Do you suffer?

Of course you do.  We all do.  What I really mean is, "do you allow yourself to suffer?"  Do you allow yourself to feel your emotions?  Superficially?  Or at a deep level?  

I ask because I think most people cry when they watch a sad movie or if someone they know dies, but that's about it.  I don't think too many people allow themselves to feel the full range of their emotions on a daily, hourly, or minutely (I made that up!) basis.

That probably sounds a little crazy to you, to cry on a minute-to-minute basis.  It probably sounds like being owned by your emotions.  I want you to know that it's just the opposite. You are owned by your emotions when you don't express them.  They build up over time and influence everything you do.  If you express them, they are released and have no more influence over you.

The better you get at accessing and expressing your emotions, the more control you have over your life.  You'll have fewer psychological issues and fewer physical problems as well.

I urge you to spend some time today, right now, expressing your emotions.  Your whole life will be better for it.

The emotional toll of racism

Obviously, anything to do with luxury fashion is already dramatically removed from reality, but this is hard to believe.  A Versace outlet store in Pleasanton, California uses a code for any time "a black person entered the store".  Clearly, racism is dead.

Think about that for a minute.  If you're a white person, how would you feel if you walked into a store and heard somebody use a code that you knew meant "a white person is here"?  How would it make you feel just to know that it happens at all?  Think about the added emotional burden that all non-white, non-straight, non-males in this country have to deal with every day of their lives.  If that happened to me, it would be a real struggle for me to stop myself from going over a counter after somebody.  And to know that if I did that, I'd be labeled a thug?  And to know that the next day, when I went to the gas station or the grocery store, it would be the same thing?  It's a burden that's too much to even think about.  And it's a burden that will last until bigotry is stamped out.  As a straight, white, male I consider it my responsibility to do as much stamping as I can.

Shaking the world

Serena Williams is her own person.  That's a good model for anyone.  Is this a cultural post or an emotional post?  Yes.

A very interesting article about the "mind"

As the article points out, defining the "mind" is not an easy task.  The author spoke with Dan Siegel, a professor of psychiatry at UCLA School of Medicine, who came up with a definition:  “the emergent self-organizing process, both embodied and relational, that regulates energy and information flow within and among us.”  That may take a few readings to absorb, but it yields many interesting results.  

The article points out one of the results of that definition:  "This means that without optimal self-organization, you arrive at either chaos or rigidity—a notion that, Siegel says, fits the range of symptoms of mental health disorders."  This is incredibly interesting to me because of my interest in emotions.  I interpret it to mean that if the mind doesn't optimize its own emotional processing systems, the inevitable result will eventually be either "chaos", which, in the extreme, will manifest itself as a thought disorder such as Schizophrenia, or "rigidity", which will lead to an emotionally restricted, shallow life.

The author says, "Finally, self-organization demands linking together differentiated ideas or, essentially, integration. And Siegel says integration—whether that’s within the brain or within society—is the foundation of a healthy mind."  Thich Nhat Hanh talks about the importance of "non-duality", which is essentially the same as being "integrated".  Thich Nhat Hanh also says, "Peace in oneself, peace in the world" and "we are here to awaken from the illusion of our separateness", which is taking non-duality to the cultural level.  If accomplished, both the individual and the culture would benefit tremendously.

Finally,  

When Siegel was asked in return whether he belonged in America, his answer was less upbeat: “I thought how isolated we all are and how disconnected we feel,” he says. “In our modern society we have this belief that mind is brain activity and this means the self, which comes from the mind, is separate and we don’t really belong. But we’re all part of each others’ lives. The mind is not just brain activity. When we realize it’s this relational process, there’s this huge shift in this sense of belonging.”

We are all connected.  If you really understand what that quote means, you are well on your way to real health and happiness. 

Someone who really lived his life

Rest in peace, Craig Sager.

Update:  Try to live in a way that inspires this reaction when you die.

The spread of happiness

I've read something more recent than this, but I can't remember where.  Happiness spreads.  Science has verified this.  We are all connected.  Do your part today to disperse some happiness to the world.  Remember, "Peace in oneself, peace in the world".

A world without hate...

...would be wonderful, indeed.