Very insightful and practical piece of wisdom. As an aspiring Stoic, these ideas align and resonate so well with the life I choose to create for myself. The home coming view of death is so powerful and liberating. Thanks for sharing such great content and best wishes in your writing endeavors 🙏🏼
Jen, these just keep living into the same questions I write to. The ones that never seem to go away. Thank you so much. Yes, that seat of the soul. That inner voice. Awareness. Going home, knowing we’ve been there before and remembering it like the first time. Coming home to love. Thank you for your gift of leaning into these questions, and helping us strip off the layers to our own authenticity! Bless you 🙏❤️
Thank you for this beautiful post and the deep truths you are sharing to the world. My aunt passed away recently and I completely understand the pain you feel for your family. You have my deepest sympathies and I am sending love to your whole family.
I live by that Khalil Gibrain quote in how I raise my own children, it’s amazing to see you share it here. I once created an art piece using black out poetry on that very passage here:
"And remember, you are already more than enough." my inner voice has trouble with this one, it's asking for proof. When I repeat it to myself I'm a little embarrassed, my inner voice says that's because I don't believe it to be true.
Your essay was a welcome read and I'm taking your advice, demote the inner voice, I'm relegating it to rudimentary stuff, like what flavour of ice cream I should eat.
Jen - this post took me on an absolute ride and I loved the emotion and thought exploration I was experiencing along the way. The inner voice sections were enjoyable and I resonate with the way you described how to interact (or not) with it. Through my recent meditation I would say that my relationship with my inner voice is changing and it has been quite exciting. Also, the process you described aligns quite well with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) which is one of the modalities I find connect to me the most. I am sorry to hear about your families upcoming loss (and pain). I have found that the secondary level of loss (what the loss means) is more painful than the actual loss itself and I believe that is where most of the pain comes from. I am still contemplating the final section as somebody who bounces between being agnostic and atheist, but the message still resonates and inspires me. Thanks for the post and the intellectual journey.
Cody, thank you for your insights here. I’m glad to know the method I try to use for the inner voice resonates with legitimate modalities in therapy 🙏
Also, thank you for your kind words about my family. Grandma has passed and is in a better place.
Lastly, I’m always curious about atheist and agnostic viewpoints, especially when dealing with mental health. For me, having an open mind to spirituality has given me that sense of greater purpose I was searching for. I’d be curious how one could fill in that gap for greater meaning without the belief in something greater. Would love to hear your thoughts here or on a future post sometime.
The watcher is the last stand of the ego! Only in the present moment does the ego dissolve. When "I am" Being present [sometimes] BEING communes with me. Mountains not only move but appear newly. Living and breathing flesh appear as whim of a wish of mine. Holding close, the attempt to grasp hold, and only a vague memory remains. Smart ego remains quiet.
Love this. Also, you’ve been reading my mail! Me and my ‘roommate’ have been at war all morning. Thank you for the reminder we are two separate entities and I don’t have to listen to her. I hope it’s not passive aggressive sending this to my sister who badly needs to her it... LOL!
My own inner voice is recursive. I’m forever writing down what it seems to be saying but in doing so, it changes its tune. Another way of saying that time spent with our own thoughts is as rewarding (if terrifying) as any external conversation.
I suppose it varies for everyone! Personally, I will get lost if I try to follow my thoughts without writing them down. At least when writing, I can go back to the original thought I was working on and continue to delve deeper in the direction of that one thought rather than allow thoughts to take me in many different directions.
But then again, allowing your thoughts to take you in many different directions could lead you to very interesting places, too.
The resolutions really got to me. Creating new year's resolutions based off how poorly I've done instead of how better I could be was killing and I actually didn't set any this year too but I've been even more productive focusing on one day at a time.
I think so! But then again, I don’t know. These are just ideas I have on how to live better. I think we sometimes get too caught up in our resolutions that we not only let ourselves down, but we also hold ourselves back from new opportunities that present themselves throughout the year
Here is one of my favorites: "We are all just walking each other home." Ram Dass.
It can be a long walk and having good company makes it all the more joyful. Thanks, Jen!
I love this! Thank you for the inspiring quote, Gary!
You're welcome. Another quote FYI: "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience."
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Love this quote
That’s beautiful! Makes me smile.
Very insightful and practical piece of wisdom. As an aspiring Stoic, these ideas align and resonate so well with the life I choose to create for myself. The home coming view of death is so powerful and liberating. Thanks for sharing such great content and best wishes in your writing endeavors 🙏🏼
Thank you, Hugo! The stoics have so many lessons to teach us. Perhaps I’ll do a 5 Big Ideas on stoic philosophy sometime 🤗
Great idea! You might be interested in this Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/figsinwinter/p/interview-with-a-cynic?r=64l20&utm_medium=ios
This is beautifully written and contains much wisdom. Thank you
Thank you, Luke! It means so much 🤗
Jen, these just keep living into the same questions I write to. The ones that never seem to go away. Thank you so much. Yes, that seat of the soul. That inner voice. Awareness. Going home, knowing we’ve been there before and remembering it like the first time. Coming home to love. Thank you for your gift of leaning into these questions, and helping us strip off the layers to our own authenticity! Bless you 🙏❤️
Thank you Jamie! I appreciate you answering the big questions as well ♥️🙏
Thank you for this beautiful post and the deep truths you are sharing to the world. My aunt passed away recently and I completely understand the pain you feel for your family. You have my deepest sympathies and I am sending love to your whole family.
I live by that Khalil Gibrain quote in how I raise my own children, it’s amazing to see you share it here. I once created an art piece using black out poetry on that very passage here:
https://poetx.substack.com/p/black-out-poetry
Your article (and art) is incredible! Thank you for sharing. I knew we had more in common than meets the eye 🤗
"And remember, you are already more than enough." my inner voice has trouble with this one, it's asking for proof. When I repeat it to myself I'm a little embarrassed, my inner voice says that's because I don't believe it to be true.
Your essay was a welcome read and I'm taking your advice, demote the inner voice, I'm relegating it to rudimentary stuff, like what flavour of ice cream I should eat.
Thank you Simon! My inner voice is a big critic also. I’m so grateful that these ideas resonated with you and I hope they help 🙏
Jen - this post took me on an absolute ride and I loved the emotion and thought exploration I was experiencing along the way. The inner voice sections were enjoyable and I resonate with the way you described how to interact (or not) with it. Through my recent meditation I would say that my relationship with my inner voice is changing and it has been quite exciting. Also, the process you described aligns quite well with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) which is one of the modalities I find connect to me the most. I am sorry to hear about your families upcoming loss (and pain). I have found that the secondary level of loss (what the loss means) is more painful than the actual loss itself and I believe that is where most of the pain comes from. I am still contemplating the final section as somebody who bounces between being agnostic and atheist, but the message still resonates and inspires me. Thanks for the post and the intellectual journey.
Cody, thank you for your insights here. I’m glad to know the method I try to use for the inner voice resonates with legitimate modalities in therapy 🙏
Also, thank you for your kind words about my family. Grandma has passed and is in a better place.
Lastly, I’m always curious about atheist and agnostic viewpoints, especially when dealing with mental health. For me, having an open mind to spirituality has given me that sense of greater purpose I was searching for. I’d be curious how one could fill in that gap for greater meaning without the belief in something greater. Would love to hear your thoughts here or on a future post sometime.
❤️❤️❤️🪄
🙌🏽
The watcher is the last stand of the ego! Only in the present moment does the ego dissolve. When "I am" Being present [sometimes] BEING communes with me. Mountains not only move but appear newly. Living and breathing flesh appear as whim of a wish of mine. Holding close, the attempt to grasp hold, and only a vague memory remains. Smart ego remains quiet.
Beautiful. Thank you for inspiring us, Michael
Thanks you came just in time***GG B
Thank you, Gloria! 🤗
Love this. Also, you’ve been reading my mail! Me and my ‘roommate’ have been at war all morning. Thank you for the reminder we are two separate entities and I don’t have to listen to her. I hope it’s not passive aggressive sending this to my sister who badly needs to her it... LOL!
Lol! I feel ya, Liz. I wouldn’t write about the inner voice if I didn’t suffer from it also. Thank you for reading and for your humor!
My own inner voice is recursive. I’m forever writing down what it seems to be saying but in doing so, it changes its tune. Another way of saying that time spent with our own thoughts is as rewarding (if terrifying) as any external conversation.
I suppose it varies for everyone! Personally, I will get lost if I try to follow my thoughts without writing them down. At least when writing, I can go back to the original thought I was working on and continue to delve deeper in the direction of that one thought rather than allow thoughts to take me in many different directions.
But then again, allowing your thoughts to take you in many different directions could lead you to very interesting places, too.
https://deerambeau.substack.com/p/i-know-what-my-own-voice-sounds-like
Thanks for sharing, Dee!
That was lovely 😊
Thank you, Glen! 🤗
Thank you Jen for this.
The resolutions really got to me. Creating new year's resolutions based off how poorly I've done instead of how better I could be was killing and I actually didn't set any this year too but I've been even more productive focusing on one day at a time.
I think so! But then again, I don’t know. These are just ideas I have on how to live better. I think we sometimes get too caught up in our resolutions that we not only let ourselves down, but we also hold ourselves back from new opportunities that present themselves throughout the year
Sending you lots of love as your family goes through a difficult and trying time. 💕
Thank you Mika! I’m incredibly grateful for your support