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Break free

Hello World,

Are we thinking for ourselves?

From the moment we are born, information is poured into our brain. Depending on our environment, the studies we do or our path in life, we become molded to a way of thinking, of finding solutions, etc. Only on rare occasions are we forced to put everything we’ve learnt into question.

It has become even worse as information is poured at us continuously. And search engines are made in such a way that we will always come around information somehow related to our previous searches. This makes it difficult to get an objective view in any field and leaves us in a bubble instead of enabling us to expand our knowledge.

So, do we really think for ourselves? We may believe so, but in a way we keep grabbing information in our bag of knowledge…things we learned, things we heard, things we were pushed to believe. We may as well reference to information outside of us like from books, thinkers, gurus, whatever works and matches our predisposition.

The majority of us don’t go further than that. We are creatures of habits and most of us are risk-averse. And I believe we are actually quite lazy about pushing ourselves outside of our limits. Thinking outside the box takes some drive. And being stuck in a routine is so comfortable.

Now that it’s been scientifically proven that we use a very small portion of our brain’s capacity, why aren’t we trying to connect more of those synapsis? It’s like our potential has been squeezed in a box and we accommodated to this situation where we don’t maximise our abilities. Let’s regain some freedom by keeping an open-mind, exploring, taking measured-risks (specially for the things we love) and by talking to each other. Step outside your comfort zone… You’ll probably be amazed!!

Don’t you feel like expanding yourself, just out of curiosity?

 

In my next post, I’ll write about … let me think!!

-V-

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News detox

Hello World,

Today’s world is crowded by news and usually it’s about the bad and the ugly. How do you deal with this load of information? Do you find yourself rushing for it, absorbing more than what you can take in? Do you feed your fears with it?

I have come to a point where I rarely listen to news and hardly read the articles’ content, it’s merely about the headlines to get a grasp of what’s going on.

It all began with my beloved country of birth which was taken by a destructive regime that brought the country to a depth I could never have imagined. At that time, the country wasn’t doing great but the fear and anger I felt were more linked to a sense of helplessness. Not only was I watching the destruction of the country but I could foresee the direction of a dictatorship. And there seemed to be nothing I could do to stop it, except maybe open as many eyes as possible by spreading the word about the big lie many were buying into. Back then, newspapers were publishing quite distorted facts compared to what we knew was really going on. So there I was, reading all the articles that were published, being very utopian by replying to the publishers, thinking they were blinded by the theoretical speeches of the then president. I would read, listen and seek for every piece of information, worrying about the next level of this government madness and liaising with my family to know the “truth”.
Slowly I was consumed by fear for my relatives and hopelessness for this country that had once great potential. During one of my visits, way before the country reached its darkest hours, I realised that people didn’t seem as affected as I was. They were living their day to day, dealing with the situations as they occurred, taking action where they could. Together with the overload of news, this immobility was what was dragging me down. And there it was, news had taken over my life and my emotions were affected by them. No matter how happy I was in my life, news were ruling my feelings. I had to consciously decide to put a break and set limits on how much I agreed to take in. I continued taking action where I could without letting the news consume me.

This is just an example. There are many ways news can affect us. This constant connection to the outer world, even though it comes with its share of benefits, tends to cut us from our real life. We’re overloaded with negative information that is not always a good description of how real events occurred and what’s really going on. And most of the time, there’s no real action from our side that could make any difference. News can feed our fears, give us a false sense of connection and awareness.

Be conscious of your environment and how it impacts you, know yourself and your limits, and set appropriate boundaries to keep a life well balanced. Take a break, put your phone down, observe and see how beautiful the world can be. Take a chance to experience life, observe what’s happening around you, see for yourself the hidden treasures of life. And if you want to learn something, make sure the information is accurate. And finally, if there is something you dislike, take action to remediate. A drop in the ocean is still the best you can do!

Breath in the good, breath out the bad.

Have you ever thought about how news affect your life?

 

In my next post, I’ll write about expanding our ability to think for ourselves.

-V-

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Shake off that past and let the magic begin

Hello World!

The concepts of conscious consumerism, getting rid of the unnecessary, possessing less and being more present to our lives is now part of our every day. And many of us have already taken the path to apply part of them.

Having lived on an island that doesn’t offer much shopping options outside the essentials, I was forced to live with what I have, shop for what I really need when travelling and come to the realization that many of the possessions I had were not of use. In addition to this, moving several times helped me go through my belongings and keep what I thought were “my” essentials. My closets looked pretty tidy, I had it all figured out.

Reading a book like “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: a simple, effective way to banish clutter forever” (by Marie Kondo) was overrated. That’s what I thought until it landed on my desk.

Apart from the concepts discussed above, I did not expect that this book would raise any feelings. But while reading it, I actually realized that my sense of safety was way more rooted into the past than what I believed. To cope with life’s challenges, I had learnt to hang on to happier times from the past by collecting and keeping all kind of souvenirs – from letters to clothes or pictures. This tendency had taken a silent path throughout my life.

I knew that letting go had been one of my major struggles. Not only did I hang on to the good memories but I had trouble letting go of what were once good relationships, friendships or anything that would anchor me in that sense of safety. I had tried different approaches to “learn to let go” but that meant no safety net. In the end, I thought I was just a very sentimental person. Being rooted into the past translated as a way to keep happy points of memories immutable. In a way, that is refusing to open our eyes to the evolution of certain things. And that’s not in line with my distaste for labels or anything that keeps me free from moving forward.

Well, this book shed light on the dusted corner I had not worked on before. I resumed to apply the instructions of the KonMari Method, or at least in a way that suited me. Now my closet is half what it was and I own a single box of souvenirs containing solely items which bring me joy. I cleared up the past to make space for the new adventures to come and I can already sense the lightness around me. I feel more rooted into the present, ready to receive what the future holds for me.

And you, what are you holding on to?

 

In my next post, I’ll write about the “pillow fight criteria”.

-V-