“The harder we try with the conscious will to do something, the less we shall succeed. Proficiency and results come only to those who have learned the paradoxical art of doing and not doing, or combining relaxation with activity.” – Aldous Huxley Drown-Proofing When it comes to our psychology what’s happened is this. Our hands … More Stalling: Why Letting Go Is the Key to Regaining Lift
From a specialist point of view, emotions can be defined as a response that originates following the activation of specific brain circuits and manifests at the organic, behavioral, and cognitive levels. They play a crucial role in regulating mood, motivation, and behavior. Emotions are often linked to body reactions. I am sure you have heard … More Why Learning to Recognize and Understand Your Emotions is Important for Your Wellbeing
I would like to express my gratitude to you all for being affectionate readers, and active participants to Wise&Shine’ blog life. Without you, my posts on Wise&Shine would have been a box full of words but without emotions and sentiments. To conclude this year, I would like to share with you the lyrics of one … More Happy Holidays!
When Micheal Jordan returned from the NBA after an extended hiatus his publicity manager was unsure how they should announce the news. So, he wrote a number of press releases for Micheal to choose from. But Jordan didn’t like any of them. He said, “I’ll do it myself.” before picking up a pen and writing … More I’m Back
My emotions come at me in waves. Often I’m strong enough to withstand them – to hold the ship steady – but every now and then they catch me with my shields down. I’m swept away. That happened the other day when the movers came in to pack everything up. Seeing my whole life packed … More The Ghosts of My Past
So my muse decided to take a holiday recently. He packed his bags and went to Hawaii or somewhere. And I know he’s been sitting in the sun drinking Pina Coladas the whole time. That smug bastard. Now, I should say I told him to take a break. The problem is, I’ve found it hard … More A Creative Leave of Absence
Why nostalgia is important? Nostalgia is a shield against existential challenges. Evoking positive experiences and feelings from the past can help you cope better with the present and the future. January for me is the month to think about what happened the year before. To make a balance, to see what went well and what … More Why Nostalgia is Important?
The Parable of the Second Arrow According to the Buddha, any time we suffer misfortune, two arrows fly our way. The first arrow is the bad event itself, which certainly can (and often does) cause pain. The second arrow is our reaction to the bad event, the suffering we attach to our pain. This secondary pain, he tells us, is … More Escaping the Emotional Rabbit Hole
The words you use can change your reality. Language actually generates changes in your brains and changes your perception of the environment around you. Language is linked to emotions. Your words are constantly sending messages to your brain. According to neuroscientists Andrew Newberg and Mark Robert Waldman, negative words cause the increase of cortisol, the … More Why You Are the Words You Use
Hello there! Welcome back on another Sunday! I want to talk about emotions today; about how weird they are. I am a believer that emotions guide us. I made many decisions based on how I felt and most turned out to be good for me (If you have taken the MBTI test at 16personalities.com, there … More Understanding Emotions
I write to call myself a writer and be called a writer, because that means more to me than words could ever convey. … More Why I Write
There’s a big difference between shame and guilt. Guilt is the feeling you get when you did something wrong, or perceived you did something wrong, whereas shame is a feeling that your whole self is wrong – a belief that you’re a bad person, or unworthy as an individual. Now, guilt isn’t necessarily a bad … More A Crying Shame
Take this moment. Just for you. Your body. Your mind. Your purpose. Breathe it in. Then let it out. You are beautiful. . . . SnapDragon is a writer, artist, and donut enthusiast. Follow Snippets of SnapDragon for all kinds of goodness, yo.
Hi everyone! Let’s talk about emotions today. I want to talk about them in a pure observational way. No trying to understand, no whys. The main questions I am curious about is whether there is a dominant feeling in your life and whether there are specific emotions associated with specific times of the day. Starting … More Emotions
Inside this chest pounds a heart so steady. Inside this head lives a brain so alive. And somewhere in between rests a spirit so gentle, even the tiniest of scratches leaves a scar. . . . How would you describe your spirit, Dear Reader? What inspires you? What shakes you to your core? (Such easy … More SnapDragon Speaks: On The Gentle Spirit.
I fondly remember the days of grammar-school playgrounds; of brown-bagged lunches; of field trips to museums, caverns, and coal mines. I remember the sense of belonging within those classroom walls. There was a constance amongst us kids: a comradery that strengthened with each lesson, each game, each talent show. The questions we asked were not … More SnapDragon Speaks: On The Same Side.
There are many things I do not know. Like what it takes to make a light switch work; or how many species of bird reside in my home state. I do not know advanced mathematic formulas; I do not know why the daffodils come back each spring. I’m just one person, with a single, yet … More SnapDragon Speaks: On Knowing.
The other night, while I was trying to sleep, I started thinking about the post I wrote last week where I stated that hatred is driven – at its core – by a fear of death. I couldn’t shake the idea that I was missing something fundamental. Naturally this started to make me feel a … More Why Everything Scares You To Death
A life is infinitesimal in the grand scheme of things. When you zoom the lens out, when you consider the enormity of existence. A life is but a speck in the vastness of time and space. A life is nothing. It matters not a jot. But when you zoom the lens in, past all of … More The Meaning Of Your Life
I’m afraid of the dark. Like, for real. And it’s not because I think there are trolls in the basement, or Civil War ghosts in the attic. (But—ahem—now that I’ve revived that thought, I might crawl into bed even earlier tonight.) (pulls the blanket up to her chin) I’m afraid of my own mind. Because … More SnapDragon Speaks: On The Dark.