22 Nuggets of Wisdom from Cory Muscara

1. Finding your true self is an act of love. Expressing it is an act of rebellion.

2. A sign of growth is having more tolerance for discomfort. But it’s also having less tolerance for bullshit.

3. Who you are is not your fault, but it is your responsibility.

4. Desires that rise in agitation are more aligned with your ego. Desires that arise in stillness are more aligned with your soul.

5. Procrastination is the refusal or inability to be with difficult emotions.

6. The moment before letting to is often when we grip the hardest.

7. You don’t find your ground by looking for stability. You find your ground by relaxing into stability.

8. What you hate most in others is usually what you hate most in yourself.

9. The biggest life hack is becoming your own best friend. Everything is easier when you do.

10. The more comfortable you become in your own skin, the less you need to manufacture the world around you for comfort.

11. An interesting thing happens when you start to like yourself. You no longer need all the things you thought you need to be happy.

12. If you don’t train your mind to appreciate what is good, you’ll continue to look for something better in the future, even when things are great.

13. The belief that there is some future moment more worth our presence than the one we’re in right now is why we miss our lives.

14. There is no set of conditions that leads to lasting happiness. Lasting happiness doesn’t come from conditions, but from learning to flow with conditions.

15. We often need to get out of alignment with the rest of the world to get back into alignment with ourselves.

16. Real confidence looks like humility. You no longer need to advertise your value because it comes from a place that does not require the validation of others.

17. Negative thoughts will not manifest a negative life. But unconscious negative thoughts will.

18. Bullying yourself into enlightenment does not work. You must befriend yourself to transcend yourself.

19. There are 3 layers to a moment: Your experience, your awareness of the experience and your story about the experience. Be mindful of the story.

20. Your mind doesn’t wander. It moves toward what it finds most interesting. To improve focus, become curious about what’s in front of you.

21. Life continues whether you pay attention to it or not. I think it’s why the passage of time is so scary.

22. High pain tolerance is a double-edged sword. It’s key for self-control but can cause us to override the pain of being out of alignment.

Read Cory Muscara’s original post.

Safety Is A Presence Of Connection

“Safety is not a question of a lack of threat. Safety is the presence of connection.”
Gabor Maté

Gasp! This Modular Space!

I gasped seeing these images of a smartly designed living/working space. It was designed by Italian designer Guglielmo Poletti for his own studio in Milan.

Our Connection With other People

“Our connection with other people is only as solid and deep as our connection to ourselves. In order for me to be connected to you, I have to know who I am. I have to be connected to myself. And I think what we end up doing is we end up desperately searching for connection with other people, when we have no idea who we are!”
Brené Brown

I Am Here For You

“The most precious gift you can give to the one you love is your true presence. So the first mantra is very simple: “Dear one, I am here for you.”
Thich Nhat Hanh

Ludovico Einaudi (The Royal Albert Hall Concert 2010)

I have clearly fallen down a Ludovico Einaudi rabbit hole and I am loving it. This 2010 Royal Albert Hall Concert is an absolute dream. I recommend listening with headphones!

See Enough and Write It Down

“See enough and write it down, I tell myself. And then some morning, when the world seems drained of wonder, some day when I’m going through the motions of doing what I am supposed to do… On that bankrupt morning, I will simply open my notebook and there it will all be, a forgotten account with accumulated interest. Paid passage back to the world out there. It all comes back. Remember what it is to be me.”
Joan Didion

Ludovico Einaudi: Tiny Desk Concert

Be Brave

Currently feel like hanging one of these in all corners of my life.

I applaud you, Apple!

YES!

The Light

“The light constantly changes, and that alters the atmosphere and beauty of things every minute.”
Claude Monet

The Principle Of Not Forcing

Kait Dunton

This piece took my breath away. Thank you for sharing your gift Kait Dunton.

Mushroom Santa

How the Psychedelic Amanita Muscaria Mushroom May Have Inspired the Santa Legend of Lapland

Try Not To Resist

“Try not to resist the changes that come your way. Instead let life live through you. And do not worry that your life is turning upside down. How do you know that the side you are used to is better than the one to come?”
– Rumi

Link Pack

The Lion King: Tiny Desk Concert

– The Birds Aren’t Real Merch is putting a smile on my face. My kids are loving the plain black hoodie.

– Very honest and personal interview over on Time Sensitive with yours truly. (Thank you for the kind feedback so many of you have sent!)

– What a cool gift: Create Your Own Reel Viewer

AI generated art is absolutely wild in every way (via Chris)

You Need a (Creative) Manifesto

Cyclo Knitter: A Bicycle-Based Machine That Knits a Scarf in Five Minutes

– This poop bag pouch looks smartly designed. Want. Purchased and loving it.

– I think this is unique stripe-y rainbow scarf falls into the category of what my friend Annie would call ‘Dopamine Dressing’. (aka colorful dressing)

Plant Guide: Popular Plants from A to Z care difficulty

– I would say a Fringe Garland falls into the same category as my love for confetti.

– The Bantu philosophy of “ubuntu” focuses on the power of community

The Four Buddhist Mantras for Turning Fear into Love

– “Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.”

– Hey Austin, I wish I could go see the Field of Light installation. Maybe you can go?

What a stunning house. Wow.

These pants with all of the pockets made me giggle.

– Great gift ideas for art lovers: Colossal’s Favorite Art Books of 2022

Tattly make for perfect stocking stuffers. The Tattly Gift Guide can help you find the right designs.

– CreativeMornings gathers kind-hearted, creatively minded humans all over the world. Is there a chapter in your town? If not, put your city on the map and start one, or attend our virtual events called FieldTrips.

Brian Eno on Taking Breaks

“One of the reasons I have to take distinct breaks when I work is to allow the momentum of a particular direction to run down, so that another one can establish itself.”
– Brian Eno

(Via Jocelyn)

Gradient Glass

These beautiful glasses are made for drinking but destined for display. Well done Lateral Objects.

It’s Ok To Feel Things

I think this needs to hang above my desk at Friends Work Here.

Rechargeable Tape Light

I don’t know what I would use it for but I want it: Rechargeable Tape Light.

She Is On her Way

“The system will collapse if we refuse to buy what they are selling…their ideas, their version of history, their wars…their notion of inevitability. Remember this: We may be many and they be few… Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”
Arundhati Roy

How to Find a Wonderful Idea

How does OK Go come up with their unique ideas for their music videos?

(via Tobias Günther in Dense Discovery)

Staying soft vs Tightening

“Tightness erodes clarity. Tightness reduces expansion. Tightness broadens fear, scarcity, and the feeling of being powerless. Tightness keeps me wound in my own Small Self, forgetting entirely about everything that exists beyond the tightness. Tightness looks like turning away from reality. It looks like worst-case-scenario, all-or-nothing thinking. It looks like ‘What if this doesn’t go the way I want it to?’ and ‘I don’t think I can handle this’ — like worry embodied. It looks like self-doubt and rumination, catastrophizing and smallness. It looks like forgetting about my body and only listening to my brain.”
Stay Soft, Lisa Oliver

(via Jocelyn)

Featured on Time Sensitive Podcast

I am feeling honored and a bit nervous sharing this interview of yours truly featured on the remarkably thoughtful Time Sensitive Podcast, a labor of love by Spencer Bailey and Andrew Zuckerman. (I originally met Andrew because he has been reading my blog for years.) They are two deeply thoughtful and smart humans nurturing deep conversations. Grateful to have been invited and been allowed to share where my heart and I are at in this moment in time in 2022. You can listen to and also read the interview here.