We talk to ourselves.
And we listen to what we say.*
Ethan Kross

You’re welcome to print the doodle and colour whilst listening to your chatter.

*Ethan Kross’ Chatter.

The Mensch is ourselves whenever we go to High Self.*
Jean Houston

The third group of values lies precisely in man’s attitude towards the limiting factors upon his life. His. very response to the restraints upon his potentialities provides him with a new realm of values which surely belong among the higher values.**
Viktor Frankl

We can go on about all the constraints and
limitations there are on our lives, or
we can choose to grow within these, even
becoming playful^ with them towards
a more meaningful life –
Perhaps a larger experience than some who don’t have
half the restrictions we do.

*Jean Houston’s The Possible Human;
**Viktor Frankl’s The Doctor and the Soul;
^James Carse’s Finite and Infinite Games.

First, … we are to move from a spirituality of alienation from the natural world to a spirituality of intimacy with the natural world. Second, we are to move from a spirituality of revelation through scripture to a spirituality of revelation through Earth. And third, we are to move from a spirituality of justice for human beings to a spirituality of justice for every life-form.
Philip Newell

Tactics are how we win short-term games … Strategies are for long-term games. Strategies are worth sharing, inspecting, and sticking with. A tactic is what we do next. A strategy is all the nexts, one after the other.**
Seth Godin

When it comes to our friend Earth,
We are in a long-term game, and
the best strategies will include our
personal transformation;
Earth will help us –
That’s what friends do.

A story isn’t about what happens in the world. A story is about what happens in the protagonist.^

*Philip Newell’s The Great Search, outlining the spiritual movements of Thomas Berry;
**Seth Godin’s This is Strategy;
^Lisa Cron’s Story Or Die.

Talent is cheap – you have to be obsessed, otherwise you are going to give up.*
John Baldessari

Even if someone is born with a particular talent it will usually remain latent it is not fostered, honed and exercised.  Not all people get the same chance to cultivate and refine their abilities.**
Yuval Noah Harari

We’re probably all born with certain predilections,^ which
we quickly start develop into skills and talents –
That we can develop these puts us
on the hook (one hook we should
want to be on), to see who we can become and
what we are capable of doing
for the benefit of others;
Of course, this will require effort –
Angela Duckworth is right to insist
we will need grit, but then
you are obsessed.

*Austin Kleon’s blog: You have to be obsessed;
**Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens;
^Cerebral or somatic advantages that we have over each other.

We were living the process as we were creating it.*
Joseph Jaworski

Life is created by the onwards rush of life over the curved wing of the soul.**
Robert Macfarlane

There’s no foolproof plan,
I’ll never be ready,
But this desire is
soul-deep in me –
I might as well begin.

What will you begin today?

(You’re welcome to print off the doodle to colour while reflecting.)

*Joseph Jaworski’s Source;
**Robert Macfarlane’s The Old Ways.

We must also show him that the task he is responsible for is always a specific task. It is specific in a twin sense: one, that the task varies from person to person – in accord with the uniqueness of each person. Two, that it changes from hour to hour , in accord with the singularity of every situation.*
Viktor Frankl

May you and your responsibility be one,
May you become more responsible
for who you are and what you do.

Develop your skills but also
strengthen your core –
This will tire before your abilities let you down.

You are who you are, but
you will also be who you will be –
Growing, innovating, transforming.**

Don’t be tempted to pick up another’s responsibility –
That is theirs and this is yours:
This will never be theirs or anyone else’s.

*Viktor Frankl’s The Doctor and the Soul;
**Anna Katharina Schaffner highlights ten ancient arts for personal development and growth (the suggestions are mine:
Know Yourself: perhaps create a “portrait” of your abilities and character
Control Your Mind: you are the noticer of your thoughts
Let It Go: let go of whatever, thoughts, feelings, plans prevent us growing
Be Good: always look for opportunties to speak or to do goodness to another
Be Humble: admitting our gaps and flaws will enable us to grow more
Simplify: from a centre of silence, solitude, and slowness, strip away the unnecessary
Use Imagination: be playful, create stories, follow rabbit-holes, play games
Persevere: develop grit one more faithful act at a time
Mentalise: put yourself in another’s place, to see and understand their perspective
Be Present: experiment with unwiring and unplugging to be body, mind, and soul here.

In life, too, the peaks decide the meaningfulness of life, and a single moment can retroactively flood an entire life with meaning.*
Viktor Frankl

If you haven’t decided what to master, pick anything that scares you, fascinates you, or infuriates you. Don’t ask, “Is this the real me?” or “Is this my passion?” Those questions lead to endless searching and disappointment.**
Steven Pressfield

You are probably already experiencing some aspect or other of
what it is you want or need to focus on more with your life.

There’s a simple way for bringing these into sharper focus
so that you can explore them more, towards shaping them as your path.

Try carrying around a notebook or zine for a couple of weeks,
Making a note of the what, why, who, and when of your high energy moments.^

These will highlight the things you must do,^^
The activities and practices and rituals in which your abilities, energies, and values come together.*^

*Viktor Frankl’s The Doctor and the Soul;
**Steven Pressfield’s Do the Work;
^You are basically noticing what your body is noticing in terms of energy or excitement: What are you doing?, Why are you doing this?, Who are you doing it with or for?, and, When are you doing it (as in the beginning or end of something, or the time of day)?
^^You may also keep a list of the energy-draining moments, again in a what-why-who-when format. These become the things to avoid, or at least manage – and you will manage via your high energy abilities;
*^It is likely that we’ll begin to see how these things have arisen out of so much of our more difficult moments in life. As always, you can drop me a line if you think I can help: geoffrey@thinsilence.org.

Self-transcendence is the essence of existence. Being human is directed to something other than itself.*
Viktor Frankl

Am I my brother’s keeper? No, I am my brother’s brother.**
AleXander McManus

We thought it was all about us,
But, like water through our fingers,
Life is always seeping from us –
And yet, when we live for something else,
Someone else,
Like clay, life becomes
uniquely formable, satisfying,
Joyfully meaningful.

*Viktor Frankl’s The Will to Meaning;
**AleXander McManus in a session on Blue Moments, reflecting on Cain’s question to God.

There cannot be a ‘you’ without an ‘everything else,’ and attempting to think about one without the other makes no sense.*
Oliver Burkeman

Everything is relational, and ultimately, personal.**
AleXander McManus

None of us are done becoming;
The more we recognise and seek to
connect with the world of which we are a part –
Rather than apart –
The more we’ll experience our unrepeatable, imperfect,
But beautiful becoming, with
meaning, adventure, generosity, and love.

*Oliver Burkeman’s The Antidote;
**AleXander McManus speaking in a session on Blue Moments.

Medals are small things in the light of the stars […].   There’s only one thing in the world of any real importance, and that is goodness.**
Maria Mitchell

[Good’s] existence is the unmistakable sign that we are spirit creatures, attracted by excellence and made for the good.^
Iris Murdoch

It may not gain as many followers, register
as many hits, it may even go unnoticed, but
there will be a way in which you can bring
what you love to be about into the world
of another and make something better –
What is this for you?

*A play on the title of Jim Collin’s best-selling book Good to Great, with a choice between greatness and goodness, where goodness is notoriety and celebrity status, and goodness is making the world better;
**Maria Popova’s Figuring;
^Iris Murdoch’s The Sovereignty of Good.