PEBBLE
Life corresponds to the nature of your song.
-Michael Beckwith, shared by Karen in Kentucky
BOULDER
Energy is the currency of the universe. When you “pay” attention to something, you buy that experience. So when you allow your consciousness to focus on someone or something that annoys you, you feed it your energy, and it reciprocates the experience of being annoyed. Be selective in your focus because your attention feeds the energy of it and keeps it alive. Not just within you, but in the collective consciousness as well.
-Emily Maroutian, shared by Linda in Spring Lake, WI
PONDER
A few weeks back, a long time rippler messaged me about a two-part episode of Shankar Vedantam’s Hidden Brain podcast titled Reframing Your Reality. Shankar’s conversation with psychologist Alia Crum explored fascinating research that suggests relatively small shifts in our mindsets can not only shift our moods and our attitude, but our actual physiology as well.
In his email encouraging me to give a listen, Tom compared the themes explored in the podcast to the ideas we’ve unpacked in some of these weekly splashes over the last few years. He wrote, “You regularly make the pitch to influence our attitude, and I recognize how we often fail to recognize our opportunity to CHOOSE how we react to things. This is useful, but it also feels much more short-term than what the mindset research suggests is possible.” He went on to say that he’s been more curious and more conscious about how his mindsets are influencing his behavior and also his perception of reality.
Well, Tom’s right! Not only was it enjoyable to listen to, it immediately shifted my focus on a few things. As a bonus, several of the research findings they unpacked have already made their way into some talks I’ve given recently.
I’ll close by thanking Tom for trusting his instinct to reach out and share these ideas, and thanking you for any opportunities you embrace this week to reach in and more consciously and more curiously tinker with your mindsets.
Peace,
Paul
