💎 Friday Gems (Tiny Goals, A Manifesto for Monstrous Times, The Mirror, Power of Thoughts, and much more)
Do not obey in advance! from the book On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder
Hello dear readers,
How can something that is ephemeral, has no physical weight, and can’t be seen have so much power over us? Our thoughts have the power to lift us up or keep us locked into a small box. This week I explored this phenomena in What Gives a Thought Its Power?
By better understanding the process of how a thought develops within us we can manage it more effectively. We can create space
between the thought and our reaction
between the thought and our identification with it
between the thought and mistaking it for reality
Awareness is the first step to true freedom.
May curiosity be your guide!
On to the this week’s gems!
Today's Gems
Life: Tiny Experiments vs Setting Goals
Resistance: A Manifesto for Monstrous Times
Mindfulness: The Mirror
Brain: What gives a thought its power?
Life
Tiny Experiments vs Setting Goals
Usually, when we modern humans want to experience change in our lives, we set goals. Goals can work really well in many life circumstances, but in a developmental process like matrescence [becoming a mother], goals are pretty useless. In a developmental process, you are, by definition, growing and changing at the very marrow of who you are. The self that creates a goal will not even be the same self that reaches it, thereby likely rending the goal itself irrelevant.
Life is anything but predictable so why commit to something big that doesn’t fit our reality. Instead of creating big audacious goals, why not create tiny experiments to help guide us through life? I guess we could still have goals as an overarching theme but it’s the details that matter. The day to day test and learn, the exploration of what we like and don’t like, what fits and what doesn’t fit how we want to live that makes tiny experiments less burdensome and confining.
Tiny Experiments are the opposite of broad, sweeping changes, the opposite of On Monday Things Will Be Different, the opposite of a pill that fixes everything. Tiny Experiments are just that: little incremental changes and explorations that might inch you closer to the shift you’re trying to make.
The last line is key, “little incremental changes and explorations that might inch you closer to the shift you’re trying to make.” Making tiny incremental changes feels right. Taking small steps forward, sideways, or even backwards feels less intimidating than big leaps that can take time to recover from.
Perhaps you can hold your goals loosely while you try tiny experiments along the way to make sure that goal you set when weeks, months, or years ago is in fact what you want since you will not be the same person as the one who set the goal in the first place.
Here’s to living in the present with tiny experiments.
Source: Harma-Mae Bott Smit
Resistance
A Manifesto for Monstrous Times
We are in monstrous times. Chaos is being used as a tool to undermine and dismantle everything that brings us together.
But we are not powerless.
We are powerful!
We will resist!
We will overcome!
Sharon Frances’ zine is a good reminder of our collective and individual power we must work hard to keep. Inspired by Timothy Snyder’s book On Tyranny, Sharon has created this handy zine you can print out, fold, and share with everyone so we can work together and protect ourselves during these monstrous times. ✊🏽
Source: Sharon Frances
Timothy Snyder’s Twenty Rules on Tyranny
Do not obey in advance
Defend institutions
Beware the one-party state
Take responsibility for the face of the world
Remember professional ethics
Be wary of paramilitaries
Be reflective if you must be armed
Stand out
Be kind to our language
Believe in truth
Investigate
Make eye contact and small talk
Practice corporeal politics
Establish a private life
Contribute to good causes
Learn from peers in other countries
Listen for dangerous words
Be calm when the unthinkable arrives
Be a patriot
Be as courageous as you can
Mindfulness
The Mirror
If our circle of friends see us as the clown of the group, or we imagine they do, then we may double down on that aspect of our personality. To cement our position within our community (survival instinct) or receive validation, we crack more jokes. We become The Clown.
As interconnected beings our personality emerges through the interaction we have with the groups we are a part of. We validate ourselves by how others see us, creating either a positive or negative feedback loop that can lift us up or hold us down.
The persona we create helps may help us survive by being a part of a larger group but what if we stepped away from it to understand who we are without it.
Who are we without the mirror of other people’s expectations and assumptions about us?
What is our identity in a vacuum, when no one is around to witness it? Who are we when no one’s watching?
How can we grow and become who we are meant to be?
We can shut the door to the outside world to make space for our own voice, our own light to shine the path forward. We could try tiny experiments and learn from them without announcing them to the world. We can find out what we want without the weight of other people’s expectations.
Who are you without the mirror? Who could you become?
It’s time we learned more about ourselves to find the gems hidden within.
Source: Mind Palace
“I am not who you think I am; I am not who I think I am; I am who I think you think I am.” - Charles Horton Cooley
Did one of the Friday Gems resonate with you? Please consider commenting, restacking, or sharing it with a friend. This is the simplest and most generous ways to support creative work.
It only takes a moment, but it makes a real difference.❤️
That’s it for this week’s Friday Gems.
In stillness, find your next step.✊🏽
