Meditations for Mortals

One more paradoxical truth about control: often, the way to have the best ideas, and to produce the best work, is to develop an ability to forget entirely about trying to control the quality of your output.

On a societal level, the quest for control often directly undermines our capacity to do meaningful work.

‘Getting stuff done by not being mean to yourself’.

life is an unending series of complications, so it doesn’t make any sense to be surprised by the arrival of the next one. The magnitude of the problem might surprise you, but the fact that new complications in your life are arising hour by hour is absolutely to be expected.

Stephen Lloyd Webber’s book Deep Freewriting: How to Masterfully Navigate the Creative Flow conveys a good feel for the profound psychological benefits of the practice. One day, I’ll try the twenty-four-hour freewriting marathon he recommends.

Zen and time management come together in Paul Loomans’s Time Surfing: The Zen Approach to Keeping Time on Your Side,

That said, titles on the topic that have genuinely helped trigger action in my own life include Steve Chandler’s Time Warrior and Gregg Krech’s The Art of Taking Action: Lessons from Japanese Psychology.

Besides, it’s always the same list: nurture your relationships, pursue challenging goals, spend time in nature, and make room for fun. You knew that already. If following a list was all it took, we’d have solved the challenge of human happiness long ago.

The less I’m trying to get something out of an experience, the more I find I can get into it, and the more I can be present for other people involved in it. This is not to say that life becomes a matter of unbroken good cheer; after all, it’s sad that a beautiful moment arises then vanishes. But it’s the flavour of sadness conveyed by the Japanese