The Digest: 12/22/2023
This week's most share-worthy resources from around the interwebz
Happy Friday!!!
Hope you’re having an excellent week and looking forward to the holidays.
I’ll be kicking it here in Blacksburg, enjoying some R&R.
My family will be getting together at my sister’s place in Florida, but I’ve decided not to join.
After traveling this fall and spending the past couple of months staying with family while figuring out my next steps in life, I decided I could use a bit of time to myself.
Part of me really wants to see everyone, but another part of me knows that some downtime would be good for the soul.
I’ve considered skipping the get-together in prior years, and I felt that this year would be as good as any to actually do it.
Earlier this week, I’d typed up a post about how we define ourselves.
At first, I was pretty pleased with it.
After a few rounds of review and revision, though, I decided to let it marinate a bit longer.
I might even never publish it at all.
My hesitation to share it is mainly because I haven’t fully sorted out my own thoughts on self-identity yet.
Writing can be a way to clarify one’s thoughts, feelings, and emotions, but I prefer to only share that kind of writing when it truly feels finished.
With this piece, I feel as though I haven’t really reached any conclusion or final thoughts.
There’s still a lot of clarification to be done.
I’m not necessarily opposed to sharing questions without answers, and I thought about doing so this week.
However, I want to wrestle with this subject a bit more before putting my thoughts out there.
When I do, I suspect there will still be plenty of questions :-)
In the meantime, I’ll just enjoy exploring the subject as I write.
Here are this week’s most share-worthy resources from around the interwebz:
The Myth of Heroic Masculine Purpose, and How it’s Harming Men on Like Stories of Old (video)
“A critical analysis of the myth of heroic masculine purpose, and its effect on men’s perception of manhood, and on their connection to others and to the world.”
EP 272 — Dr. Marc Gafni — Exploring the Self on Living 4D with Paul Chek (podcast and video)
“The state of our world is in such a fragile place right now, which means it’s up to all of us to step up to the plate and do our part to make it better. You can’t be that agent of change, however, if you don’t know your self…”
Thich Nhat Hanh - Sun of Awareness - Zen Buddhism on Wisdom of the Masters by Samaneri Jayasara (podcast)
“Thich Nhat Hanh (1926 – 2022) was a Vietnamese Thien/Chan Buddhist monk, peace activist, prolific author, poet and teacher, who founded the Plum Village Tradition, historically recognized as the main inspiration for engaged Buddhism. Known as the “father of mindfulness”, Nhat Hanh was a major influence on Western practices of Buddhism.”
2232: Age-Proof Your Muscles, Bones & Brain With Dr. Gabrielle Lyon on Mind Pump: Raw Fitness Truth (podcast)
There didn’t appear to be a description provided with the podcast page, but this episode provides a plethora of information about the importance of muscle mass, as well as lots of guidance regarding dietary trends and recommendations and behavior change.
Everything in Life Is Temporary, Except for One Thing by Stephen Guise
“Even in cases in which you have no control over your situation, you can choose how you respond emotionally, what you say, how you act within the scenario.”
How to Feel Better When You Have No Control Over the Situation by Erica Layne
“Allow yourself to feel and process any of the emotions that initially come up, and trust yourself to know when you’re ready to move forward and shift your thoughts so you can change how you feel.”
Why Self-Awareness is Sexy by Mark Manson
“Knowing that you’re not always awesome counter-intuitively makes you more awesome.”
How Embracing Contentment Is Making Me Happy Healthy and Wealthy by Lisa Harrison
“Thinking back, I realize that I didn’t want to be rich in the traditional sense at all.”
Holiday Roadmap: Find Your Way to More Comfort and Joy (and way less stress) by Courtney Carver
“Creating a simplicity-inspired holiday roadmap will give you the freedom and resilience to trade holiday stress and anxiety for more love, peace, comfort and joy.”
How to Get a Life (No, Really, How?) by Margo Aaron
“Fun and life are not synonyms. Suffering and life are not synonyms.”
What Can We Do When Our Plans Don’t Work Out? by Allison Carmen
“So today, whatever you are experiencing, ask yourself, ‘Is my mindset causing me emotional pain? Can I accept this situation and be grateful for what is in my life? Is there a way to ‘make the best of it’ and choose joy instead of negativity?’”
The Key to Happiness: Accept Yourself & Stop Seeking Approval by Steph Dittrich
“When you focus on the internal, rather than trying to directly influence the external aspects of your life, inevitably the external aspects of your life also change for the better.”
That does it for this week!
Have a most excellent weekend.
I appreciate you :-)
Rob