Essays
ACT For the Public: Needless Suffering or Going to 11
TL;DR: What if this glorious product of the human brain, the ability to communicate via symbols, is a double edged sword? What if language is a wonderful servant and a horrible master? Is there anything that language is not good for? Are there places where language gets in the way of fully engaging with the present moment, choosing effective action, and living the life we want?
ACT For the Public: Is Happiness Our Normal, Natural State?
TL;DR: The assumption of health normality suggests that normal = happy = healthy and thus, distressing internal experiences like emotions or thought we don’t want, or physical sensations that are uncomfortable, are only problems to be solved. But what is normal? If I check my own experience, normal seems to be a flowing, ever-changing river of experiences. My mentor says, “We treat emotions like math problems…but what if they are actually sunsets?”
When I Fell In Love with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
TL;DR summary: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy teaches the skills of openness, presence, and engagement to create the life you want. I fell in love with ACT via Robyn Walser and an experience of common humanity. [illustrative Taoist story] Next week, human suffering.
Sometimes I Need To Be Laying On The Floor Of Urgent Care To Wake Up
In an age of unparalleled exposure to information from around the world, our sweet overwhelmed brains dig into efficiency and resource conservation. In our homes and with our loved ones, we tune out and shut down. In the social realm, sometimes it feels like we take turns giving our updates instead of connecting, communing, and *inter* - acting with each other.