Surrender as a non-stupid life strategy | Sasha Chapin 

Snippets:

1.1 The planning part of your mind, the one that generates ambitions and hypothetical situations, is a small part of your overall intelligence. Anyone who is halfway good at sex, comedy, or any creative art will know this. Designing your life based on what that part of your mind wants is like designing your house to fit the needs of your right hand. Congratulations, your house is filled with fidget spinners and soap.

1.5 I’ve discovered that scrutinizing my motives too closely is a great way to stop creating. The unexamined life may not be worth living, but the fully examined life is a pinned butterfly in a glass case.

2.1 People feel most themselves when they are unselfconscious, which is to say, their actions emerge without apparent control. Think of the phrase “singing with abandon.” In our most profound moments of intimacy, we have abandoned the wheel. Who is driving, at that moment? What if we simply let that driver have the wheel more often? It takes practice to notice when that’s the person taking over the wheel—as opposed to our reactive, fear-based conditioning, which is also eager to take the job. Surrender is a skill.

3.4 When a project in my life is working, it’s typically marked by a sense of leverage. It’s as if I’ve fallen into an updraft and it’s propelling me. Meanwhile, when I’m privately excited about something, but there’s no cooperation from the world, nothing comes together. The sensible conclusion is that my enthusiasm, alone, is not a helpful measurement.