Rob Tourtelot
@rtourtelot
Rob Tourtelot
Some prompts for thinking and writing.
You win $100,000,000 in the lottery. How do you allocate it?
Write out an average day in the life of you in 10 years. What makes it beautiful?
If you had to flee America and start a new life, where would you go and why?
You go back in time to when your great grandparents were your age. How would you explain the
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves…
— “Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver
From Joan Didion, delightfully tart, in response to being asked by an interviewer about using the good silverware every day: “Well, every day is all there is.”
Sarah Thankam Mathews • every day is all there is
We are uncomfortable because everything in our life keeps changing -- our inner moods, our bodies, our work, the people we love, the world we live in. We can't hold on to anything -- a beautiful sunset, a sweet taste, an intimate moment with a lover, our very existence as the body/mind we call self -- because all things come and go. Lacking any... See more
Tara Brach • Radical Compassion: Learning to Love Yourself and Your World with the Practice of R.A.I.N.
Those are the moments when I know that it’s time to tell myself a story so I can understand my behavior and solve the complex problem of my personal history. The solutions often make for great stories and provide us with opportunities to more fully understand ourselves. To make meaning out of who we are from the stories we have lived.
Dan Kennedy • Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life through the Power of Storytelling
But fear-based anxiety that stems from feelings of inadequacy—such as the fear of speaking your mind, fear of being misunderstood, or fear of failure—is all rooted in being disconnected from your True Self. When you feel you are not enough, when you feel that you are not lovable, it means you are identifying with your ego. This is the antithesis of
... See moreKimberly Snyder • You Are More Than You Think You Are
When I practice 'being conscious of being conscious', I don't just watch my experience, I find myself appreciating my experience.
Tim Freke • How Long Is Now?
For many of us, feelings of deficiency are right around the corner. It doesn’t take much--just hearing of someone else’s accomplishments, being criticized, getting into an argument, making a mistake at work--to make us feel that we are not okay. Beginning to understand how our lives have become ensnared in this trance of unworthiness is our first... See more
Tara Brach • Radical Compassion: Learning to Love Yourself and Your World with the Practice of R.A.I.N.
Ask yourself, “What are the questions I’ve always been interested in?” This could include grand, sweeping questions like “How can we make society fairer and more equitable?” as well as practical ones like “How can I make it a habit to exercise every day?” It might include questions about relationships, such as “How can I have closer relationships
... See more