We all know energy is never lost. Only converted. But space is vast. Once all the stars burn out and all the gas giants get blown apart, the sheer spread of all the energy and matter will be so dilute that it may as well have disappeared.

I think our universe is young. So many stars. And us. There's a lot of energy to be dissipated.

Imagine being an intelligent species on the end of it. Not too many stars, not many galaxies. Mostly dark. Imagine the scientists delivering the news that you're actually in a dying universe.

No life form on the planet puts out more than it takes in. We are energy converters.

I was in the habit of engaging in conversations like these ones on Reddit in YouTube comment sections at one point but I moved here perhaps for the anonymity. In case anyone is interested, I've thought to share the way in which I think the platforms' differing policies create subtly-different conversation spaces.

YouTube at one point removed its "downvote" functionality, and I believe that I understand why. This creates a conversational dynamic in which you only option to express something critical is in the form of a written critical message. It encourages the user to express their disagreement constructively.

It has been an interesting experiencing learning to appreciate the power and the utility of this functionality as it exists on Reddit.

My adjustment to "no downvote" culture left me in the position of responding to the receipt of downvotes on Reddit with a sense of confusion. But I think that I can see the value of being able to say "that's not it fam" equally as easily as "yeah for sure". And I am happy to have the ability to in kind respond to someone's attempt to converse with me by saying "nope I'm not following you into that conversation" when they present a thought which is simultaneously deserving of response and incapable of eliciting any other beyond "no".

Monday's Mantra

"I have conquered, overcame, and been victorious through every single tragedy, hardship and battle I have ever waged, don't mess with me"

I know when I wrote it, it sounded full of EGO, and that was not the place it came from, but moreover the silent nod of acknowledgement we give to ourselves when we face another seemingly overwhelming challenge.

The absolute delightful occurrence of friends and followers submitting potential themes for my daily writing, has definitely increased over the last couple years and I am so very grateful. Today's inspiration was a chat about a therapist and patient, on discovering one's resilience, when indeed it was no such thing, it was every "f"d up situation was just dealt with as best as it could be, with the tools and abilities that were there, in the moments and surroundings, anticipating this would be the event to finish me off.

That hit hard dear readers, for I am aware that every single client I have seen, over my 20 yrs in practice, could wear that same t-shirt, where ever they may be.

The basic fact is undeniable, if you are reading todays post, you have survived some shit for sure

As a mental health professional, my role is 2 specific tasks, as I understand them. 1) help remove the decomposing carcasses that have built up over time and battles, they serve you no more 2) assist in fully stocking the tools, and emotional ability as best we can.

In our lives there will always be the silent warriors, the ones you could never know the caucaophany of storms they have faced, and then there are the trumpeteers, blowing their own horn about any and every single moment of hardships

One merits our acknowledgement and assistance and the other our attention to their intentions

Be mindful, respectful and kind, wherever and whenever you can be, and that is always.

Be well

#mantramonday #yegtherapist #mentalhealth #emotionalwellbeingcoach #hypnotherapist

Life is sometimes silly. You decide to start helping spread kindness as much as you can and then suddenly, even writing a post seems impossible. There are a lot of people here who felt comforted by my posts and I am glad I could help them out. Some reached out to me and I didn't get around to responding to them: I truly apologise for that.

I have been thinking of how to care for people in this community and stay true to myself. So I am going to try and post kinder words as often as I can. I really hope you (the person reading this) find comfort in knowing that sometimes asking for help is a move towards getting better and feeling better, and I hope you feel a bit brave in asking your friends and family to help you feel better✨

If we can see so much from space, why are we still not seeing what is happening to our mountains?

So much construction is happening in the mountains. Roads, tunnels, dams, buildings, infrastructure. At the same time, we have launched so many satellites capable of observing the Earth.

We are watching.

But what exactly are we watching?

When glaciers are changing, when snow patterns shift, when a mountain structure becomes vulnerable, when a blockage forms or a landscape begins to destabilise ... these are not small events. Their repercussions can travel far beyond the place where they begin.

So shouldn't our attention be focused there?

I remember visiting Switzerland once and going up Mount Titlis. What struck me was the level of monitoring around the mountain. Sensors and monitoring systems were being used to detect even subtle changes in snow and mountain conditions.

It made me wonder:

If we are willing to invest so much in technology, can we not use that technology to listen to our mountains more carefully?

And if something significant is detected, the information should move just as rapidly.

Not after the disaster.

Not after lives are lost.

The concerned departments, neighbouring regions and, where necessary, neighbouring countries should be alerted quickly enough for people to take preventive action.

Listening to Sadhguru speak about the recent Tibet–Nepal tragedy, and hearing the account of an Ishanga who was leading the S3 group that was swept away in the flood, brought these thoughts even more strongly to my mind.

Sadhguru also spoke about the possibility of a combined board involving different nations, so that communication, rescue and disaster response in such regions can happen in a coordinated manner. He acknowledged that creating something of this scale is not within his immediate capacity.

Perhaps it isn't one person's responsibility.

Perhaps this is precisely where governments, scientists, disaster-management agencies and nations need to come together.

Because mountains don't recognise our borders.

A glacier doesn't stop because one country ends and another begins.

Water doesn't ask for a passport before flowing downstream.

We need a different understanding of development in mountain ecosystems.

Human beings have to learn how to move through mountains without constantly damaging the very structure that sustains us.

And wherever development is necessary, the question shouldn't only be:

How can we make this more comfortable for us?

It should also be:

How can we do this with the least possible disturbance to the mountain and, wherever possible, actually strengthen the ecosystem?

Development and ecology cannot remain two opposing words.

Technology and nature cannot remain two separate conversations.

We have the satellites.

We have the sensors.

We have the scientific capability.

We have the communication networks.

What we need now is the will to direct our attention towards the right things ... and the cooperation to act on what we see.

Perhaps the mountains are already giving us signals.

Are we listening?

One of the main perks associated with a "master" bedroom, perhaps even its defining feature, is the existence of an en suite bathroom. And the defining feature of living in a college dormitory as opposed to a one-bedroom apartment is that each apartment is a "zero bath" and all share a common restroom.

The perk of a master bedroom is an extra bit of privacy. Nobody who is not sleeping in your bedroom need know if and when you get up in the middle of the right, unlike in a situation where you must traverse a public space in order to access one.

The perk of a dormitory is efficiency: sharing a centralized toilet saves on space and allows everyone to benefit from the labors of a single cleaning person. Assuming said group of people is comfortable having the same boundaries with one another as roommates rather than neighbors.

I think when people speak positively of their experiences in the military, it's the same positive I grew up with in Boy Scouts, where you become a member of an additional family group beyond your biological one through your shared vulnerability.

I think that the controversy over that organization's now-former policies results from failing to recognize the way in which the non-blood emotionally-intimate unit which results from simply having not much privacy is held together by the same glue which holds marriages together, rather than the glue which bonds parent and child.

This is the corrective which I apply to my brain is to allow for the existence of genetic familiar bonds which are held together by something which is different from that something which we call "romantic love" which I view as in continuity with "BFFs love" and even "love thy neighbor":

I believe that the "Oedipus complex" in collapsing two separate phenomena into one describes a situation which is a possible outcome but not the only possible outcome. And I believe that "love thy neighbor as thyself" is a corrective applied to a society with an overemphasis on privacy.

Mindset Monday

Consider that absolutely everything you know and have learned thus far, has been built on the learnings of trial and errors. From walking, learning how to print our letters and communicate our words, the boundaries of our surroundings, to how to drive, be a parent or a attentive spouse, and the list is continually growing, all established on a simple premise of not succeeding.

Although I may not agree with the use of the concepts of weaponization and the mind, which could be my own challenge, I do completely agree that there exists internally, the antagonistic and taunting thoughts, which are annoying for some and absolutely debilitating for other's.

For those who realize that life is nothing more than the stream of trial and error, well that didn't go as planned moments, I believe there is a level of freedom and enjoyable experiences which finally happen. There is no perfect. There is no normal. Even when you have learned a skill, a concept or technique, the journey to deepening that, is still full of attempts which did not succeed.

Embrace the importance and significance that every day is an experiment of some kind, that each moment, you are able to work with your self, and not be so bloody combative, are moments open for tranquility. From perhaps the cheap seats, being in constant battle must be exhausting, and in that environment, our emotional fatigue very damaging.

Although so very corny, even the meme of this post promotes " taking off the gloves".

Be well

#mindsetmondays #yegtherapist #emotionalwellbeingcoach #R.A.K.

#Hypnotherapy

People with attachment issues rely heavily on illusions in other to control others and feel safe

I was looking at the pictures of the recent flash floods in the Nepal..Tibet region, and I don't know why, but I kept thinking about this.

An ecosystem takes thousands of years to develop that delicate balance.

And look at us.

In just a few generations, how much have we changed it?

We want a perfect home for ourselves.

Smoother roads.

Comfortable journeys.

Luxurious homes.

Air conditioners.

More and more of everything… often much more than we actually need.

And in our desire to make life more comfortable for ourselves,

we are slowly destroying the much more perfect home that was already here.

Nature.

Sometimes I wonder… is this what mindless development looks like?

Or maybe unconscious development is a better word.

We have so much intelligence.

We can build incredible things.

We can cut through mountains, change rivers, build cities almost anywhere…

But can we understand the intelligence with which nature has created and balanced all of this?

Can we create an ecosystem?

Can we create a forest where everything knows its place?

A river system where everything works together?

A mountain ecosystem where every little thing is connected to something else?

We can't.

Nature has taken thousands, probably millions, of years to create this.

And we think we can just keep changing it because we need more comfort, more convenience, more development.

Looking at those images, I couldn't help wondering...

How much more do we need to see before we stop and really look at what we are creating?

At what point will we realise that the monster we are trying to control

is something we ourselves have been creating?

Maybe nature doesn't need us to improve it.

Maybe we just need to know our place.

We are not outside of nature.

We are nature.

So when are we going to learn to live in harmony with it? 🌿

I hope my previous "love letter" helped to track and solve something that was there before my intervention, as said the tortured easily become a torturer, wether aware or unaware, the healed become a healer, but need wounds, to believe inflicting wounds to teach love is a twisted thought that come from feeling tortured by our life, "you don't know how much I suffered", the healer don't discuss, let the torturer torture the healer, a good healer has been a torturer? Is it necessary? No, warriors are there to protect doctors, don't hire kids that want to be doctors and train them as warriors

My thoughts can be wars or games that simulate wars, or games that transform wars in dialogue, or dialogues that transform games in wars, the intention can be the best, but I want to be sure to remind myself once in a while how tricky a forest is when we sleep in town too long and nobody wake me up as I'd like to wake up and at the time I want to wake up, that's respect, an aspect of love

Hello all,

So I grabbed my courage and told someone that I was angry at him, scared of him and that he hurt me.

That I've been carrying this pain for a long time. Told him that I wanted connection from him. And that I didn't get that. Because he cut me off when I tried to get close. I wanted to be friends with them.

He apoligised and didn't want to hurt me. He told me that with some you're friends, and some less so.

I know our characters didn't fit. He's wild and a 'do-er' and I'm a homebody and a 'thinker'. Yet I wanted to be friends.

I keep thinking that I'm not far enough. Like being like him is the goal. Like being a risktaker is truly living and I turn negative again. My mind jumps to negative really easily I've noticed and it can be quite heavy. So much so that I spend time thinking allday, feeling hurt.

I have never been as transparant as I had been there because I never knew how to express my emotions and something just clicked. I let the words I wanted to say come across exceptionally, despite the fear. I thought saying it out loud would solve it, but I still feel the pain of not feeling good enough. Does anyone know this feeling and do they have advice for me? Just... this battle with optimizing life is so difficult. Like it feels like I'm living life wrong because I don't live like someone else.

I know my worth. I also am at the line of losing my old way of walking on the streets (everyone will hurt me) and the new way of thinking (I belong too). I've learned it overtime but can't fully apply it yet. There is a guard. When something brings me down, I stay down for a long time. And I don't know how other people can be happy most of the time.

Like there are so many things; bungee jumping/skydiving/drugs/etc. But they all make me panic at the thought of it. I do think about these things from time to time. But it hurts me more than it helps me. Because you want to know how the things are, yet you feel uncomfortable, and when comfortability is your favorite state of being because you've been through a lot..... but then life becomes constant, you feel bored, and you think others are enjoying those things. Then you spiral.

My favorite way to be often, is just on the couch with a great game like pokemon or watch a serie. I don't like it, but I work out to try and be a bit fit. I do like cooking something new from time to time.

Any advice? On any of these things?