What I’m reading:
“The Farther Reaches of Human Nature” by Abraham Maslow.
Some of you have seen me recommend this book in the comments section of my series of posts on self-actualization.
Maslow, although sometimes using language that sounds mystical and maybe even esoteric compared to what you are used to when reading modern psychology books, gives real-life, humble, truly human examples when talking about self-actualization, growth, and creativity.
There are too many valuable lessons to take away from this book, and it would be impossible to sum them up in one post. Every lesson deserves an essay on its own, and I plan on doing just that in the upcoming weeks (and months) of Existential Espresso:
However, here is a bite-sized one that will hopefully help you start this week on a strong note:
There is some potential in you. Trying to actualize it is not comfortable.
But you pay a hefty price for trying to deny it.
Avoiding personal growth results in neurosis.
Maslow, like many other thinkers who dealt with this topic (most notably Carl Jung), believed that not trying to fulfill your potential, or as he said “avoiding your destiny”, quite literally leads to mental illness.
“If you deliberately plan to be less than you are capable of being, then I warn you that you will be deeply unhappy for the rest of your life.” - Abraham Maslow
What I’m listening to:
The Joe Rogan Experience podcast with Josh Dubin & Derrick Hamilton.
Derrick Hamilton is a man who spent over 20 years in prison a the crime he didn’t commit.
No one gave him his freedom back, he fought for it.
He fought for it by reading and becoming an expert in criminal law. By educating and elevating himself in the most toxic environment possible.
Today, he is fighting for others that have been wrongfully convicted and has helped dozens of them get their freedom back.
Having the same life circumstances that Derrick Hamilton had would make most people into a resentful, hateful, or at the very least extremely selfish person.
He is the complete opposite of that.
Another testament to his selflessness is the fact that during the podcast, he always wanted to talk about other people’s cases and what needs to be fixed about the US justice system.
I would like to listen to a podcast that is fully dedicated to his life story and what was going on inside his mind and heart in some of the lowest moments of his life.
My key takeaways:
-There is no limit to the strength of the human spirit.
-Importance of having a mission. Derrick Hamilton is not an incarnation of Buddha. You don’t just forget having over 20 years of your life taken away from you. He admits that he is still angry. But he decided to channel his anger into something constructive. His mission is to free as many people as possible and to reform the US justice system. Without a mission, he would be a broken, lost person.
What I’m thinking about:
Most of “hate” on social media is not actually real hate.
Comedian Louis C. K. said that twitter is just talk, but written down.
”Talk” in the sense that, when people in real life say that someone is “a jerk”, “stupid”, “ugly”, or anything like that, it just goes in the air and is forgotten in 10 seconds.
Even people who make the comment forget about it because there is no real weight behind it, most of the time they don’t even mean what they say.
I believe this is true for all social media, not just twitter.
Most of the time people didn’t really mean the hateful comment that they’ve made.
But once it’s been written down, it’s hard to delete it, say you were wrong, or apologize. Most people would view that as “admitting defeat” in the wicked game of social media, so they feel the need to defend the words that they don’t really believe in.
Having this in mind, a note to myself and anyone who cares to read this:
Be open to the possibility that not all haters on social media are actually hateful people. Some of them have just been tricked by the dynamics of social media. Don’t allow yourself to be tricked too.
That’s it for this Monday’s Existential Espresso.
I hope you got something valuable and interesting from this one.
Talk to you soon.
Until then, stay strong, love life, and never feel sorry for yourself.
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