#23 For all the languages I’ve learned

ByLukas
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For all the languages I’ve learned
trying in vain to put the inner and outer world into words
closely but not completely capturing the essence
I now realize the biggest insights reveal themselves
where words are worthless and feelings reign
where they are felt and lived, embodied,
refusing to be rationalized, categorized
or undergo the violent limitations of our words.

Maybe language learning is more about admitting that some languages are lived, not learned.

That some insights are felt, not expressed.

That sometimes words create distance from what we experience deep down, instead of offering the clarity we seek.

Accepting that may well be the biggest challenge of all.

There is a voice that doesn’t use words. Listen.

Rumi

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    #249 You already know what I’m going to say

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    “You already know what I’m going to say,” the mentor I don’t have tells me.

    It’s true.

    I don’t need anyone to tell me what to do.

    Neither do you.

    All you need is someone to remind you to do what you already know.

    If you had constant presence of mind, you could remind yourself.

    But if you’re anything like me, your clarity gets lost in day-to-day desires, worries, and chores.

    And that’s fine.

    Because that’s what you’re here for, no?

    Not to learn what your life should look like but to receive a reminder to live it daily?

  • #349 Why you shouldn’t strive for the perfect day

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    Habit-building isn’t about striving for “the perfect day.”

    It’s about making sure that even on the imperfect day when nothing goes your way, you still do enough things that fulfill you.

    It’s about making the hard things easier.

    And it’s about stacking the deck in your favor and making it inevitable to do things that align with who you want to be.

  • #2 Why I write

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    If writing and creating every day were as vital to my survival as drinking water, ingesting food, and bonding… What would life look like?

    Biologically, all behavior is driven by pain, pleasure, and the triggers and habits that come from repeated reaction to those stimuli.

    So I eat because I want to escape the pain of hunger – or heartbreak, sadness, and frustration.

    I connect with others because I’m neurologically hardwired to feel pleasure when bonding… and pain and deprivation when I’m abandoned.

    Similarly, I write because I want to escape the frustration of not being able to put into words an insight.

    I also write because I enjoy the rush resulting from finding the words that convey what I want to say.

    I write because I love the tingling in my back and neck when I combine those words into sentences with just the right rhythm, just the right cadence capturing the meaning, context, emotion of what I want to say…

    I write because writing wrests the essence from the whirlwind of thoughts and emotions racing through my mind and body.

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    #194 Satisfaction is an illusion

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    We get hungry and look for food. Then we get hungry again.

    We get thirsty and look for water. Then we’re thirsty again.

    We want to create art and learn how to sing. Then we want to create more and learn how to draw.

    Full satisfaction with our life as it is is an illusion. Desire will always be there, even if we think we’ve reached all our goals.

    Without a gap between what we do and what we want to do, what we have and what we want, who we are and who we want to be, life becomes meaningless.

    With that knowledge, how can we still be fulfilled?

    The fulfillment formula may help:

    Regardless of outcomes and results, are the majority of your daily actions in alignment with your purpose, values, and the identity you want to forge?

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