What if you could live in a blissful state of awe, free from the misery of anxiety & depression? Let’s adopt an Open Mindset, relax our urge to control, & allow our Creativity to create happiness NOW.
In my STUDY, SAVOR, & SUPPORT Each Other CHAT☕️🍵, we’re doing a deep-dive into our Book Club selection! This week is Chapter 11 of BEYOND ANXIETY: Curiosity, Creativity, and Finding Your Life’s Purpose by Martha Beck.
In Chapter 11: Don’t Know Mind, MB invites us to continue opening our mind to the magic of possibility. When we let go of our certainties — in the rigid beliefs that are mostly based on the Role Rulebook that Society’s indoctrinated us to believe — we open to a more expansive view of ourselves and the Universe in which we live.
She begins by telling us that, due to the process of cell regeneration, every part of our body’s only ever 7 years old.
Yet, we feel this strong pull to remain the same when our body’s are literally not. It reminds us that our physiology’s open to becoming something new, and invites our minds to do the same.
That’s the Door to Freedom.
Doesn’t it feel freeing, to realize there’s no real requirement to maintain a rigidly consistent identity with our past?
If we want to, we can change who we are by choosing who we wish to become. We only have to adopt an Open Mindset to allow ourselves to explore new ways of thinking.
Reflect on that.
Really think about it.
If you’re anything like me, just imagining the possibility for purposeful reinvention allows me to see it, that Door to Freedom that’s slowly opening.
Can you see it, too?
It’s ajar, urging you to meditate on this wondrous possibility, to ask yourself…
What if we could live in a blissful state of awe, free from the pain of anxiety & depression that makes us miserable?
As MB’s drilled permanently into our heads by now, the SOLUTION — the way we can walk through the Door — to bask in the joy of a Creative, Purpose-Driven Life of our choosing is NOT found in the Roles Rulebook that Society’s indoctrinated us to follow.
And, no matter how hard Society tries to get us to apply its rules so rigidly, a deeper, wiser part inside of us whispers — and, if we’re lucky, eventually YELLS —
The TRUTH: Society’s Rulebook Doesn’t Have All the Answers — not always — and certainly not always when it applies to the special & unique YOU.
How can we BREAK FREE from the vice of Society’s grip on us?
It starts in our mind. Our thoughts. And our ever-present ability to think critically.
When we do, we can realize…
The REALITY: No one can claim absolute certainty.
Even among scientists, the debate between Materialism and Quantum Physics rages on:
Does consciousness stem from matter? Or, is consciousness foundational, and we merely tune into it, like a radio dialing into different frequencies?
Does Creativity arise from us, and us alone? Or, can we partner with the Universe in a dance of Co-Creation, as many successful writers & artists say they believe?
No one knows the definitive answer. And that’s ok.
It’s hopeful, even.
Because we can be Creative Cosmonauts.
We can be Creative Cosmonauts when we’re brave enough to open to the brilliance of our always-evolving, infinitely-creative neuroplasticity.
We can break free of the societal ties that bind us.
Who knows where we can go when we count down & blast off!
Let’s explore the Freedom that can be found when our tank’s fueled by an Open & Creative “Don’t Know Mind”:
Take a Mindful Minute to Meditate on the following ways in which MB invites us to expand our understanding of ourselves, based on how we think the Universe works.
But first, a NOTE:
There are MANY examples that MB provides in this Chapter. The ones I’ve included below are just a few.
If you’ve been following along every week, but you have not gotten the book, I highly recommend that you buy it for the examples she describes in Chapter 11.
Why? Well, whenever I read & take the extra time to do a deep-dive to study any book, there’s always a point where I get super excited reading it, like, “YES! THIS part made buying the book 💯% worth it!”
Because it’s blown my mind. It’s broadened my perspective to the point that I’m thankful. I literally thank the Universe for bringing the book to me at this precise time.
I felt this ecstatic thankfulness many times as I read this BEYOND ANXIETY book — and I’ve read all but 1 of MB’s books!
And, I have to say, Chapter 11 really helped me to not only see, but FEEL, my mind opening to a newfound sense of awe, possibility, and wonder.
So, if you’re on the fence about actually buying the book, don’t be! There are so many examples in this Chapter that will broaden your mind, and allow you to experience the FEELING of Freedom — not because YOU KNOW, but precisely because YOU DO NOT KNOW.
I think that’s so rare these days. Usually, we’re rewarded when we have all the answers. When we follow Society’s Rulebook. When we meet external metrics that Society — and, let’s face it, our peers, colleagues, friends, and families — use to measure our “success.”
This is different.
It’s allowing yourself to NOT-Know, on purpose.
And feeling a strange giddiness because you DON’T know.
At least it did for me.
⭐️ I’d love to hear if it did for you, too.
⭐️ Did you feel a growing sense of wonder & awe? Like a child, learning something new, opening to the beauty of limitless possibility?
On to the few examples I’m sampling:
⭐️ As you meditate on each, close your eyes, witness your reaction, and describe the following, in your journaling:
- Do you feel the urge to reject the statement?
- What happens if you open to the possibility that it’s true?
- Which feels better in your body: the urge to reject? Or, the willingness to soften to the possibilities inherent in a more Open Mindset?
SAMPLE #1 to Embrace NOT-Knowing:
When Harvard’s Daniel Goldman and Richard Davidson used MRI machines to peer into the heads of…Tibetan monks [who had spent thousands of hours meditating as part of their spiritual practice], they saw brains that looked much younger, and much more wired for happiness, than the brains of most other people. The effect was strong in monks who’d spent more time meditating, which means the men weren’t just born with happy brains; they had transformed their own neurology through spiritual practice. These practices were not about learning dogmatic beliefs but about letting go of the dogmatic need for certainty.
⭐️ This #1 may not shock your modern day sensibilities. But what about these awesome truths that are the exact definition of “awesome” because they’re truly awe-inspiring:
SAMPLE #2 to Embrace NOT-Knowing:
Esref Armagan is a Turkish artist. He was born with one eye, which is the size of a lentil and totally nonfunctional. His other eye is completely absent. Armagan has literally never seen anything. Yet he paints recognizable portraits and realistic landscapes that feature birds in the air and linear perspective. Armagan has been studied by researchers from multiple universities, including Harvard. They verified that no one is assisting him in any way as he paints these realistic images.
🫢😍🥳This one blows my mind. I had never heard it, anywhere.
Combined with another example she gives about twins whose lives were insanely identical — despite their living apart for 39 years — are the mind-bending, eye-opening examples that are so astonishing and evoke such a sense of mystery in me…
I’ve never been so happy to not-know. 🤣
I’m inspired to be a Creative Cosmonaut,
aren’t you?
Are YOU as ready as I am, to BREAK FREE &
• Adopt an Open Mind?
• Allow your thoughts to drift away from Certainty & Control, so you can…
• Feel a sense of awe, inspiration, & wonder?
• Welcome opportunities to be surprised?
• Explore the Path NOT Taken, no matter how winding your journey might be, only to discover it leads to a Creative, Purpose-Driven Life beyond what you might expect?
• Where you’re astronomically successful — not only wealthy in money, but more importantly, wealthy in creative practice & spirit?
• And you’re FREE to be the boss of your own destiny?
👭 Do you want to enlist the help of a Fellow Creative, to help you BREAK FREE?
Our CHAT can be a safe place to tell safe people what you’d like to accomplish, so we can all support & cheer you on.
👭 If you’re comfortable doing so, feel free to tell us what Creative Practice you would like to try whenever one of your Anxiety Spirals starts to spin.
Let’s TRUST in our ability to feel wonder, joy, and hope when we do NOT know and go exploring instead.
Together, we can support each other on our healing journeys, to be the Creatives we are meant to be.
Together, we can BREAK FREE.
The Creative Cosmonaut in me honors & respects the Creative Cosmonaut in each of you.
Marisa
⭐️ Remember, we don’t have to figure everything out, all alone. ⭐️
We can find solutions, together! Please join us in my
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