the purpose of a "dark night of the soul" period - a time in your life where you feel disoriented, lost, lonely, desperate - is that it reveals the cracks in your old belief system we inevitably carry old beliefs with us from childhood, things like "someone will always be there to save me" or "I'm worthy of love because I'm smart." these beliefs can serve us well, for a time... but they are naive and limited. they can't handle all the tragedy & chaos of adult life so at some point, our belief system breaks down, and we're thrown into the darkness, into the void. from there, we have two choices: we can try to hold on to our old beliefs, desperately clinging to their promised security... or we can let go letting go means staring into the abyss. for example, if my belief is "I'm worthy of love because I'm smart", and I find out that I may not be as smart as I think I am, I now have to face the existential question of "am I actually worthy of love?" that kind of question often feels like a form of death. it can be agony. it is a disconnection from love, a disconnection from even the possibility of love. it is the death of an ancient & innocent part of you but the void is a creative space. it's where form & substance emerge. if we can stay in the void long enough, in that disorientation, without trying to rush to an answer... then eventually an answer appears a new belief system forms, one that allows both the possibility that I can be an idiot AND still have access to love (what a concept!). now I have a mature belief that can carry me forward. now I can have a more truthful relationship with the world but that dark night period is hard. it's brutal. it's so tempting to try to escape it, to try to numb it, to try to rush through it. but the invitation is to embrace it, and to let it change you

I wrote about collective effervescence and why it's so important for learning and flourishing: isabelagranic.substack.com/p…

Heist 1 done! More here... x.com/rickbenger/status/1965…

In Liminal Learning, we call our collective projects Heists. We figure there are heist-like qualities (e.g. opportunity, urgency, improvisation, portfolio of skills) that you can design for that make collective action feel great. Our first cohort just did theirs. Notes...

I've started a newsletter! I'll be pulling together insights from science, philosophy, and wisdom traditions to explore what young adults need from us during this time of global flux and unpredictability. I'd love to hear what you think 💚 isabelagranic.substack.com/p…

It was a joyous, heart-enhancing experience that none of us will forget! These young people blew our minds with the stories of their last year's experiences and the way they are making sense of their lives.

"I think filmmakers should be aware that they don't know anything." --- John Cassavetes

Wildlife in all its beauty - a thread🧵 1. When its cold enough you can see their song

So, @JonHaidt announced he would put corrections for "The Anxious Generation" on his website. So, far there is only one entry on the recently created page. After reading the book, I think there should be many more. Maybe we can crowdsource a proper errata page?

My friend @bryankam made a super cool tool that, with one click, gives you a random verse/chapter from the Tao Te Ching, in a bunch of different translations. I've been using it for about a month and it's VERY powerful for meditation and study, IME.

A September poem that could change you: Adam Zagajewski's "Transformation" (translated by Clare Cavanagh).

Mixing wisdom and fun, this is what @interintellect_ is all about! Our host @PlayNiceInst shares her opinion on being part of our buzzing community! 🤩

Language is such a pain in the ass, so much obfuscation of what we mean for the other to see in our experience with them: