just be yourself & do your own thing

i’ve realized that basically everything i talk about comes back to this core idea of making who you naturally are more full and expressed in your life by seeing yourself more clearly! this can manifest as confronting your shadow, paying attention to your natural gifts, leaning in

one of the most liberating things was realizing that I'm allowed to relate to the world in any way I want my reasons and my approach don't need to make (cultural) sense or be explicit to be effective I can set my own goals and standards for success

turns out if you let yourself want what you want*, everything is amazing (* instead of supposed-tos, shoulds, “if I were a good person, I’d…”s, rules, everybody else’s opinion, what’s ‘sane’, what’s ‘reasonable’, what you have worked out intellectually, etc.)

"just do your thing" is a non-self-consciousness-inducing way to express the wisdom that "just be yourself" tries and fails at, and the reason is obvious if you look at the words.

i think the cornerstone belief amongst all of these is: hey, you are unique - and you are inspired by and drawn to things that seem so obviously attractive and inspiring to you that you think everyone is interested in them. but they’re not. and this is okay—you are drawn to them

According to Mark, nobody can tell you how you should meditate, fully. The way your mind is fucked up will be radically specific. You will thus have to throw out the rules and make your own at some point. Following instructions too rigidly will lead to useless mental play-acting.

Kierkegaard: “The most common form of despair is not being who you are.”