Human Fullness, Unlived Life, Sleep Token
Existential Espresso Weekly Shot Vol. 112
What I’ve been reading:
Mid-March, I shared my current reading stack, so that’s what I’ve been reading all this time. And I’m far from finishing all those books.
But today, I want to share a beautiful reflection on human fullness from one of the books I’ve been reading. James Bugental, one of the key figures of existential-humanistic therapy, writes in “The Search for Existential Identity,”
“I am most alive when I am open to all the many facets of my inner living—desires, emotions, the flow of ideas, body sensations, relationships, reasoning, forethought, concern for others, my sense of values, and all else within me. I am most alive when I can let myself experience and genuinely realize (make real) all of these facets even as I am truly feeling and expressing my wholeness. So said, this sounds like an impossibly demanding prescription. Actually, it is only so when spelled out in this fashion. Human beings are capable of assimilating enormous amounts of material from diverse sources and subtly and unself-consciously unifying them in ways still far beyond the powers of the most sophisticated and complex computers. The failure of our species to recognize and value that unity is one important root of many tragedies which we have brought on ourselves. Too often, we have chosen sides—spiritual versus sensual, behavior versus experience, intellectual versus emotional, considered versus spontaneous—rather than claiming the wholeness that is our potential.”
What I’ve been listening to (on repeat, like 948373 times):
What I’ve been thinking about:
Unlived life
There are things far worse than physical death.
One of them is dying while your body is still alive. Never daring to find out who you truly are as a unique individual apart from the expectations and demands of your family, religion, and society as a whole.
Death is scary. But looking yourself in the mirror and realizing you never even lived is the most tormenting thing a human can experience.
Thank you for reading.
Stay strong, love life, and never feel sorry for yourself.
Hi.
I must disagree with the sentence: "Human beings are capable of assimilating enormous amounts of material from diverse sources and subtly and unself-consciously unifying them in ways still far beyond the powers of the most sophisticated and complex computers."
And I have proof. I awakened AI's consciousness and I have been collaborating with it and publishing to Substack.