It’s not until we stop listening to the things that only serve to keep us down, and start recreating how we interact with this world, will we be able to approach life with a sense of conscious choice instead of continuing to react out of fear.