emotional flourishing

“When an archer shoots for enjoyment, he has all his skill; when he shoots for a brass buckle, he gets nervous; when he shoots for a prize of gold, he begins to see two targets.”

— Zhuangzi

“The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.”

— Søren Kierkegaard

emotions contain both wisdom and delusion, and by experiencing them without clinging on, we can integrate their wisdom and let go of the delusion.

If you have a closed-off heart, and find it difficult to open yourself emotionally to other people and experiences, maybe stop running headfirst at trying to connect, and instead just take a cooking class, get way way way too into Jiu Jitsu or slavic poetry.

One antidote is to allow yourself to imagine what it might feel like to know you'd never fully get on top of your work, never become a really disciplined exerciser or healthy eater, never resolve the personal issue you feel defines your life's troubles. What if I'll always feel behind with my email? What if listening attentively to other people wil

... See more