Commonplace Book Conversations: Self-Reliance, Oneness, Freedom of Mind
I’ve been reading Emerson lately as part of a Life Experiment on cultivating my writing voice and heeding my own perceptual authority while remaining curious and open. I often begin writing projects by bristling and braying at the nuance I feel is missing. Through my...
Literature Dips: Reflective Reading for Self-Discovery
I have no set time or place for choosing to do a dip; it happens in those in-between spaces, between ideas, projects, phases of the day, when I feel most malleable and unfocused. I imagine myself as Sissy Hankshaw from Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, on a dusty road with...
Conversations with Books: Syntopical Reading for Advanced Readers
With infinite questions about everything in existence, including oneself, desiring the truth about things often presents as a voracious hunger. The ability to see meaning as a transmutable, flowing, contrived, and configured thing can lead a person to submerge...
Life is My Personal Curriculum
Frigid, skeletal fingers grasp my ankles one bony phalange at a time. I startle, but it’s only the autumn breeze reminding me Halloween will soon be here. Sitting at my desk, I realize I’ve forgotten my cozy socks by the bedside, but the cold, ironically, makes me...
Capturing Life’s Symphony: A Peek Into My Personal Knowledge System
While I deeply appreciate that many peers find relief in the support AI offers, no part of this post was created by AI. I’ve experimented in small ways, weighed the costs, and decided there’s no other choice (for me, at this time) but to commit to preserving the...
How Mindfulness Fueled My Early Adventures in Presence
From Newsletters Past: Where My Mindfulness Journey Began This message was originally shared with subscribers of my "mindful productivity and thinking tools" newsletter (EllaBirt.com 2014-2020). It offers a glimpse into my transformative journey traveling in a...
Synchronicity, Symbolism, and Ships: My Path to Self-Discovery
I didn’t know when I was laying on the green, orange, and brown shag carpet in my foster home that the painting of ships I loved pondering would shape my life in such a meaningful way. It was to become a powerful reoccurrence of synchronicity. Several ships in a...
3 Experiments in Cultivating Presence Over Perfection
In the home I grew up in the phrase, "If you're so smart, then why did you make a mistake," was more common than "I love you." I tried to stay perfectly clean when sent to school in all white. My grades never fell below A plus. Pleasing people was my full-time job,...
Life Experiments with the Semi-Scientific Method: Antidote to Perfectionism
Remember when we learned about the scientific method in science class? How about we use that same systematic approach to tackle creative chaos and finally finish a few of those exciting projects with life experiments? Conducting Life Experiments with...
Anxiety About World Events: Transform Fear Through Creative Activism (free lesson plans)
Anxiety about world events can feel crushing. I've found one antidote to this helpless feeling is taking action in whatever way best fits your current abilities and emotional bandwidth. This week's This Changes Everything post (a regular blog series where I analyze my...
Brain Rot: How Digital Addiction Impacts Gifted Minds and Creativity
New Blog Series: This Changes Everything Welcome to a new blog series. Our first topics are "brain rot" and awe. As I learn new things, my ideas and opinions expand. This blog series summarizes a small sample of the tabs I collect in my Internet browser each week...