Life, Death, and Everything In Between

28/12/2022

Sometimes it’s hard to carry on being present and appreciative of our experiences moment to moment. When this happens, adjusting our perspective can aid us in being where we want to be, but doing this can be challenging. Understanding that we are a product of things much larger than ourselves can help to ground us and center us, so we can refocus on our goals and aspirations, which can range from learning a new skill to just being present. We should never feel guilt or shame over our guilt or shame over our progress, it’s much more effective to acknowledge that we are not as we want to be, acknowledge the emotions we’ve had because of that, brush ourselves off like a toddler falling down as it learns to walk, and continue. Hang in there y’all.

02/10/2022

A reminder from the legendary Bob Ross to let go of our anger. Anger is like the sweet leaves of a plant with very bitter roots, and as we give our anger more power we are only hurting ourselves. Big emotions can be hard to navigate, but if we allow ourselves to come from a place of loving awareness with others then it can allow our anger to just float away in the breeze.

28/09/2022

It can be easy for us to wish we were somewhere else in our lives, in the world, or in history. Embracing our circumstances, instead of turning away from them, can allow us to be present with the things we don’t like and give us some amount of power in our lives. If we are present and patient with the feelings that arise from us directly experiencing our lives, we will notice that the feelings begin to change of their own accord, and give us the resources to handle the events we were previously defeated by. Credit to J. R. R. Tolkien for this quote.

23/09/2022

Life is not so serious that we cannot take the time to appreciate how far we have come, and be thankful for what it is we do have, rather than focus on what it is that we don’t. Easier said than done at times, but maintaining a sense of lightheartedness about life can help us to not get so caught up in the drama and to appreciate the beauty of life

22/09/2022

Since not everyone has Spotify we wanted to share that Life, Death, and Everything In Between is also available on Apple Podcasts. We hope we can be a part of your day!

‎Society & Culture · 2022

21/09/2022

Today’s message is from the Dao De Jing. Getting too caught in the drama of our human experience leaves us with a narrow perspective and a lack of clarity. Understanding that these are our actions, our thoughts, our memories, our feelings, but not our Self. They are tools to satisfy our purpose. This purpose can be embodied in many different things (people, interactions, accomplishments) but the core is the Dao, loving awareness, Wu Wei, simultaneously being perceived as separate beings, but overwhelmingly connected. If you allow yourself to give up the pursuit of security and control, love and joy will pour forth. Thank you Laozi.

20/09/2022

Good day everyone! Episode 4 of Life, Death, and Everything in Between is out now, on the subjects of Grief, Trauma, Grace, and the Human Experience. We were joined by Athena and Jordan, and were so lucky to have this time and space with them. LDandEIB is available on Anchor, Youtube, and Spotify, we hope you enjoy!

https://open.spotify.com/episode/02eS4vtkJIyD2pI5vW3jdk?si=ee7330a44b3b4b1e

19/09/2022

The grand “secret” to a peaceful life is being present, grounded, centered, and mindful. We often believe that an exterior entity, be it person, place, or thing, will result in our happiness and peace of mind. The reality is that no amount of exterior satisfaction will bring us peace if we are not ready. The skin cannot be peeled from the snake, the snake must shed it of it’s own accord. In the here and now we can find peace by experiencing our emotions and stimuli mindfully, which will give us back control over our lives

17/09/2022

We are all viewing reality from different perspectives. As we interact more closely with those around us, and expand our perspective, we can gain a more accurate understanding of existence. If we understand what it is we’re experiencing, we can more easily navigate it. We can only gain use of this by suspending our own preconceived notions and judgments first. If we can set aside the thoughts racing through our mind to be able to listen and empathize, we can gain clarity that helps us and those around us.

15/09/2022

Often times in western society we are taught to tie our self worth to our efficiency, productivity, and contributions to the world around us. While it is not a bad thing to associate goodness with helping others and contributing, this can be a double edged sword that can push us to burn ourselves out and even feel guilty as we do incredible things. We can become so out of touch with the present moment, with reality and the possibilities that exist for us when our self worth is consumed by trying to be the most efficient and productive worker bee we can be. At the end of the day we’re all trying, in some fashion or another, to be happier and suffer less, and too often we’ll find that this whole time happiness has been within our grasp here and now. Credit to John Lane for this moving quote.

14/09/2022

We are humans living very human experiences, and this results in us holding on to a lot of the things that have happened to us, which bears quite the emotional toll. We begin to feel very small versus the world and all it can throw at us, and our very logical, very human brain is not always the best companion in these times. When we begin to feel ourselves becoming burnt out, overwhelmed, overstimulated, frustrated, it is time to be even more gracious and patient with ourselves, without enabling our egos. If we can take the time to put outside influences aside and get in touch with the present, we can regain control of our mind, our emotions, and our lives. Credit to theAwkwardYeti.com for this powerful image.

13/09/2022

The negative thoughts, emotions, and uncertainties that arise every day can build up to what feel like unbearable levels. There are loads of stress reducing exercises out there, but before any of those can be of any real use, we must be willing to sit with these feelings. When we push them aside or attempt to cover these feelings up, we are shutting ourselves off from feeling and processing them. Once we come to a place of acceptance that these are a part of us and a part of life, we can begin to work through these feelings to bring ourselves to a place of clarity and inner peace.

11/09/2022

It’s so easy for us to get caught up in the day to day of our lives, the steady rhythm that makes time pass faster as we become more preoccupied with the personalities we give ourselves. This is how we get caught up in the “separateness” as Ram Dass calls it. If we have something we can use as a reminder to calm our minds, slow down, and be present we can find much more joy and fulfillment in our lives. Credit to Grant Snider for this very moving picture.

10/09/2022

If you’re looking for a place to connect, grieve, ask questions, spread joy, or see new perspectives come check out our discord!

Check out the Life, Death, and Everything In Between community on Discord - hang out with 15 other members and enjoy free voice and text chat.

09/09/2022

I can comment no better on presence than those who have before me.

“Life exists only at this very moment, and in this moment it is infinite and eternal. For the present moment is infinitely small; before we can measure it, it has gone, and yet it persists forever.” – Alan Watts

“The next message you need is always right where you are.” - Ram Dass

09/09/2022

Frequent References:
Johnathan Livingston Seagull: A book about a bird pursuing flight.
Plato's Allegory of the Cave: Basically simulation theory (i.e. The Matrix)
Adventure Time: Kids show that grew as the audience did, became a really heavy show, recommend watching the last few seasons, if not the whole show.
Midnight Gospel: Show on Netflix by Duncan Trussell (also recommend his podcast, wonderful person).
Rick and Morty: I usually only reference a few episodes, but another great show.
Carl Sagan, Flatland: Carl Sagan's discourse on the 4th dimension, available on youtube.

09/09/2022

Something I was never really taught growing up was how to cultivate my own happiness. As I've spent my time talking with others, I find that they haven't been taught either, and those who have strategies seem to have figured it out as they go. So often in western society grind culture is emphasized, the need to be efficient, and if we are not succeeding at some point, then we are wasting our time. We take these cues and try to find something to put time and effort into in order to justify our existence. We will sacrifice our time and our happiness with schools, jobs, and people to get to that end goal, only to realize that the freeing "a-ha" moment doesn't happen there, and too often we don't even reach that moment to have this grand realization that we've wasted our time. We will die having pursued a false image, when our truth was always in the present waiting for us.

09/09/2022

So often we find ourselves having a "bad day" or "bad week", when really we are out of touch with the present moment. If we have something traumatic happen (i.e. lose our job, diagnosed with a disease) we begin to think of all the situations that could arise from the event. We're thinking ahead, planning, being responsible, which we've been taught is a "good" thing to do, and as we are often living in these circumstances, we're usually right. In doing this though, we find that we lose touch with the present moment, where generally, nothing is truly wrong, and in hopes of preparing for the future our clarity is lost. Paradoxically, in trying to prepare to handle life altering events, we are our own worst enemy.