i'm south asian, so i can say this: curries don't make no damn sense
Most of this post is just what other more brilliant people have discovered. No, I don't have sources. I have ADHD.
“If you believe the bad things people say about you,
you also have to believe the good.”
- my wise partner of 14 years.
A brutal ultimatum.
I fought it for years.
I tried to reason my way out of it.
(Leave me to die in my trash heap, I said. God doesn’t want me to try anymore)
I was wrong.
I’m trash, and I'm valued. I destroy, and I create.
It was all true.
Truth is a paradox.
(I'm looking at you, curry that looks like diarrhea but tastes like heaven)
The closer we are to a paradox, the closer we are to the truth.
(Truth and paradox love cuddling with each other)
Truth is self-balancing.
(Unlike me. I'm a sack of potatoes)
The horrors are as true as the prettiness.
The horrors aren’t the whole truth. Neither is the prettiness.
But pretty + horrible = beautiful.
The whole truth is pretty and horrible.
(Pretty horrible. Like my cat when she was hungry)
And that’s what’s beautiful. Because beauty holds pain.
Pain is a truth of the human condition.
(And so are boogers)
I hid in theories trying to escape this truth.
I learned, read, and researched.
I didn’t do anything. I didn’t act.
(I researched on TikTok)
That is where fear grows - it grows with inaction.
Fear dies down in action.
(Fear wants to wear fuzzy slippers and watch House of the Dragon and overpay for DoorDash)
"In many cases, what you hope to learn by reading books or listening to podcasts can only be learned by attempting what you fear. Some knowledge is only revealed through action." - James Clear
(Yes, I was talking shit about him in the last post. Yes, I'm hypocritical paradoxical)
When we act, we discover another truth.
Fear is the path.
As long as you stay on the path, you will fear, and you will grow and expand.
Even fear that’s rooted in danger - in survival, like in the wilderness - is a signal to take action. Sometimes, the action is to recede. Other times, it’s to breathe. Even other times, it’s to speed up.
(And get the fuck out of there)
So what’s fear trying to tell you?
Is it telling you someone is hurting you?
Does it tell you that you’re holding yourself back?
(Or is it telling you that the laundry from last week has gained sentience and has a better fashion sense than you?)
Love it! It's true... life has many paradoxes. And thanks for the James Clear quote - I'll remember that when I find myself hesitant to take action.