by Jamesscotthenson | Sep 18, 2017 | Blog
Do you really matter? My gut response is to say yes, of course, you do. We all do. Let’s explore it though.
People ask me why all of this introspection and intentionality and mindfulness and meditation are necessary. It’s an odd question in my mind, but I hear it often enough that it must have merit. If I take a moment, I remember when I would have laughed at anyone living the way I do now.
So, why bother putting all this work into getting to know yourself of all people? Do you really matter?
Yes.
You are a unique happening in this universe.
There has never been, and there will never be another you.
Your experience is unrepeatable and irreplicable. When it ends, we have all lost something irreplaceable.
You are a brand new, never-before-seen aperture into
reality. An exceptional and irreplaceable stream of consciousness experiencing
life and everything it has to offer.
Why would you not want to know everything you could about this?
What would keep you from trying to have the clearest perception of this once-in-existence experience?
So, do you really matter? Yes.
We spend so much time living through all the accumulations of life, rather than living life itself. We get caught up in whether or not we like one thing or another, with whether or not we like how it makes us feel.
We get caught up in whether or not something matches up to
what we want and whether or not we think it is the way it should be. We get
caught up in all the different meanings things acquire for us over the years
and all the accumulated memories and perceptions we have of things.
We spend more time living through our thoughts about things
than being with all the magical things going on at every moment.
Clearing this space and letting it be as it is, experiencing
this unique and extraordinary life is all we have. This window into existence
is only open for a while. It will close eventually.
You are the only you available.
It would be a shame to miss that.
by Jamesscotthenson | Sep 17, 2017 | Blog
Welcome to the final Sunday Pop-Up, where I talk about
whatever pops into my head.
Horror Movie Media
I think about the media a lot. I am pretty sure they hold us
in contempt (whoever “they” are in this scenario). Think about it – a month ago
everything was about how North Korea and Kim Jong Un were going to annihilate
Guam and start World War 3. It was inevitable and imminent. We were going to
die any minute. Then, when the hurricanes showed up and they had some
other form of human drama and suffering to sell us, and Kim Jong Un and his
missiles disappeared from the news cycle. Did he graciously stop threatening to
bring about the apocalypse because there were two natural disasters headed our
way? Did he take a knee to give us time to deal with that so it would be a fair
fight? I am not saying that it was a fabricated story, only that the media
seems to, at the very least, get to prioritize what terror is going to kill us
each week. There’s always something. I think it’s a rogue planet crashing
into us next week.
End of the World, Mowing the Lawn
I wonder what it is like in the life of the people
predicting the end of the world right now. I always wonder about this as their
anticipated date of destruction gets closer and closer. It must be hard to be
trying to say your good-byes and have moments with the people you love when they
don’t think anything is going to change. It must be hard to have these moments
and resign yourself to the end of the world and then have to have conversations
with the same people again. How do you go from meaningful hugs and tearful
goodbyes to talking about college football and Game of Thrones again? I’m not
making fun of them either – it really seems like it would be difficult.
Where’s Link?
This is all assuming of course, that they are true believers
and not just professional trolls. Neither would surprise me. I am not sure
about the profit of the troll angle unless it is just the joy of freaking
people out and the attention you get. It can’t be positive attention though. I
don’t know a single person in real life who is concerned about Niburu going all
Majora’s Mask on us. Most everyone must make fun of them.
That’s it for today. Enjoy your last full Sunday before we
all die.
Take care.
Want more? I write a lot. I also have a podcast and post videos and mini-blogs on Instagram.
by Jamesscotthenson | Sep 16, 2017 | Blog
Shifts in Perspective
My numbering and the date I started posting daily (September
19th) are not matching up, so I am going to go with the date and write three
more. I assume I screwed up the numbering. I doubt the calendar is wrong.
It is funny how much of a role perspective plays in things.
I got locked into this idea of finishing this today. I
realized I would not, now it feels like a difficult thing. I have written at
least 362 of these, but three more is a chore. That’s bad math.
Disappointment is one of the harder things for us as humans.
Our brains are not well-equipped for it. Once we think we are getting something
we pretty much see it as ours, so what we already have becomes unsatisfying.
You think you are getting a raise. You don’t. Your current
rate of pay now feels inadequate
You think you are getting a promotion. You don’t. Your
current job now feels mundane and unsatisfying.
You think you are getting a new car. You don’t. You now
notice all the things wrong with your current car.
The list goes on and on.
We get accustomed to things very quickly. It feels like our
brain gains momentum in a particular direction and it is hard to “reverse” it,
but if we look, nothing has changed. It’s all perspective. The momentum is an
illusion. Things are as they have been for a very long time. Our perspective
has shifted, nothing else.
So I write every day as I have done every day for close to a
year. I have enjoyed it 99% of the time. There is no reason these last three
need to be any different.
Enjoy your day.
by Jamesscotthenson | Sep 15, 2017 | Blog
Perfection Doesn’t Exist
Over the course of the last year have talked about
perfection a lot on this blog and the podcast. We’ve looked at how it will keep
you from trying, how it is unattainable, how it is the enemy of the good.
Stuff like that.
More than anything else though, perfection is, at its core,
a non-concept. It does not exist in any real way. We like to talk about it and
imagine it, but if we examine the idea, it is not real.
Think about it.
What would a perfect life look like? How much money? What
tax bracket? What kind of weather? Does it ever rain? What kind of spouse? What
kind of kids (or no kids)? What kind of house? Do you have to vacuum? Does the
grass in the yard grow? Who mows it? What kind of car? Does it need oil
changes?
This can go on and on.
Speaking of spouses and kids, what is a perfect person like?
Do they make mistakes? Do they ever oversleep or drop a coffee cup? Do they
eat? Do they use the bathroom? Have morning breath? Can you imagine how
annoying a perfect person would be?
It’s a stupid idea the more we dig into it.
It’s stupid because perfection does not exist. It’s not a
real concept when we break it down.
Perfect doesn’t exist, yet we strive for it and wonder why
we are dissatisfied with our lives. Perfection is an idea that doesn’t hold up
to scrutiny at all, but we hold it up as the only way to be happy.
What are you rejecting because it isn’t perfect?
What good things are you missing as you seek perfect?
by Jamesscotthenson | Sep 14, 2017 | Blog
A Perfect Life, A Perfect Lie
There is no time in life where everything magically comes
together and we are problem free. Things are not just going to get easy at some
point. No matter how well you live, how wise your decisions are, or how smart
you are, difficult things are going to come your way.
There is never a time in life where everything is perfect.
This sounds like bad news, but it’s not.
It’s not good or bad, it’s just the way life works.
Things happen, we like some of them, we don’t like others.
There is this whole universe out there, outside of us. It doesn’t revolve
around us, it didn’t start with us, and it will not end with us.
It doesn’t even necessarily notice us.
Everything has the opportunity to teach us something if we
let it.
Everything is an opportunity to evolve.
Everything is the step toward somewhere.
We only suffer if we think we have the right to determine
where that somewhere is.
Life will never be problem-free.
It gets easier and easier depending on our decisions, but it
never gets perfect.
There is no reason it should.
What is life trying to teach you right now?
How are you responding to this opportunity for growth?
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