Presence

I’m going to provide you with two sentences

1. It’s the longing for more than the present moment which causes suffering

2. It’s the longing for “less” than the present moment which causes suffering

Emphasis on less. Boredom stems from seeking an experience that is more stimulating than the present moment. And in our society there are a million and one ways to get stimulated. The problem is..

The present moment is the best show in town. It’s actually the only show in town from a human standpoint.

A little cheat code to feeling better is - living as little of an artificial life as possible.

The modern man has much to contend with.

I’m going to break a process down to you.

We seek money - so we can buy experiences - that bring us happiness - in the present moment.

But the most ironic part is that, the present moment is already available to us

Happiness is produced from the present moment. That’s why if any of you have ever micro dosed mushrooms you probably felt amazing

Because the static of the modern man has disappeared. The cloud of stimulation has vanished and you’re able to receive joy much like a kid by using your senses in the present moment.

In that microdosed state, happiness is available everywhere. The sound of a passing car. The noticing of different qualities of light in the room. The feeling of wind grazing your skin. And if you’re lucky, the sight of a wave or sunset that can be experienced for hours.

I’m not writing this newsletter to advocate for mushrooms or any drug for that matter.

I’m writing this newsletter to communicate the fact that we’re supposed to feel captivated by waves, sunset, & nature. The same way we’d feel captivated by Monday night football or our favorite weekly show dropping

The problem of receiving stimulation from the technological world is that it’s a never ending process.

Let’s go in the hot tub

Let’s bring some wine in the hot tub

Let’s bring a lover in the hot tub

Let’s hit a vape in the hot tub

Let’s go to the movies after the hot tub

Let’s get dinner after the movie

Let’s get ice cream after dinner

Let’s have sex after dinner

Let’s watch our favorite show after sex

Let’s do it all again

To finish this and get less cryptic. To break it down in simplest terms

All of our problems stem from dehonoring the present moment in search of experiences that are supposed to be “more” than the present moment.

We seek money because money affords us peak experiences, that are supposed to be more than what’s available to us without money like sunsets. Waves. Our senses. And our creativity.

We never find out who we are because we spend very little time with who we are

We become an amalgamation of technological desires & highly stimulatory artificial stimuli that produce enormous amounts of dopamine. That leave us wanting more and more

And because we fall to these technological habits and desires we never find out who we actually are

And because we never find out who we actually are we never do anything great

Because greatness is produced from the deepest place inside that of us that can only accessed by quieting down

I’m not calling for any of us to stop enjoying the experiences of the modern man.

Keep drinking. Enjoy television. Go on dating apps. Seek money.

But the moment you believe any of these experiences can produce more happiness than the presence of the room while you read this letter. You lost

I just ask you to try being present. While we come to a close listen to the sounds in your room. Look around and notice things right in front of you, you may have not seen in a long time. Feel the weight of your body as you sit in your chair. Look out the window and notice how the wind interacts with the trees.

The modern man believes that stimulation is on a phone or tv screen

I say that stimulation is the real world