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In my experience, inspiration is not something that finds you, or offers itself to you, nor for that matter is faith. Inspiration and faith are similar in so far as they both ask something of us. They each require real and constant practical application. For me, inspiration comes only when I practice certain things regularly and rigorously. I must ... See more
Nick Cave • The Red Hand Files Issue #207
When stumped by a life choice, choose “enlargement” over happiness. I’m indebted to the Jungian therapist James Hollis for the insight that major personal decisions should be made not by asking, “Will this make me happy?”, but “Will this choice enlarge me or diminish me?” We’re terrible at predicting what will make us happy: the question swiftly ge... See more
oliverburkeman.com • Oliver Burkeman's Last Column: The Eight Secrets to a (Fairly) Fulfilled Life
We get stuck in a holding pattern when we believe there’s only one path, or two, instead of those millions of paths that fork and diverge based on our individual strengths and characters. In some worlds you’re happy and curious and feed the parts that make you fully and idiosyncratically yourself. The parts that seek beauty and truth and goodness a
... See moreThere’s a concept in ecology of ‘niche creation.’ And the idea is: it’s not the case that a species will sort of come along and go, ‘oh, I could do well here, there’s lots of food,’ and things like that. A species comes along and just does his thing, and by acting in the world, he sort of creates the very environment he needs to survive.... See more
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