Sleepwalking No More
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Hello friends, While out running errands the other day, I paused to snap a photo of a sticker on a concrete barrier. The sticker read, in bold print, Realize You’re Alive. It seems like a simple injunction, doesn’t it? Too obvious to say out loud. Of course we realize we’re alive! We’re breathing, aren’t we? We’re thinking. Moving through the world… But do we actually pause long enough to feel this? This thing called us, on this planet, rotating in space, living. How often are we sleepwalking through life, rather than actively living? Is our morning routine rote, or intentional? Do we notice our surroundings as we walk or drive or take the bus to work? How much consciousness is sunken into our internal complaints? Do we pause to notice and breathe? To make a choice about what comes next? We all make choices, every moment of the day, but all too often, they are choices made by default. It’s a powerful thing to consciously choose. If life has become too filled with routine, the start of a new year—no matter how arbitrary a marker—is a great time to make small changes. We can re-set our intentions and strategize on how to follow through. We can commit to a series of small daily choices. What kind of year would you like to have? What facets of that are in your control? What are three small shifts in attitude or habit you can make to bring about what you want, need, or desire? May we all cultivate lives filled with presence and choice. Best wishes - Thorn I'll be launching a revised, expanded edition of Resistance Matters on Kickstarter, January 21st. To be notified upon launch, please click the link!
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T. Thorn Coyle
Hello friends, This has felt like a hard week, globally. Even as I watch events unfold from our comfortable home, I feel the psychic and emotional pressure. People are in danger, including in my home communities. Despite my relative privilege, I’m in danger, too. I wanted to name this pressure, in case you also feel it. But, here’s the thing, unless we need to actively get loved ones to safety right now, we need to choose to feel these emotions, and then regulate ourselves as best we can....
Hello friends, There’s a question we likely hear all the time: “How are you?” Or “How you doing?” Or “You good?” Sometimes the question has meaning, but other times is just a series of polite noises, asked in public by someone we barely know. The intention behind the question depends on the tone in which it is spoken. Sometimes the question needs the conjugation of the verb “to be.” Other times, the verb gets dropped altogether, in a more casual rush. And here we are, back to tone, because...
Hello friends, The world is often filled with noise. What helps you listen? It took me many years to learn to listen deeply, instead of trying to anticipate. Trying to anticipate was my child-self’s way of keeping safe. Not that it always helped. Not when violent outbursts were random. But I tried anyway, baking that pattern into my body and mind. Eventually, I realized I wasn’t giving others a chance to really express themselves. I didn’t give myself a chance to express myself on a deeper...