So many resources. Where does one begin?

Begin with Quiet Time.

Set aside time to just be with yourself.

From the quiet place, ask the questions.

From the quiet place, consider the response.

The following in italics was written last weekend…

It is through the lens of public education where I began to be curious about generalizing big ideas. Wondering how the big idea could be shared in a way that makes the most sense to the most people. 

Separation never made sense to me. In a broad sense, suggesting there were good people and bad people did not make sense in my soul, even though it appeared evident in an external way.  

To generalize a big idea in a way to make the most sense to the most people would be the opposite of separation. It would be of the mindset to include the most people.

Language can be used in a way that separates, or it can be used in a way to include. 

Living in a fearful existence would create more of a sense of separation, whereas living in an existence of possibility would create more of a sense of inclusivity. 

Fear and possibility are energetic feeling states. One may use language to convey possibility, but it is unauthentic if that language doesn’t come from the feeling state of possibility. 

Anxiety is fear.  (Actually, in the first section of Beyond Anxiety, Martha defines the feeling states of anxiety and fear separately – saying specifically that anxiety is not fear. If we can be present with what’s happening inside our body we can separate the two and recognize how useful each one is – how intelligent and intentional our bodies messaging is).

My latest obsession is Martha Beck.

It all started with a four hour podcast listen (while cleaning) to Steven Bartlett interview Andrew Huberman. I thought that Martha Beck was essentially a brand. I knew her from Oprah’s magazine and I recall reading and thinking it was interesting what she shared, but I think I had her ‘categorized’ as an old school advice columnist who certainly must not be relevant in this new age of identifying and disrupting false narratives. The conversation was so heartfelt and authentic and Andrew spoke of Martha Beck to be the one who inspired him through her books to get past unhelpful patterns in his life. This breadcrumb led to me listening to Andrew’s interview with Martha Beck, and then to Steven’s interview. Both are amazing, Steven’s gets into Martha’s personal story in the second half and it’s astounding what she experienced and how she got to the other side of what was a quite horrific life story. 

Martha has a new book out called Beyond Anxiety. I plan on heading to Target to buy it later this morning, and then spend the day reading it. (I saw it pop up on Spotify and listened to the first section while cleaning. I will listen and relisten. I will also buy the book. If you are in a position where you lead others, the strategies she shares in this first section support emotional regulation and focus).

She thought that her prior book would be the last book she needed to write, The Way of Integrity. The way Martha defines integrity is to be intact. Which is what it means. To be integrated and whole: mind, body, heart, and spirit. 

Martha said she had clients coming to her that said that they had mastered their integrity but were still anxious. 

When Martha took to understand anxiety she recognized that anxiety (fear) and creativity (possibility) can’t operate at the same time. She exacted that anxiety is mostly living in the left brain hemisphere, and creativity is mostly living in the right brain hemisphere. She shares tools to notice anxiety (as a part, referencing Richard Schwartz and Internal Family Systems), empathize with the fear and desire to protect, and then shift into right brain to create new ways of thinking and being to move toward outcomes that are ultimately aligned with one’s authentic self.  (Fear and possibility are the two words I use to identify one’s feeling state – that’s me generalizing as mentioned in the first few paragraphs).

Earlier this morning I was thinking about patterns of human behavior and how powerless it feels to be stuck in a pattern; and then to be young with less life experience, less ability to see more clearly what is happening in a broader sense. 

I was thinking what advice I would give if a young person came to me feeling stuck. 

What came to me was a simple strategy Phil Stutz has. Phil has a three part pyramid he uses with his clients. The bottom rung is physical, to get into your body. This could be going for a long walk. The second rung is to connect with others or to do something for others, he says this undoubtedly creates shifts in energy and opens one up to consider broader context, the last rung is to focus on the self. This could be the alone time with a book or workbook, a journal, to truly reflect in a way to see yourself clearly and access a deeper sense of possibility. It could also include listening to podcasts – or parts of podcasts. There are many. And when you are in an authentic state, it’s easier to consider what to listen to – noticing what resonates.

Wow. I just embedded the podcasts. When I found Steven Bartlett’s YouTube video with Martha there was a short post underneath about health misinformation. It’s always so surprising when you love something and get so much ‘energy’ from someone’s ‘work’, and ultimately feel a deep sense of appreciation for what someone does, and they get BLASTED by a different source. I have come to understand this as the laws of polarity. There is ‘always’ an equal and opposite reaction (fact check that one, but I think what I’m trying to say is that to exist there has to be opposing, or tangential, forces).

Interestingly enough, the four hour podcast interview I listened to between Andrew and Steven that produced the Martha Beck breadcrumb includes Andrew talking about a situation where he was targeted in the media for misinformation.

It makes me curious if there is a public audience that want one definitive answer and look outside of themself for THEE answer. One is never taken out of the equation, it’s largely ‘always’ going to be one’s self as the ultimate examiner of information shared and recognizing how the information is being interpreted by oneself. This is where the somatic response is so necessary and appears to be the hallmark of Martha’s work, to ‘know thyself’ (and the name of Andre Duqum’s podcast).

Since I began this post, I have listened to several more interesting conversations that I am eager to share. I will pause on expanding for now, but here are the links:

Tim Ferriss interviews Martha Beck and they talk about their mutual friend Boyd Varty.

Andre Duqum recently connects with Zach Bush for a much shorter conversation than usual. It’s powerful. I’ll share more in another post.

Lastly, I decided to backtrack and read Martha’s book The Power of Integrity. It comes with a journal.