#251 Opportunities in Disguise

ByLukas
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Opportunities often stare us in the face in our daily interactions, routines, and familiar environments – and that guise of the ordinary makes them invisible.

After all, seeing the value in something that comes so easily to you is hard.

So it takes an outsider to point it out.

What skill are you taking for granted even though it’s really pretty cool?

What comes naturally to you but is hard for others to do?

Which problems can you solve effortlessly? If you solve them for others, how would that set them free?

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    #8 Musenküsse

    ByLukas
    klimt-the-kiss-musenkuss
    Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss (1907-1908).

    der Musenkuss (German) The kiss of the Muse

    Creativity becomes much easier if you see it as a game of finding new ways of describing what has always been there.

    Observing, rather than inventing.

    It’s liberating. Because now the game changes from pulling ideas out of thin air to a game of discovery. Observation. Paying attention. Building upon what’s already discovered, then connecting the dots in way nobody else has.

    Most of all: listening, when the muse finally arrives and visits you for a kiss.

    There’s this voice in my mind
    Impossible to ignore
    And yet I fill my head with noise
    Drowning out
    What deep down I know to be true
    Do I even want to admit
    That this song in my heart
    Is not about me
    But about you?

    P.S.: I’ve observed the same principle in language learning (and wrote a book about the consequences of this mindset shift).

    Which begs the question…

    Where else would we do better if we observed a bit more, rather than trying to invent from scratch?

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    #227 Could a changed past set me free?

    ByLukas

    Which conclusions did I draw from past experiences?

    Have I overreacted to petty events, and ignored beautiful moments?

    Have I deleted memories? Maybe invented some?

    Have I built stories based on generalizations?

    Most importantly: how does the past I still feel affect my actions today?

    And if I know a lot of it was my own interpretation… could I change my past, or at least what it means to me?

    Would that set me free?

    I was undoubtedly in a pensive mood when writing this.

    I guess, given the daily letters I send you, you might conclude I’m in a pensive mood every day.

    And you wouldn’t be wrong.

    But pensive moods can be useful – when they’re coupled with conclusions and insights. Maybe even with Tiny Trust Builders.

    And if any of these questions help you re-interpret your past and set you free, too, I’ll be a happy man.

    A wistful win-win.

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    #230 It’s so much, until it isn’t

    ByLukas

    “Write 3 pages of Stream of Consciousness journaling.”

    “Coming up with 100 things to be grateful about.”

    “Publish a daily insight.”

    My initial reaction, and maybe yours, is, “That’s so much.”

    And that’s exactly the point.

    It IS a lot.

    But actually, it isn’t.

    And when you try it out, and see that it isn’t, you’ve shattered the illusion of scarcity and discovered abundance.

    Maybe we humans are wired to believe in scarcity and fighting over sparse food.

    And while that may serve us well, in many endeavors, there’s much more abundance than we think.

    If your gut reaction was, “That’s so much,” I invite you to try it out.

    Write down what the voice in your head talks about for 3 entire pages.

    Write down 100 things you’re grateful for.

    Challenge the scarcity mindset.

    There may well be abundance on the other side.

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