It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.
I spent last week in the desert near Joshua Tree National Park. It’s one of my favorite places in the world, so I highly recommend it if you’ve never been. But this isn’t a travel blog, so on with it.
The homeowner built a bird feeder about 100 feet from the front doorstep and every morning a parade of quails would scamper across the desert, hop up, and breakfast.
I enjoyed the spectacle, so I’d refill the feeder every few days.
On the first day, I walked to the feeder with seed in hand, and the birds instinctively scattered to the wind. I know that it is a predictable reaction for a bird to seek refuge from an incoming human, but it struck me that there might be a lesson in their behavior.
Their fear-based reaction wasted valuable time and energy although it turned out that the stimulus (my feeding them) was actually an auspicious force in their lives.
Upon observing the quail’s predictable and rational yet simultaneously unnecessary and wasteful reaction, I realized how similar we are.
I fear so much that ultimately ends up nurturing me:
Failure
Loss
Rejection
Criticism
Sitting alone at night in the darkness of the vast desert, I learned that I’m literally afraid of my own shadow - and what a waste that is.
How many times in life do we react in fear to something that turns out to be positive? We waste precious energy fantasizing about horrific outcomes; energy that could be used in more productive activities.
Our fear is instinctive, it’s reactive, and it’s primal. It serves a purpose at times, but often it is unwise.
Ultimately, we can retrain our fear-response through reflection. We might ask ourselves, “When have I felt this fear before but things turned out OK?” In this way, we can familiarize ourselves with the feeling and learn when it is unnecessary. We might even invite more frightening situations into our lives to flex this muscle.
I am sure that had I stayed for a few more weeks, feeding the birds daily, that in time they would have overcome the fear and welcomed my presence.
So, if you’re feeling afraid this week, I invite you to ask whether it is appropriate or just getting in the way of something more beautiful coming your way.
This Week’s Podcast:
Archetypal Wisdom for the Modern Media Age with Will Cady, Head of Creative Strategy @ Reddit
“In my experience, the more space that I leave for synchronicities, the more profound the ideas that I can work with become. It’s almost like working with a cloud computer rather than a local hard drive.”
This was one of my favorite conversations ever on Look Up! I reached out to Will originally to discuss a unique subreddit called r/Randonautica - a sort of serendipity machine.
Our convo spans a wide range of subjects from the integration of the metaphysical into our work lives to mental health / depression. We also discuss how Will’s experience with Zen Buddhism enhanced his capacity as a bridge-builder and the challenges of algorithm-driven behaviors.
What I’m Reading
Ideas
The Nonconformist (on Thomas Sowell) by Coleman Hughes
Election 2020
Giant Election Fraud Debunking Thread
Understanding Political Subversion Tactics
Markets
Manias and Mimesis: Applying Rene Girard’s Mimetic Theory to Financial Bubbles, Tobias Huber & Byrne Hobart
Another Bitcoin Domino, Stan Druckenmiller Joins the Bulls
Crypto
A non-exhaustive list of exciting DeFi products, Qiao Wang
Ultimate Guide to Balancer Smart Pools, Bankless
A Thread on Empty Set Dollar, Scott Lewis
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