I used to be bearish on platforms like Tinder. But since my ex dumped my single ass, my sentiment’s more mixed.

Tinder’s many things. On one hand, it’s objectification manifest — an online sushi belt with some dishes in high demand and others left to spoil.

But on the other, it’s a welcome digital space where you can meet people — even the love of your life — whom you’d never otherwise meet. During the Covid-19 era, especially, such digital spaces are more than welcome; they’re necessary.

But, as with other social media platforms, the prospect of an addiction to…

Awareness is clear, calm, and open. And it’s with you, accessible, right now. It underlies your mind and underpins the tone of your world. If you can awaken to it, you’ll find relief from suffering, overthinking, and anxiety.

There are methods that help you shift from the small, darting, thinking mind to wide-open awareness. And while stabilizing that awareness can take time, making the shift doesn’t. It’s about asking the right questions.

Loch Kelly, in Shift Into Freedom, provides such questions. In his book, he provides a series of “glimpses”: practical exercises to raise your awareness. …

Many rank a psychedelic trip as one of their most significant experiences of all time. My own trips were no exception — islands of powerful meaning in the ocean of routine life. There’s a reason for it.

Imagine you lived in a small town your whole life. You knew nothing beyond it. You knew the same people, did the same things, and followed the same patterns, every day.

Now, imagine strapping to a rocket and circling the entire world in 80 minutes. Consider the explosion of consciousness this would produce, as you came to grips with:

• how narrow your world…

Open awareness is a beautiful thing. It’ll relieve your heartbreak. It’ll clarify your thinking. It’ll make you a more authentic and loving person. It’ll make you honest. It’ll bring you peace.

But how to actually do it? Not from the outside, but from the inside?

Okay, so you’ve sat down to meditate. You’ve closed your eyes or left them open. You take a few deep breaths to relax. Now what?

If you’re following a guided meditation, you’re probably instructed to “become aware of what you notice”. You’re told to ‘let go’ of all efforts.

But what does this mean? You’re…

In suffering is the opportunity for inner achievement. In guilt is the potential for self-improvement. And in death is the meaning of life.

In the finale of Man’s Search For Meaning, Victor Frankl makes the case for a ‘Tragic Optimism’: one which finds a home even in the neighborhood of great tragedy.

His account is compelling. So much so, I thought it’d be valuable to share it here, with an audience invested in living a profound life, from a clear mind, while facing reality for exactly what it is.

By Frankl’s account, each of the greatest tragedies of life —…

Pursue meaning, cleanse your mind.

We all live between the four walls of our minds. It’s where Victor Frankl lived for 3 years as his body moved through four concentration camps during World War 2.

I’m reading Frankl’s Man’s Search For Meaning at the moment. It speaks to the resilience a human being can have under even extreme conditions. Because external conditions don’t determine a person’s resilience. Something inside does.

The difference between those who survived and those who perished in concentration camps was found in prisoners’ states of mind. Indeed, as goes Frankl’s favorite quote:

“He who has a…

Mindfulness can’t cure heartbreak. That, you do the old-fashioned way: by prioritizing self-care, adopting new habits, and cutting contact with she who once had your heart.

But, when you’re dumped and it feels like someone died, will mindfulness help? When you’re tumbled in wave upon wave of sadness, will awareness bring calm?

It’s been two days now since my girlfriend broke up with me. I’ve tumbled. I’ve felt a loss beyond anything I thought possible. And yet, I think the answer to these questions is yes. Mindfulness helps. Here’s how.

Pain and Awareness

I sat on the driveway of my apartment block, in…

I’m just gonna say it: pie-eating contests are disgusting.

Maybe I missed something, but the idea of sticking my face in a pie to out-gorge the competition just doesn’t appeal.

There must be something to it, though. Wikipedia says there’s been a World Pie Eating Championships in England since 1992. And hilariously,

“in December 2007, in the competition, entries included a competitor’s dog, Charlie, who ate twenty pies and damaged a further ten the night before the competition, nearly jeopardizing the event.”)

Now, what’s the reward system in a pie-eating contest? What’s the incentive structure? There are two overriding principles:

1. …