3 Comments
User's avatar
⭠ Return to thread
Jeanine Miller's avatar

A lot of the struggle between the extremes of goal setting and being kind to ourselves stems from living in our current world of information overload. I feel like I have to stick with one school of thought/entity/guru/"fill in the blank" to follow, or else I'll lose my mind in overanalyzing the contradictory ideas those groups have. Perhaps that's also a right/left brain dilemma. Side note: I'm totally ordering the book The Master and His Emissary.

The concept of adding structure to my life is scary. There are too many outside influences I can't control, and then at any moment, my structure is blown up. It feels like failure when I can't meet a goal, so it's easier to not set one. It's probably a boundaries issue, too.

So, for right now, I'm not worrying about structure and I'll contemplate that opening photo of January 1. It's beautiful, but also is a bit hidden and leaves some questions. These Making Time newsletters remind me of things I want to read and see-thank you.

Expand full comment
Sarai Mitnick's avatar

I think you’re on to something there. I just read an interview this morning with one of my favorite artists, saying that getting older enables you to hold two contradictory ideas at once, and I think that really is true. I hope you like the book! It can be a bit academic, but I highlighted the heck out of it.

If you’re interested in the right/left duality, you might also look into the work of Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, if you haven’t already. She is a neuroscientist who suffered a severe left hemisphere stroke, and what she has to say about the impact is astounding. She has a great TED talk from way back when.

Expand full comment
Jeanine Miller's avatar

I haven't read Dr. Taylor's work, but you talked about her book on the podcast and I was intrigued. I used to be a high school teacher and was really geeky about the brain and attended quite a few seminars/workshops on the brain, particularly with engagement and learning. Fun fact: teaching isn't really an art, as most people say. It's science; it's the brain. I'm looking forward to reading something more academic on a topic that interests me...it's been awhile.

Expand full comment