Learning to co-create with the Universe
I used to think that leaving things up to the Universe was a total cop-out. Surrendering and doing nothing didn’t feel logical, it felt lazy. There’s a lot of cardinal energy in my chart (Capricorn sun, Cancer moon) and I firmly believed that things happen because we make them happen.
After I turned thirty, though, my thinking shifted. I started to believe in the power of letting go and trusting the Universe. …
Happiness is overrated— aim for alignment instead
This year is already shaking up my brain and soul in a slightly less chaotic but equally as cool way as last year. 2020 was about breaking down the past, tearing us away from the familiar, and preparing us to do things differently. 2021 feels like walking into the space that was created, ready to build on the fresh foundations and learn to live more fully.
In fact, I’ve never experienced such a tangible sense of possibility before. It’s like a new dimension is opening up and things that seemed set in stone; offices, the 9–5, mindless consumerism — those…
Why life is about living the mystery
John Keats, a Romantic poet, first wrote about the concept of ‘negative capability’ in 1817. It’s the ability, he said, to “exist amid uncertainties, mysteries, and doubts without reaching for absolutes”. To play in the grey and embrace not knowing.
Over 200 years later, and I can’t think of a more apt way to describe the way I want my brain to work. The problem is this; I love the idea of ambiguity, but I hate the feel of it. …
The seven rules for dating with an open heart and a smart mind
It’s no mistake that the Latin origin of the word confusing (adj.) means to mingle together. Dating, or mingling, in 2020 is just that. Confusing.
In the past few years, romantic connection has been completely transformed by apps and shifting social norms. If you add the challenge of getting close to potential partners during a global pandemic, it’s a recipe for confused singles. Plus, being open to true love doesn’t really gel well with the 21st century gold standard of appearing permanently chill even when we’re interested. …
Why everything you do for you, you do for me too
My mum has a habit of not indicating when she’s driving around a corner in a quiet street. ‘Why would I?’ she always says, ‘there’s no-one behind me’. It’s a good point. There were no other cars in sight. ‘But it’s the principle’, I tell her. ‘What if a car unexpectedly speeds over the hill? Or a child crosses the street because they assume you’re going straight instead?’
Not indicating in the back streets is not a huge deal but it makes me wonder — when exactly did we forget how our individual impact plays into the oneness of it…
And other ways to get your brain buzzing again when you’re feeling flat
We all have those days when it feels like our brains are on backwards. There might not be anything major that you can attribute it to, you just feel flat. I’ve been experimenting lately with shifting this energy and trying to upgrade my emotional software to be able to escape the low moods quicker.
When I talk about ‘energy’ I’m not referring to physical stamina or solar panels. I’m referring to that esoteric concept of your life force. Yes it’s a bit spiritual, a bit metaphysical, but it may actually have some truth to it. When your vibe is off…
Finding the elusive creative beast, the counterintuitive way
Creative flow is an elusive beast. Whenever I stumble upon it, I try to pause, look around, and take note of where I found it, so I can hunt it down again.
One Sunday morning, a few weeks ago, I suddenly felt incredibly inspired, and open to sharing my writing. I realised that a few things had clicked in my mind that week, contributing to the shift. These are the things that I was thinking about pre-creative brainwave;
Do what you’re not doing
Often we fall into a pattern of creating and sharing that feels safe and natural, and it feels that way because we’re…
What your smartphone addiction tells you about identity
Everyone knows the rule. Limit screen time before bed or the blue light will interrupt your sleep and mess with your brain. But like all bad habits, late-night scrolling is so enticing. It feels like all the fun stuff happens after dark — deep text chats, falling down internet wormholes, amplified creativity. And it makes me wonder — if I turn off my phone earlier, am I turning off a part of my personality too?
If you change your habits, are you still you?
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about habits, and identity, and the way that our everyday…
Using values to make decisions in the face of uncertainty
The big pause of 2020 has made me really think about how we relate to uncertainty. The unknown that permeates our lives in minuscule and massive ways every day, now more than ever.
On an abstract level, we get that the Universe is always changing. There are forces too vast and beyond our comprehension, for us to have all the answers. But how does it actually make us feel, and act, in the moments when we’re not sure about something?
The scenario, whatever it may be, is ‘I have no idea know what’s going to happen with X, so how…
There’s no escaping this paradigm shift, because the paradigm is us
This is big. Really big. And yet it all started from something so small. In just a few months a sub-microscopic agent has shut down the whole world, and we’ve woken up in a new reality. This is COVID-19.
Sometimes I forget that everything has changed. When I remember, I’m shocked all over again. Shocked that things can happen so fast, shocked that the world is never going back to how it was, and shocked at how different life looks compared to January.
On the big arc of history, of our species, of course events like this happen. But it’s…
