anxiety
closed mode “most of the time when we’re at work. We have inside us a feeling that there’s lots to be done and we have to get on with it if we’re going to get through it all. It’s an active, probably slightly anxious mode, although the anxiety can be exciting and pleasurable . . . It’s a mode in which we’re very purposeful and it’s a mode in which we can get very stressed and even a bit manic.” (Location 2205)
omg i'm in this manic mood at this exact moment.[1] the anxiety of having infinite zettels to create (a mt everest sized pile in my #to-process)[2] but the output of each zetttel being atomic in scope has a satisfying finality. the creativity of some of these zettels is blowing me away like "fondong" 202212192046 or the ying-yang narcolepsy screenplay 202212192225
it's coming along! 202301111303
Fear is the cause of every problem. It’s the root of all prejudices and the negative emotions of anger, jealousy, and possessiveness. If you had no fear, you could be perfectly happy living in this world. Nothing would bother you. You’d be willing to face everything and everyone because you wouldn’t have fear inside of you that could cause you disturbance. (Location 1045)
Ernst Becker philosophized that the fear of death being the root of all fears means the root off all prejudice, anger, etc. is death
A wise person realizes that at any moment they may breathe out, and the breath may not come back in. (Location 2196)
You really don’t need more time before death; what you need is more depth of experience during the time you’re given. (Location 2290)
Never had it been so strangely clear to Siddhartha how closely related passion was to death. (Location 724)
The Focus of a Furnace Without a Chimney
Of all the advice in the world that you do not want to listen to, it is the advice of a disturbed mind. (Location 1317)
Telling myself the worst case scenario can happen non-intuitively allows me to pass the block. It seems that by fully embracing and acknowledging the anxiety, it is allowed to occupy the part of the brain that disposes of closed loops.
But it is just as important to realize that most of what you take in does not get blocked; it makes it right through you. Imagine how many things you see all day. They’re not all stored like that. Of all these impressions, the only ones that get blocked are those that cause either problems or some extraordinary sense of enjoyment. (Location 827)
Consciously remember that this is not what you want to do, and then gently disengage. Do not fight it. Do not ever fight your mind. You will never win. It will either beat you now, or you will suppress it and it will come back and beat you later. Instead of fighting the mind, just don’t participate in it. When you see the mind telling you how to fix the world and everyone in it in order to suit yourself, just don’t listen. (Location 1367)
For example, there are myriad things that you see at any given moment, yet you only narrate a few of them. The ones you discuss in your mind are the ones that matter to you. (Location 211)
Your consciousness is actually experiencing your mental model of reality, not reality itself. (Location 213)
Local experience of reality is actually subjective fixation on one or some amongst the many. This is a very powerful tool, but is a double edged sword when used to cause suffering.
Meaning and reality were not hidden somewhere behind things, they were in them, in all of them. (Location 369)
When our beliefs are hopeful and optimistic, the mind releases chemicals that put the body in a state of physiological rest, controlled primarily by the parasympathetic nervous system, and in this state of rest, the body’s natural self-repair mechanisms are free to get to work fixing what’s broken in the body. (Location 777)
Relaxation (for me) tends to happen when all my focus is external and the internal dialogue is drowned out…
I especially relax when I focus on systems and machines:
A SANE MIND, A SOUND BODY, AND A HEALTHY CHART (Location 1046)
When I asked him how belief can change the cellular environment, Lipton explained that the brain is perception, but the mind is interpretation. It’s all about how the mind interprets a life event. For example, you can open your eyes and see a person. (This is your brain’s objective perception.) Your mind may then recognize this person as someone you love. (This is the mind’s interpretation.) The brain then releases oxytocin, dopamine, endorphins, and other positive chemicals that provide the healthy cell medium of the whole body’s cells via the blood. (Location 768)
A good skill to learn: how to use one of the other when the mind or brain is misbehaving.
Consider which is weaker, more susceptible to a conscious attack to wrest control from anxiety or repetitive thoughts 202301092317.
With the brain being a physical object, the feeling of painlessness can be a good reminder to the mind that the interpretation is off.
With the mind being an abstract object, anxiety can be reinterpreted as excitement, pain can even be managed by master meditators.
For now, remind yourself of the sensations you felt in the Stressful Moment and Simple Pleasure explorations. Experiment with substituting pleasurable sensations for stressful ones in common situations. This does not mean that you can turn disastrous circumstances into fun times but simply that you refuse to allow impatience or irritation to compress, immobilize, or numb your body. (Location 874)
"u look tired" dawg im literally going insane (View Tweet)
I'm not in psychosis, now LAUGH WITH ME
Psychotic behavior occurs when the mind is so frightened and the wounds so painful, that it seems better to break contact with the outside world. (Location 913)
It is very interesting how the human mind works. We have the need to justify everything, to explain and understand everything, in order to feel safe. We have millions of questions that need answers because there are so many things that the reasoning mind cannot explain. It is not important if the answer is correct; just the answer itself makes us feel safe. This is why we make assumptions. (Location 565)
when people experience uncertainty and lack of control, they are more likely to see patterns or regularities where there are none. (View Highlight)
one consequence of this cognitive architecture is that when our predictive potential is limited—that is, when there is high uncertainty—we experience anxiety (View Highlight)
Why do people always make fun of coping like what are folks supposed to do? NOT cope? (View Tweet)
Consistent worrying chip away at the minds defenses, and eventually seem less like suggestions and more like causal outcomes. This causes the person to defensively react and create mechanisms to build a "fence" around the negative thoughts, causing release in rituals.
This is why we cope! 202301090011