Category: Fresh Perspective

Life & Lifestyle

Posted on by Marko

Our lifestyle determines the quality and potential of our life. What you eat is what makes you, and what makes you is how you feel and perceive the world around you. A healthy lifestyle generates benefits beyond good blood test results – it motivates us, fortifying our ability to embrace life deeper, broader, longer.

Drink soda, and our energy levels become erratic, almost bipolar – a quick, anxious high followed by a depressive crash. Eat a fatty burger, and we feel comatose. Imagine what consuming these malnourishing foods long-term does to your body – and personality. The quality of energy that fuels us is what drives (or stalls) us in life.

We feel high on life when we feel motivated and purposeful. Instead of looking for motivation per se outside yourself, look for ways of producing higher quality energy within. That energy is the fuel that animates you and the appearance of the world that surrounds you. The cleaner the energy, the more you can be present, attentive, and in touch with what you are and want in life. Eating nutrient-rich, unprocessed foods, and staying physically active are essential ingredients to life. They are fundamental precursors to your physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing.

Respecting yourself starts with respecting your body, your vessel in this physical existence. I disagree with philosophies of mind over body or spirit over body – those statements may sound grandiose and bold, but are ultimately short-lived because your mind and spirit cannot exist in this dimension without its physical counterpart. And a healthy physical counterpart at that. I prefer the approach of mind/spirit with body. A partnership of equal weight.

To me, staying fit is fundamental. I don’t obsess over it nor do I see it as work. It is a lifestyle choice, one which furthers my potential and ability to do more in life. To hike farther, to make love longer, to lend a helping hand more often, to be confident in who I am and what I can do. In short, to do and try.

Like many people, I’ve often asked myself what makes a good life. The best answer I can come up with at this moment is that a life well lived is a life well journeyed.

Potting Invasive Thoughts

Posted on by Marko

There are thoughts that possess us and reduce our complexity to a compulsion. These invasive thoughts sprout from self-doubting seeds, breeding insecurity and conformation. When left unrecognized, they take root in the ground of our being. Their growth is exponential and parasitic, preying on our sense of self while giving little outside suffering in return. They possess us to the degree of losing control over our behaviour, priorities, and values. They alter our reality, our sense of normal.

Yet these invasive species of our mind should not be ignored, suppressed, or ripped out – just potted. Don’t let them take root in your garden, your ground of self, but give them space to make themselves known, contained in a mental pot. When understood, these dark seeds are wells of deeper information that our self-preservation often buries. They contain records of our interaction with world and life. Be aware of your feelings and seek out their origin. Embrace them without becoming them. By identifying the roots that vie for control over us, we control them. They become an adviser, not an adversary.

Our Wallets Carry Our Values

Posted on by Marko

Our values, those things that define us, materialize and extend through our acts. But that is not always the case when we engage in commerce. When we buy something, we create demand for that thing. Instead of making it ourselves, we pay someone else (usually someones) to make it for us. The problem is not in the exchange (for example, dollars for a shirt), it is in the psychology of a transaction. Transactions, at face value, don’t carry value beyond material – it is the exchange of one commodity for another. Our values are not carried along the line of exchange. And it shows en masse. Many of us feel that when we buy something, the burden of moral responsibility suddenly falls on the seller to do what we deem “right”. And if they don’t, if their manner of sourcing our shirt involves employing teenage girls forced to do manual labour at 25 cents an hour, well then it’s on them, not us. By transacting with someone, we outsource our moral obligations. We separate ourselves from social responsibility, and rarely accept it if things go awry.

We are all aware that slavery is still a thing, that suffering and exploitation are the essential processes in sourcing and making cheap products. Cheap for us, expensive for many other parties. Intuitively, we know that a shirt cannot cost $10 if it’s made of cotton, shipped from half a world away, and makes profit for multiple suppliers along its chain of production. And yet, the price tag says $10. So what’s the trade-off? When we think about what something is worth in dollar terms, we often subconsciously price in our personal values. Profit-first companies, on the other hand, don’t think or have the same values as us. Their guiding principle is the profit margin. By shedding other perceived costs, which include many of what we would call moral considerations, they stamp an MSRP of $10. The product may look and work like something we wanted, but it’s devoid of our values. Its utility is there, but our connection to the product is lost. The mounting number of products in the disposable or “fast x” category is a testament to that.

The cheapness of these anonymously sourced or morally washed products hides a personal cost too high to bury. When we talk out in public, or think to ourselves, we all balk at the idea or proposition of human exploitation, animal torture, and environmental destruction. And yet, we almost assuredly support – worse, fund – these same practices through our acts of commerce. Buying without thinking (beyond our personal needs) is the ignorance that breeds inequality in our current, profit-first flavour of capitalism.

Ultimately, voting (or protesting) with our wallet on which corporate practices and which companies deserve our capital (economic power), is an actionable form of expressing our values, and of social justice – especially when we do it collectively. Whom or what do we want to empower? Capital accumulation shapes our capitalist world, and the form our society takes. It defines what is normal.

Yes, the corporate world and its supply chains are a labyrinth, and many companies resort to green and social washing in their marketing practices. It’s a manifestation of greed. But commerce, like everything else, is not binary, and a cleaner choice is better than making no choice at all. You wouldn’t want a stranger representing you, a manufacturer is no different. Look them up on the Internet – there are many websites that publish social responsibility reports on most larger companies. Or talk directly to the manufacturer and intuit their responses to your questions. Do their values align with yours? If so, the product will be an embodiment and extension of your beliefs.

Also, think about why and what you are buying. Is it something you truly need, or could it be a craving born out of insecurity or a mere distraction for a dull or unhappy life? Can you get a previously used version of the product? Yes, doing all this takes effort, but it is energy purposefully spent, for it actionably communicates your values (who you are) to the world. It is a form of self-respect, and a rejection of commercial herding that greed often precipitates on us. Choose what makes you, not what tempts you.

Art Class

Posted on by Marko

Art is a medium of self expression. When you commercialize it, you poor the society of its spirit, of its potentially transformative nature, of its gift. When art becomes an investment/asset, fewer people can afford it and gain access to it. And those that do, consume it for the status, not the original creative expression, commentary, or intent.

Free-flowing art pollinates the world with ideas and ideals, perspectives and potentials. It evolves and ushers equitable progress, for most art is born from present struggles, personal and societal. Art, when received as a gift, liberates; art, when commoditized and accumulated; splinters and separates. In other words, art can be steered toward its quality or quantity, and when you focus on its quantity, when you commercialize it, you become a vehicle of classism, of divisions, of have and have nots.

Present Tension

Posted on by Marko

Living in the present starts with the fundamental belief that you can change now. Now exists, the future does not, the past has passed. The first is real, the other two are either fantasy or history. The first anchors you to life, the other two remove you from it.

Since our language describes our relationship to the world, we can start embracing the present there. Instead of having three strictly defined temporal tenses, let’s reduce them to two: Present Expressed and Present Expressing. Both are real-time, both describe life as it naturally flows, but neither pins you to a point in history or anticipation of future events. Imagine that both tenses describe a natural evolution of the universe, in which you participate in your own authentic, natural manner. If you need labels, you can call it grace, destiny, fate or whatever else points you toward that process. As the universe unfolds, so does time – time measured not through minutes or seconds, but through changes in and around us. Those changes that have taken place are part of Present Expressed, a tense describing the form and course that the universe has naturally taken. The Present Expressing represents the continual evolution of the universe and our participation in it. We are all variables within this tense, and we all matter, so long as we embrace our authenticity. Through or without it, we steer the evolution of the universe to some infinitesimal degree.

The right behaviour is authentic behavior, and this behaviour expresses itself through our continual decisions. Don’t ask yourself if this is the right thing to do – ask yourself if this is the authentic thing to do. Are you acting from within or out of fear or imposed duty? The form that our lives, and by extension the universe (sum total of every life and everything), assume after an authentically expressed decision, will be natural and right, because it comes from a natural place. Think of yourself as an element, like oxygen or helium. Each element behaves in its own, unique way because of its nature, and yet together they hold the universe together and are part of its continual evolution.

Idolatry of Seriousness

Posted on by Marko

Nothing matters, and everything matters. Taking things too seriously is another form of idolatry – it narrows your life down to their scope, which gives them control over you. This can be anything from a person to an activity to an objective or an object. Having these idols of seriousness strips your life and personality of spark, and stimulates fervent craving, frustration and impatience. The infinite totality of your surroundings and inner potential is reduced to a few markers you worship as being absolute truths or boundaries. You live to feel safe, not to enjoy life. Ironically, too much seriousness produces fear, dependence, and emotional volatility. It spans the same spectrum as dogmatic religion – you are easily offended, and in return, are liberal with your offenses to defend those things you deem too serious, too holy, even if you don’t label them as such.

What liberates and enlightens is this moment, any moment, as long as you are present within it. It is everything because it is real, it is your life at present. This synchronicity of reality and awareness matters, because it aligns you with life as it unfolds. When you are aligned, you make more informed decisions, because they come from within (moment’s grace), not without (idols of seriousness). One way to cultivate the moment is to balance thinking with feeling, and then sprinkle it with playfulness. Overthinking produces projections, and with them, expectations and disappointments. It also encourages rigid, scripted behaviour, which gives few rewards in life beyond ticking check-boxes of acceptable behaviour and feeling safe. Life demands spark to keep on evolving: the unexpected, the spontaneous, the playful. These are the catalysts that motivate and move us forward – they express our inner potential, and help us evolve.

Ultimately, most situations we deem serious are reminders that we are trapped, that we have gripped certain elements in our life too tightly, and can’t let go. We can feel this intuitively and directly. It is a feeling of anxiety, as if something is gnawing at our heart, trying to reduce or contain it. This awareness alone is enough to loosen the grip, because you can pinpoint its source. To disarm it, try doing something unexpected, or adding some humour to the situation. The effect may not be instant, but it’ll give you the space to move forward.

Genuine Disobedience

Posted on by Marko

You cannot make a connection with those who seek validation, followers, or spotlight. There is no space for the whole of you, just your obedience. You are their ego fodder or accessory, not a person, not a friend. If you care about those people, the best thing you can do is challenge them. Or at least stand up for your beliefs and opinions, no matter how hard they try to steamroll over them. If they persist, walk away. Relationships are built on agreements and differences, glue and fertilizer. Both should be respected and explored – they are the premise and promise of a human connection.

Strength

Posted on by Marko

Strength is expressing your feelings, not burying them.
Strength is acknowledging hurt, not deflecting or hurting back.
Strength is empathy, not possession.
Strength is gentleness, not aggression.
Strength is encouragement, not intimidation.
Strength is sharing privilege, not accumulating it.
Strength is authenticity, not validation.
Strength is vulnerability, not status.
Strength comes from your heart, not your muscle.

Tasting Passion

Posted on by Marko

Passion comes in two primary flavours:

  1. ambition, the self-serving kind that spawns cravings, expectations, and isolation
  2. compassion, the selfless kind that builds connection and brings happiness.

Like most things, it has two poles, and a wide spectrum in-between. Both poles pull you and provide motivation, but build different outcomes.

Lens of Reality

Posted on by Marko

Belief is the most powerful force in our lives, because it shapes our reality. It influences how we see the world, others, ourselves. We give our independance and authority to someone else because we believe they know better. We let religions, corporations, and governments indocternate us with their interests because we believe they mean to do well for us. Belief is so profoundly immersive that we rarely register when these “well-intended” iterests become crusades, exploitation, and nationalism. The abnormal become the norm because we let them, because we believe in the potential of an authority’s planted seed. And when it sprouts, it entangles us, intoxicates us, and assimilates us. A new, poorer reality, one painted by dependence and insecurity, is born, and we live it. We become trapped in it.

Guard your beliefs and you will preserve authority over your own life. Make symbiotic connections with others but don’t let their labels, titles, or charisma influence who you become. Authenticity empowers us, and societies, by bringing an individual out of a number. By embracing uniqueness over conformation, we embrace inventiveness, empathy, and stronger bonds between each other and the planet.

Shift your beliefs and you will shift your reality. Shift your beliefs and you will lift your self-imposed limitations.