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13 Life-Learnings from 13 Years of Brain Pickings
Question your maps and models of the universe, both inner and outer, and continually test them against the raw input of reality.
Maria Popova • 13 Life-Learnings from 13 Years of Brain Pickings
Allow yourself the uncomfortable luxury of changing your mind. Cultivate that capacity for “negative capability.” We live in a culture where one of the greatest social disgraces is not having an opinion, so we often form our “opinions” based on superficial impressions or the borrowed ideas of others, without investing the time and thought that... See more
Maria Popova • 13 Life-Learnings from 13 Years of Brain Pickings
- When people tell you who they are, Maya Angelou famously advised, believe them. Just as important, however, when people try to tell you who you are, don’t believe them. You are the only custodian of your own integrity, and the assumptions made by those that misunderstand who you are and what you stand for reveal a great deal about them and
Maria Popova • 13 Life-Learnings from 13 Years of Brain Pickings
Build pockets of stillness into your life. Meditate. Go for walks. Ride your bike going nowhere in particular. There is a creative purpose to daydreaming, even to boredom. The best ideas come to us when we stop actively trying to coax the muse into manifesting and let the fragments of experience float around our unconscious mind in order to click... See more
Maria Popova • 13 Life-Learnings from 13 Years of Brain Pickings
Presence is far more intricate and rewarding an art than productivity. Ours is a culture that measures our worth as human beings by our efficiency, our earnings, our ability to perform this or that. The cult of productivity has its place, but worshipping at its altar daily robs us of the very capacity for joy and wonder that makes life worth living... See more
Maria Popova • 13 Life-Learnings from 13 Years of Brain Pickings
Allow yourself the uncomfortable luxury of changing your mind.
Maria Popova • 13 Life-Learnings from 13 Years of Brain Pickings
To understand and be understood, those are among life’s greatest gifts, and every interaction is an opportunity to exchange them.
Maria Popova • 13 Life-Learnings from 13 Years of Brain Pickings
Seek out what magnifies your spirit. Patti Smith, in discussing William Blake and her creative influences, talks about writers and artists who magnified her spirit — it’s a beautiful phrase and a beautiful notion.
Maria Popova • 13 Life-Learnings from 13 Years of Brain Pickings
When people tell you who they are, Maya Angelou famously advised, believe them. Just as important, however, when people try to tell you who you are, don’t believe them. You are the only custodian of your own integrity, and the assumptions made by those that misunderstand who you are and what you stand for reveal a great deal about them and... See more