A description of mindfulness I hear a lot is, “Being present, in the moment, without judgment.” I guess I struggle with the “without judgment” part, because I judge pain as being a worse state than being deeply happy. I can accept pain, I can embrace with relief that it’s temporary, I can even let go… Continue reading I’m Doing It Wrong Part II
When you’re thinking about your drug and alcohol use, your mind plays all kinds of tricks on you. Even the healthiest among us falls into maladaptive patterns of thinking sometimes. Throw chemical dependency in there to mess with your motivations and rationales, and the addicted mind is a powerful and single-minded captain of the ship.… Continue reading Brain, Heal Thyself
The mind is a bizarrely dangerous place. It sounds wildly anti-evolutionary, but the mind is full of thoughts that want to hurt you. Compulsive and addicted behaviors that have the potential to kill you. Self-doubt and pain to the point of suicide. Lots of us are mentally ill, and even more of us are poorly… Continue reading Relief from the Roiling Flood
Life is way too short for thinking small thoughts. Work worries are small thoughts. Episodes of HGTV are small thoughts. Being depressed about what other people think of you – that’s a small thought. If you’re ever down, get into some science. If you’re ever in a place of losing perspective altogether, get into some… Continue reading Thinking Big Thoughts
Negativity bias is the human tendency to look at a vast landscape of stuff that is just fine, good even, and find the one thing that is flawed. The tendency to obsess about that thing to the exclusion of all the good things. And it makes sense, right? From an evolutionary perspective, the things that… Continue reading Countering Negativity Bias
Today during my meditation, I burst into tears. This is actually really common for me. When I sit down, and get quiet, and let whatever feelings arise that are there to feel, I’m usually overwhelmed emotionally in some way. Big feelings. Love for my cat. Gratitude for the kindness of a friend who wants to… Continue reading Solidity
Doctors and mental health professionals tried to tell me for a long time that I had a substance abuse problem. I knew I didn’t drink like normal people did. But I made it to work on time, did work I was proud of, and didn’t get in legal trouble. Obviously I had the situation well… Continue reading This Is Not Normal
