I was challenged by a friend to write a “30 Things I Know” piece, inspired by Cate Hall’s “50 things I know”.

Here is a first pass at the first 10. Bit trite, but oh well, fine for the moment.

  1. It is always possible and always important to take care of the body. There is no separation between body, mind, and spirit. If things are going wrong and you’re floundering, check in with the body. Nourish it, grow it, learn it, heal it. 

  2. Attention is actually all you need. What you attend to grows, and what you avoid attending to festers. Be wary of anything that diffuses and corrupts your attention. 

  3. Good days make a good life. There is no eden waiting for you in the future where it feels any different than “today”. This means every day is sacred.

  4. Motivation and inspiration are fickle beasts. Structures that allow you to flow despite poor energy are absolutely necessary. (Learning this sucked)

  5. Open loops will ruin your life. The mind will only expand when it is unburdened by loops. 

  6. You will continue to make mistakes for the rest of your life, and you should expect this. Every year you will retrospect wishing you had done something different. You will miss opportunities, you will mishandle important situations, you will fuck up constantly. The way through is to accept and expect this to happen forever, and not linger longer than necessary. 

  7. Producing and giving instead of consuming and receiving is always better. “What do I want?” -> boring and unhelpful. “What do I want to give?” -> generative and interesting. Whenever possible, create or give something to someone. Anything.

  8. People are ultimately the most important thing. Solitude is a tool but it’s sharp and destructive. Only to be used in specific circumstances that are far rarer than you probably believe. Whenever and however you can, connect with people and treat them with care.

  9. Reality is easier to deal with than scenarios you create in your mind. Facing the thing in the real world is always better than trying to manage a web of fake situations your mind creates. However, you are a human and you will continue to catastrophize. When that happens, it’s because you probably need more information about reality. If you can’t get more, the only thing left is to let it go, however possible. 

  10. Being completely honest in the most simple, sensitive way possible is always the best thing you can do with yourself and with others. It never serves to overcomplicate or distort the truth.