Year: 2019

  • How to Not Be a Tyrant

    Part of the contract of being a resident at the Monastic Academy is to give and receive feedback to each other. We even have a role “Ops” whose job is to hold the integrity of the group and be the last line of discipline to enforce rules and norms. This takes the form of feedback.…

  • Don’t Try, Be

    Recently, I was listening to an interview between two comedians on the Pete Holmes podcast. They talked about how “trying to be funny” is not funny. When going on stage, just be yourself. Just be Pete Holmes. Pete Holmes is funny. What a good lesson. So often, I see others including myself “trying to do…

  • Superpowers and Downfalls of Over Worrying

    In the last year, I realized I have a pervasive habit of over worrying. A neurological, physiological childhood trauma around not feeling safe, not feeling protected, always on the lookout. On one hand, this constant worrying has served me well. I can quickly assess potential risks and come up with mitigating plans to make things…

  • Ecstasis – Going Beyond the Pale

    Almost everyone is operating from a fixed, limited way of being. I hesitate to say everyone, but I do think it’s everyone at varying degrees of flexibility, mobility, freedom. One of the most fundamental limitations is how we identify ourselves, what we identify with. What do we consider “me”, “I”, “mine”? Do I identify with…

  • Learn and Have Fun Learning

    All of us start off as bright, innocent kids. Endlessly curious about the world around them. Good singers, artists, communicators. Expressive. Filled with life. Somehow, as we become socialized into adults, we lose that spark. Some of us become perfectionists. We constantly evaluate, judge, and criticize everything we do. There’s a constant self-anxiety and shame.…