⚡️ Enlightening Bolts

⏮ The Psychedelic Scientist Who Sends Brains Back to Childhood: Kids soak up new skills, adults not so much. But neuroscientist Gül Dölen might have found a way—with drugs—to help grown-ups learn like littles. Read it here.

🏛 The Man Who Solved The Universe: Explore the profound wisdom of Marcus Aurelius, a Roman Emperor who chose virtue over boundless indulgence, in a compelling video that delves into his personal writings and the timeless philosophy of Stoicism. Watch it here.

⏳ The Time Trap of Productivity: While time-management tools help in organizing our lives, they also lead to stress and a disconnection from the present moment. A rigid focus on productivity can cause burnout but we can learn to prioritize a balanced approach that values presence of mind over strict scheduling. Read it here.

🎇 Image of The Week

The Greta oto, or glasswing butterfly, is known for its transparent wings which allow for camouflage. It's found mainly in Central and South America and exhibits behaviors like long migrations and lekking, a type of mating behavior. Its life cycle begins with eggs laid on nightshade plants, followed by a caterpillar stage where they feed on these toxic plants, and a pupal stage before maturing into adults. They feed primarily on flower nectar and have a unique wing structure with nanopillars enabling transparency.

👁 Practice Sensory Immersion

"Close your eyes. Listen, moment-to-moment, to the sounds of your immediate environment. Listen to how your mind may make sense of the sounds: naming, categorizing and figuring them out. Now, give yourself permission to simply listen to the sounds as different energies. You can do this by not associating meaning to any of these sounds and just let the sounds come sweeping through you as currents of sonic energy. Let these sonic forces have their way and go where they may within, around, under and over you. If they like, let them merge forces with other sounds to produce new levels and overtones of sonic resonance. Your sensory task is this: How much can you give yourself over to this experience and let it envelop and encompass you…until you are at one with the sounds?"

This quote is from a book from Antero Alli's book Angel Tech. Instead of seeing, I encourage you to drink in the sights. Rather than hearing, I ask you to soak up the sounds. Rather than focusing on distinct elements, allow yourself to sink into the field of senses where overlaps and ambiguity reign. From here you might more clearly experience the vibrantly textured, kaleidoscopic weirdliness we call reality.

Try It: Treat your sensorium as a single field. Imagine that every input is just a temporary whirlpool pattern in a pond of sensation. Let the lines between things soften. Embrace the whole.

❤️‍🔥 Loving The Expanse

Enjoy this passage encapsulating Rainer Maria Rilke’s feelings on marriage:

“The point of marriage is not to create a quick commonality by tearing down all boundaries; on the contrary, a good marriage is one in which each partner appoints the other to be the guardian of his solitude, and thus they show each other the greatest possible trust. A merging of two people is an impossibility, and where it seems to exist, it is a hemming-in, a mutual consent that robs one party or both parties of their fullest freedom and development. But once the realization is accepted that even between the closest people infinite distances exist, a marvelous living side-by-side can grow up for them, if they succeed in loving the expanse between them, which gives them the possibility of always seeing each other as a whole and before an immense sky.”

🤓 Learn This Word

Sophrosyne: A greek word that means a healthy state of mind, characterized by self-control, moderation, and a deep awareness of one's true self, and resulting in one's true happiness.

⏳ From The Archives

A hand-picked classic HighExistence article.

Appreciate Life Like a Sunset: How Letting Go of Judgment Makes Life Easier

The most inspiring quote I’ve ever read comes from the late psychologist Carl Rogers.

Carl Rogers was an influential figure in psychology who worked to bring a more human touch to the field. He wanted to see psychological professionals apply more empathy and emotional authenticity to therapy, as opposed to using the cold and detached forms of psychological analysis which dominated his time.

The essay in which this quote is found is a reflection on what helped Rogers to communicate well with others. Rogers writes mainly about the attitudes he has brought to certain situations, and whether or not those attitudes facilitated good communication.

Although the quote discusses a certain attitude as he applies it to people, I have found that this is a beautiful attitude to bring to every aspect of life. When I can relate to life with this attitude I am able to be much more peaceful in the face of adversity, and I am able to be much more grateful for the good things in life.

​[Continue Reading]

🎬 Endnote

I hope you enjoyed this issue of Down The Rabbit Hole. Feel free to reply and tell me what you think.

Want to help spread the word?

I love sharing these gems of wisdom and wonder with you each week. If you love receiving them and want to help me spread the word, here is one quick way you can do that:

Forward this email to one friend.

That's it. It will take 5 seconds and will help us spread the good vibes and reach more people. I appreciate you.

With Wonder,

Mike Slavin