Author: vwideski

Mind Control

Posted on by vwideski

Emotions are so often associated with a lack of control, so often conceived as internal phenomena that grip and compel people with their power. But Low Entropy Volunteer Writer Mona Budhrani explains why you might want to control your feelings, and how you can go about doing it.

 

Feelings are strong forces, and we have the power to choose how we feel.

 

It’s important to be aware of our emotions and not suppress them, as they represent our true selves. But our emotions and energy can land us in conflict or set us on a destructive path if we do not channel them. The ability to choose how we feel is emotional discipline, which – like any other habit – is difficult to cultivate.

 

With different life experiences, we all differ in the array of things that trigger our emotions. For some, a threat or a war is especially upsetting, for others, the loss of a job. Many of us are set off by interpersonal conflict, with a colleague or spouse, for instance.

 

Emotional discipline is not a one-size-fits-all process. Rather, we can develop and customize it to our own needs. It builds our capacity to deal with current and future challenges.

 

It teaches us to not do what we might impulsively want to do or say what we impulsively want to say. It teaches us to not react in anger, even when we might have justification to do so. With emotional discipline, you don’t do things only when you feel like it – rather, you schedule tasks so they’re completed at the right time.

 

Together with emotional intelligence, emotional discipline is also about understanding our own emotions and strategizing according to that awareness. These inward dimensions of EQ, self-awareness and emotional discipline can seed personal and professional success.

 

It’s understandable to feel stressed, mad, frustrated, disappointed or worried. But rather than indulging these raw emotions, it’s a sounder strategy to work through these feelings and reframe them in a way that furthers our resolutions.

 

To be emotionally disciplined means recognizing how to handle different emotions at certain times. For instance, receiving critical feedback may be upsetting, but it is important to know that it may not serve you well to respond in an angry manner (e.g. become defensive, storm off or cry). Emotional discipline allows us to respond appropriately to each setting and audience, and to make the impression we wish to make.

 

The question we might ask is, is this really healthy?

 

Exercising emotional discipline may seem like it involves a lot of emotional processing. Can it really be healthy to reframe our feelings so that they have a more strategic outward face? Having access to your emotions allows you to engage with them in a healthy way. If we deny them, they may eventually bubble to the surface in an unhelpful way (e.g. angry outbursts). However, it is vital that we know when, and with whom, to share them.

 

For instance, regular conversations about personal life and workplace challenges with trusted members of your inner circle, including mentors and friends, can help defuse tension, so the stress doesn’t mount. The key here is to explore and understand our feelings, and to do this work at times that suit us. Having an emotional outburst doesn’t make anyone seem sincere or well-grounded.

 

Sometimes individuals say that they don’t want to be “fake,” and therefore must wear their emotions on their sleeves. But let’s recognize the possible consequences of this authenticity and how they may affect our lives, be it in our personal relationships or at work.

 

How do we become more emotionally disciplined? Step one is to work toward a deeper understanding of yourself. How do we feel – are we happy? Are we fulfilled? 

 

Using techniques such as meditation, mindfulness and controlled breathing can help manage difficult emotions when we are in situations that can trigger them.

 

Also, being able to anticipate these emotions is a useful way to prepare for your response to them. Emotionally disciplined people look for solutions, rather than dwelling on their circumstances. Focus on the positive, and you will win the game!

 

Tell us about a time when emotional discipline paid off for you – share your story in the comments below, at a Conscious Connections meeting, or on our Low Entropy Community social network!

[URGENT] Message from Your Best Friend [ACTION REQUIRED]

Posted on by vwideski

Hey there! Wait a minute! Stop scrolling! Remember me?
My name is Self-Love. You might have heard my name before because I’m actually a very important person in your life. But lately, I’ve noticed a significant shift in the way you treat me. Suddenly, late on a Wednesday night, you allowed these two criminals Anxiety and Depression to take me away into a dark corner.

So here I am, in another attempt to reach you. Risking something unusual in writing you a letter.

You see, I’m responsible for the way you see yourself, the way you talk to yourself, the way you feel and so much more. Without me, Anxiety and Depression take the wheel of life. They are thieves. They kidnapped Fun and Joy last week, and now it’s only a matter of time till they reach the main office and take Happiness as well.

Remember that time when we climbed that summit? Or the time you passed that challenging test and were so proud? Or wait, remember that trip you did all by yourself?
Pretty awesome right? Back in the good old days!
I wish we could start creating more memories together. You and me. Deep down, you know I need to be a solid figure in your life.
I make you feel proud of yourself, I make you happy, I pick you up when someone leaves and keep you standing straight when the world is trying to break you down. I make you feel at ease with yourself because I’m your very best friend. No no, it’s definitely not that dog with the big blue eyes.
I am.

So meanwhile, don’t forget how loved and how special you are. There is only one of you!
I discovered some ways you can help me break the chains and get yourself out of that rocky place you are in.

Plan to do things that you enjoy. It’s okay to put yourself first once in a while.
Dance, whenever you feel like it, wherever you feel like it. At the beach, while in the store, on a mountain top, or simply in your bedroom. Don’t care what everybody else thinks. Put some good music on and don’t hold back. Dancing has an incredible effect on your mood.
Write down what you are grateful for – not only about your surroundings, but also yourself.
Say NO. This is a form of self-love. Many people struggle with setting boundaries. However, it is healthy and necessary.
Go out for a walk or a run. Clears your mind and boosts your confidence by making you feel good about your body.
Forgive yourself for the mistakes you made. You are only human.
Ask for help. You don’t have to do it all alone. Everyone struggles and has bad days, doesn’t matter what Instagram or Social Media tells you. Nobody is perfect. Talking to someone about your problems is the purest form of self-love.

I understand that I’m not an easy person. I need attention and care every day and can be very stubborn. However, in the end, I’m always here for you. Be kind, not only to others, but to yourself. For the world, you are just somebody – but for somebody, you are the world.

Your self-love.

For more on self-love from Low Entropy Volunteer Writer Anna Bernsteiner, check out this companion piece on Instagram. Leave your comments on any of our social media platforms, or in person at a Low Entropy gathering, and celebrate the love within all of us.

Our Only Duty

Posted on by vwideski

He wasn’t out of the woods yet, but that didn’t keep him from seeing the forest for the trees. Low Entropy Volunteer Writer Salem Ziani takes us back a year to Bosnia-Herzegovina with a series of vignettes from a trying time and a difficult place, right on the cusp of the COVID-19 outbreak.

March 2020, somewhere in the heart of a forest in Bosnia-Herzegovina. We’re getting ready to cross the last border and finally reach the European Union, and realize a kind of dream. The wait is too long. Despite a somewhat familiar atmosphere – reminds me of home – my chest is tight; I am overcome with fear. 3:26 a.m. The smuggler arrives and tells us that no one is going to cross today. Maybe never. “Beginning of the lockdown,” he said.

Everything had tipped over: courage and hope left me, and fear immediately took hold of my whole body. From now on, the only concern was surviving.

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

The city takes on an air of war. Finding myself in the middle and with nowhere to go, I feel jealous of those people who have homes and families during this lockdown, and a little upset with those who complain about nothing.

Confused between memories and regrets, I remember all the beautiful things that I left. I regret most terribly my ingratitude for the joys I once had. It’s a lesson to love what you have, so that you’re not left loving something already lost.

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

This same city that was once friendly and full of good atmosphere is now apocalyptic; I find myself surrounded by fear and angst.

It is under a bridge that we found a makeshift shelter with some homeless people. We share our food, received from humanitarian associations, and we discuss the pandemic and the tragedies of life to become familiar with each other.

Another lesson learned here, of humanism: help your neighbours.

“No man is tired of receiving what is useful. But it is useful to act according to nature. Do not then be tired of receiving what is useful by doing it to others.”

– Marcus Aurelius, Meditations (translated by George Long)

§§§§§§§§§§§§§

Unpleasant news about us was circulating, so we were forced to leave the city and go to a small village where we were hosted by a monk who told us, “It doesn’t matter who you are, God does not abandon anybody.”

Fifth day, we are awakened by our friend’s screams. The pandemic has just taken the life of his mother. Is there anything more painful than attending your mother’s funeral and saying your last goodbye by video call? We were all scared and extremely sad. We all cried.

The lesson is compassion.

“Now, when you recognize that all beings are equal in both their desire for happiness and their right to obtain it, you automatically feel empathy and closeness for them. Through accustoming your mind to this sense of universal altruism, you develop a feeling of responsibility for others: the wish to help them actively overcome their problems. Nor is this wish selective; it applies equally to all.”

– Tenzin Gyatso; The Fourteenth Dalai Lama, “Compassion and the Individual”

§§§§§§§§§§§§§

All discussion revolves around the pandemic: when will it end? When will the lockdown end? Are we going to get back to normal life? Undoubtedly, there are people who have other questions – people who face the pandemic on the front line, people who have lost loved ones, who have lost their businesses or their jobs. Mine were, “Will I survive? Will I ever go home and see my family again?” All of this had dragged me into a depression.

COVID-19 has brought us all to our knees; we have all been confronted with fear, anger and anxiety.

But we must have the wisdom to get the best out of it all. We must know that, no matter our situation, there is always worse. Our only duty is gratitude and, above all, patience. That’s what helped me find the will to overcome this ordeal.

With time, empathy and patience, we can overcome everything. Everyone will learn from this uncommon period in our lives. 

Will this situation bring us to a better world, full of love, compassion and mutual aid or, per contra, a world worse than the existing one, full of individualism, greed and hatred? From my side, I am optimistic that the human being is able to accomplish wonderful things, as he has demonstrated time and time again. The glow of light is approaching, and each of us will find their right path toward dreams and hope.

Tell us your stories of when you found your strength. Leave a memory in the comments section, or let us know in person at a Low Entropy meet up.

A Quiet Fix: Holistic Healing through Yin Yoga

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What started as a quest for increased flexibility led Low Entropy Volunteer Writer Kathy Woudzia to emotional sanctuary via breath and meditation. 

As a person living alone, I have had a difficult time coping with the social isolation associated with COVID. Before January 2020, I spent my time raising a family and all duties that entailed. For 18 years I was a stay-at-home mom, spending my days looking after the household. I worked out, shopped, cleaned and prepared dinners, finding little time for building friendships.

In January 2020, it all fell apart. I found myself newly single, and with all of my children having flown the nest, COVID was the icing on the proverbial cake.

In order to cope, I would do an intense workout everyday. Fitness was not only a great way to keep fit, but more importantly, helped me keep my sanity. There is a feeling of euphoria after each and every workout. It’s not just the endorphins that course through your body after an intense fitness session, but also the general sense of accomplishment that would carry me through the day.

Unfortunately, I overworked my body to save my mind, and my body rebelled. The frequent workouts were taking a toll. I got to the point where I could barely walk without pain.  

Even worse than the physical pain was the emotional despondency of not being able to work out anymore. The fact is that I don’t feel good about myself when I don’t perform a fitness activity daily.  In too much pain to do another workout, I resorted to something I never thought I would ever do, much less enjoy: Yin Yoga.

Yin is a type of yoga where you hold poses for a minimum of three to five minutes each. I was reluctant to try this because I knew it was going to incite a different kind of physical pain from my current injury.   I’d neglected stretching for a good portion of my life, which is exactly why I was now having problems with my IT band. With a background in kinesiology, I knew about the three components to physical fitness: cardio, strength, and flexibility. I possessed the first two but I was sorely missing the third. If I wanted to repair my injury and work out again, I would need to improve my flexibility. 

I looked up Yin Yoga online. I found it to be equal parts science and spirit. Combining the practices of Yin Yoga and mindfulness meditation creates powerful possibilities for transformation and holistic healing in all layers of our being: body, mind and heart. I knew there were obvious benefits to Yin Yoga for the physical body, but it would be a very welcome surprise if it were to have a positive effect on my mind as well.

I began with some deep breathing and found that this immediately relaxed me. Next were some poses, which could be potentially painful, but the instructor said something important: only go into the pose deep enough so that you are feeling a five out of 10 in the stretch and, above all, stay present.

This made a world of difference to me. While in each three-minute pose, I focused on my breath and on being in the moment. I do not usually take the time to meditate, but I found that for three minutes at a time I could be in a complete meditative state. The video was 45 minutes long, which provided me with almost a full hour of meditation. By the end of the Yin Yoga session, not only did my body feel better, but I felt a sense of calm that regular exercise didn’t provide for me. I am now going to stick with Yin Yoga even when my body no longer needs it for repair. For me, Yin Yoga and meditation is a repair of the mind.

Where do you find your inner peace? Let us know in the comments section, or attend one of Low Entropy’s supportive meetings to exchange ideas and experiences. 

Oh, the Places You’ll Grow!

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You don’t have to be in a Dr. Seuss book to see something astonishing: our world is a multifarious and magical place all on its own, and there’s always something to fill your heart or energize your spirit. In her reflections on the act of leaving the familiar, Low Entropy Volunteer Writer Anna Bernsteiner examines how we evolve when the where we go becomes where we’ve been.

Your eyes open promptly; the alarm clock is ringing. It’s Monday, 8 a.m. The first thought that comes to mind is the fact that today is THE DAY. A new start. You are already stressed: blood pumping, heart racing, and thoughts rushing.

You are about to leave home. To leave that old house and the small backyard that now seems to be the greatest place you have ever been. To leave all your lovely neighbors behind, who you couldn’t stand before. Last but not least, you are about to leave all your friends and family, quitting all their opinions to form your own. 

Suddenly all the drama seems meaningless, all the excitement of moving away is gone, and what stays?

The paralyzing fear of the unknown. 

Not having an Amazon delivery guy that you know personally because he has been at your house more frequently than his own. Not knowing the best pizza place, where you taste tested the entire menu (even the ones you knew you wouldn’t like). Not having anyone to rescue you with toilet paper when you realized too late that you forgot to refill the roll.

Inconvenience is terrifying to some, and yet it’s what pushes us forward. Stepping out of our comfort zone and realizing that development happens when we face some kind of adversity or obstacle in life is beneficial. 

And how amazing new places and new experiences can be: the adrenaline of doing something you have never done before, meeting new people and sharing your story with others. Just getting different perspectives and views on life can be so refreshing. Moving to a new place doesn’t have to be scary.

So far, I have lived in four countries, with their own languages, cultures and perspectives, all away from family and familiar things at home in Austria. I was fourteen when I first decided, out of curiosity and some inner voice telling me so, to live in the U.K. for a short time. 

It opened many doors for me later in life, but the first few days were pure adrenaline. Spending time with people I didn’t know and who spoke a different language was an inconvenience, to say the least. Yet I discovered a great passion for traveling and experiencing different cultures that still drives me today. Had I not done it, who knows where I would be. 

Two years later I spent a good amount of time in Spain, which was another daring adventure that challenged me differently. Speaking a language in which I wasn’t fluent, working with people from different backgrounds and switching languages more often than clothes was not easy, and left me frustrated and exhausted most days. I was working as a waitress at the time. My coworkers spoke Spanish and Arabic, hardly any English. Most of our customers came from France, Germany, the U.K. and Sweden, which required me to jump from English to German to Spanish constantly.

However, the struggle paid off. I improved my Spanish, which would get me through tough exams the following years. I learned how to step out of my comfort zone, and working with international visitors gave me a greater understanding for people from different cultures and backgrounds.

Inconvenience and the unknown improved the person I am and that I am still becoming. Don’t be afraid to jump into cold water. Don’t be afraid of the unknown. When the world opens up again, embrace newness. It will make you stronger, more open-minded, and ready for bigger challenges.

Where have you been, and where do you want to go? Now more than ever, we’d love to hear your stories of exploration. Head over to the comments section to share it with the world, or join a Low Entropy meeting to start a whole new journey of personal growth.

Practicing Self-Compassion to Improve Mental Health: My Personal Experience

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Low Entropy Volunteer Writer Vivien Hannos discusses how being kind to herself creates opportunities for personal growth and improved mental health.

It was 1980, on Valentine’s Day, when I was diagnosed as a type 1 diabetic. I was only five years old. It was a life-altering diagnosis and the end of my childhood innocence. I had to learn how to administer my own shots of insulin and deal with both high and low blood sugar difficulties.

Low blood sugar reactions happen when there is not enough sugar in the bloodstream due to an excess of insulin. They cause me to become confused and shaky, and it is a life-threatening situation if I do not consume juice or sugar immediately. High blood sugar, on the other hand, is equally bad and, over time, can require limb amputation or result in kidney issues or blindness. 

My parents, at the time of diagnosis, thought that I needed to do a sport so that I would not lose my limbs to diabetic complications. My dad signed me up to learn to skate at Kerrisdale Arena, and that is where my love of skating started. It wasn’t long before I was wrapped up heavily in the competitive figure skating way of life. I practiced for hours and fell many times in my attempts to land new jumps so I could compete at a high level of skating.

Figure skating, being a subjective sport, relies on judges to determine the rankings of the competitors. I believe that over time, as a result of my disordered thinking of being judged continuously and my desperation to try to advance my ranking, I often examined myself in my attempts to fix my faults and gain a competitive edge. Unfortunately, all I accomplished was learning how to be too self-critical. For example, judges would look at how you behaved, what you wore, your facial expressions and how your body looked, and these were all factors in how one would place in rankings. I dwelt on my negative attributes daily and gave myself constant self-criticism.

According to Dr. Aaron T. Beck, the creator of cognitive behavioral therapy, depression can be caused by negative thinking. Therefore, spending a lot of time in a state of negative self-reflection as I did, can and did lead to an altered mood.

To make matters worse, severe depression, if left untreated, can cause a shift into psychosis, which leaves a person unable to tell what is real and not real while in that state. 

This is exactly what happened to me. I got sick with psychosis in 2006 after suffering unknowingly with depression for many years. At the time, leading up to the diagnosis and after already completing my university degree in communications, I was in a school that was training me for medical transcription and under a lot of stress, which put further strain on my brain.

This mental illness devastated me because of many factors. Not only was I humiliated to have a mental illness because of the stigma around mental health issues, but I also felt unlovable and rejected by society.

Psychosis is a serious mental illness, but is treatable with proper medication, which can bring the individual back into reality. As long as the medication is taken at an appropriate dosage, the state of being disconnected from society can be rectified. However, all you hear in the news are stories of people who are violent with mental illness. This is actually quite rare, but stigma remains.

I was brought under the careful watch of a psychiatrist, and with medication and talk therapy (cognitive behavioural therapy), I was told and shown that I was actually very hard on myself. This was the turning point.

I needed to change, and changing is very hard to do. It takes practice. I started to look at myself as imperfect beauty: I am beautiful because of the flaws that I have, not ugly because of my flaws. After retraining my brain to think in this manner by writing in my journal daily, I found that relationships were easier to maintain, and my confidence in myself grew.

I also found that allowing myself to make mistakes frequently, without judging myself, helped as well. It wasn’t long before I noticed that my mood was improving. My mood was further helped with an antidepressant, but the real benefit is from the positive self-compassion I have now.

Have you experienced your own journey toward self-compassion and kindness? Share your stories in the comments, or check out Low Entropy’s services for opportunities to spread positivity to others in a virtual meeting.

To Shanghai, With Love

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Born in the bustle of a densely packed, hyper-competitive metropolis, Low Entropy Volunteer Writer Tim Ling takes us back to a childhood spent meeting the onerous demands of an exacting academic system – not only giving us a taste of what it was like, but showing how crucial and enduring friendships were forged in its crucible.

Before coming to Canada, I lived in Shanghai. It was the place where I grew from a baby crying in my mother’s arms to a 15-year-old young man. Shanghai was the city upon which I built each piece of my understanding of the world, this city that I had never left before. Until I left, I never realized that I could love a place so much.

Shanghai is a city with 27 million people. That’s like stuffing the whole population of Canada on Vancouver Island. In Shanghai, there’s never a lack of human resources. 

Then again, having a large population comes with challenges. Competition was created, far more intense than what we have in Canada. One can be doing their job one day and be fired for no reason the next, just because there are so many people waiting to take their  position. Workers often lack any sense of belonging in their companies, because there are likely any number of other companies willing to offer a better salary. 

People don’t stay in one position for long – usually no more than a couple of years, in fact. You either get promoted, switch to a better company, or get kicked out. This is one reason why we call Shanghai the City of Opportunities. With people switching positions all the time, there’s always a chance that you find a better place. 

The story I’m going to share today isn’t going to focus on the competition of Shanghai, but it’s going to be based on that. 

As a kid I didn’t know how fierce the world was outside. We were like blank paper, waiting for the stories of our lives to be written. I spent the nine years from Grade 1 to Grade 9 learning concepts that made me who I am today.

When I was in school, students formed very close relationships. We were under a system that is quite different to the Canadian educational system. The sense of intense competition was present in schools from the moment you walked in. I still remember arriving in Grade 9 every day at 6:30 in the morning, studying for 12 continuous hours doing test papers and practice problems, and not leaving the classroom until 6:30 in the evening. 

What we learnt was way more difficult than what is taught in Canada too. I was doing the equivalent of Grade 12 math in Grade 9. However, I didn’t feel stressed out then. I’d even say it felt pretty easy. Maybe it’s that I got used to it, but more likely, I believe that socializing with people around me helped me overcome that stress. 

We were all students who bore too much at that young age. So, like patients in the same hospital ward, we felt very close to each other. After all, they were the only ones to accompany you while you did your 12-hour test sheets. We could always talk to each other and discuss problems. We’d even eat and nap together. We felt like one whole. 

When we face difficulties, we won’t just stress out. We don’t even need to use words. I just turn my head around. I look at you. You are doing the same stuff I am doing. You are facing the same difficulty I am facing. You turn around and face me. We look into each other’s eyes and we smile. We are in this together. 

There is this emotion built among us, like brothers and sisters, that made us lifelong friends. School is like a second home, where those classmates who have been through the hard times with you are your family members. 

It was with those friends, who acted as an analgesic drug every time I fell, that I overcame this period of time.

Pretty strange for a Grade 9 like me to have built those kinds of relationships at the time, right? I felt surprised by it even then. I was full of resentment for the educational system we had, and thought, given a chance, I would never come back again. 

Looking back, I realize that that system actually worked. When I later flipped open a Canadian Grade 10 textbook, only to find  that I had already learnt everything in it in Grade 6, I was surprised, and joyful. 

What’s more is that I now have a group of friends forged from deep, shared experiences. I would never have such friends if it weren’t for the nine years of education I got in Shanghai. 

Shanghai was the place where my stories began. It is where I put hard effort into my studies and built my most important friendships. It is where I gained my most important understandings, and learnt how to socialize. 

I fell in love with Shanghai, without noticing.

When was the last time you fell in love with a city or a culture? What was it that captured your heart? Get us dreaming about faraway lands and special places in the comments or at a Low Entropy meeting.

Gusto in a Dangerous Time

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As we round the corner on the first month of a new, hopeful year, Low Entropy Volunteer Writer Mike Vaness pauses to reflect on what still might be salvaged from the flaming wreckage of 2020.

It would be a massive understatement to say that 2020 was a tumultuous year. Our lives have changed in ways that mimic works of fiction. However, we persevered and made it through, anticipating a brighter new year and promising to better ourselves. This is the time to make some positive changes, bring about new habits or start new hobbies. On the other hand, these new resolutions are often challenging and overly ambitious, and many of us have undoubtedly fallen back into old habits. As such, in 2021, I feel that instead of racing toward a “New Year, New Me,” perhaps we should look back upon the year we’ve just wrapped up, and find some positivity and growth that was mixed within all the chaos.

Looking back on the holiday season, I think it would be safe to say that our normal routines and expectations completely changed. Normally we would have been busy working out travel plans, matching schedules with work and social events, and attempting to see everyone and go all the places we could. This year there was a lot more emphasis on staying home with online shopping and shipping. It was hard to deal with the reality that we could not visit family or friends during the time when being with our loved ones was most important. I know when this realization first sank in for me, I was feeling quite depressed and sad. I haven’t been able to see my family in over a year, and it does not look like that will change for months to come. With that in mind, I have also come to realize how thankful I am for the new technology that allowed us to be more digitally connected than ever before. 

When I sat down on Christmas morning with just my partner and myself at home, we had a quiet breakfast, opened a couple gifts and took a much more calm and slow pace. We both commented that we were not exactly missing the pressure of having to keep to a tighter schedule – although I admit we don’t have children in our household, so this may not have been the same experience for everyone! We then began to set up a Zoom call for my family, and it was amazing to be able to see everyone’s faces when we spoke with them. It just brings a new level of communication that helps fill the void of not being together in person just a little bit more. New technology is by no means a replacement for being with friends and family in person, but I’m still glad it offers more than what we have had in the recent past.

The flexibility of technology can be positively applied to other aspects of our lives as well, with people being able to work from home and finding an entirely new sense of work and life balance. People have discovered all kinds of new hobbies and projects because they were encouraged to stay home. Many people have been able to explore different creative avenues that before may have been overlooked. I myself have found that I enjoy trying new and different recipes in the kitchen, and trying things that are a bit unusual. It has been an uplifting and fun experience that has allowed me to expand my repertoire for weekday meals.

Looking back at how our lives have changed, we can also focus on how best to move forward. We can see how things have changed on a grand scale, and while we may not want to maintain many of those changes once the public becomes a safer place, there are always some changes that can be made for the better. There is no reason, once we gain more freedom, why we cannot continue our creative pursuits. I will continue to look into new things to try in the kitchen, as well as working with other crafts. For instance, I recently bought equipment to work with casting resin, and am looking forward to trying it out to see where it can lead for future projects.

While we have all had our lives upended, in the end we can either completely ignore the past or try to move forward with gusto and fervor. I think there is a lot of good that can be had from looking to the past, reflecting, learning and gaining perspective. The past year was one of sadness and chaos, but there are bits and pieces that we can pull from it to help us keep moving forward. For 2021 we can try to bring about a new us, because we have grown even in the shadow of a disastrous year. We made it through, and now we can take the best parts of ourselves and decide who we get to be.

Who are you going to be in 2021? How much of 2020 will you take with you? Comment, keep an eye on this space and check out some Low Entropy virtual programming in the new year!

Always a Mountain to Climb

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From the symbolism of mountain goats to democratizing spirituality, Low Entropy Leah Costello speaks on the importance of accepting – and even embracing – the persistence of adversity in life, and how it can enrich every journey.

My grandmother Joan’s life advice: “There’s always a mountain to climb.” As a Capricorn, the sign of the sea goat, I appreciate the imagery of a goat persevering up the summit.

I passed on Joan’s advice to my friend Jesse and he said, “God, that’s depressing! She’s a really happy woman, isn’t she?”

I explained that she is a happy woman and I agreed with her – there’s never a time when everything will be perfect. Jesse holds onto hope that there will be. And so did I, for many years. I kept thinking, after this everything will finally come together. I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t get to the top of that mountain. I should have it all figured out by now! Some people have perfect lives, right?

I didn’t get it for a long time. I got part of the way there when I started reading Pema Chödrön, the acclaimed Shambhala Buddhist monk who lives in my homeland of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. She says that there will never be a time when everything comes together, that we have to accept where we are in every given moment without judgment. If I’m being honest with myself, it took some very deep wounds and family tragedies to gain a deep understanding of this concept. Eventually, I realized that this is what my grandmother was getting at in her mountain-climbing analogy.

So what does this mean in practice? Well, I’m still not 100 percent sure. I’m figuring it out. I’m far from a monk living in the isolated highlands of Cape Breton. I do yoga videos at home like everyone else. But no matter what you are doing, you can always make room for yourself. I struggle during corpse pose to keep myself from making an inventory of all the things I have to do that day. It’s hard not to silently criticize myself and others, and even harder to confront the people I love.

My current philosophy is a simple, albeit cliché one: life is a journey and not a destination. That’s what Pema and Nanny Joan are getting at. Bring yourself back to yourself: back from the downward spiral of to-do lists, back from the chain reaction of thoughts that lead nowhere and back from the dramatic arguments playing out in your head.

People call this mindfulness, but you can call it whatever you like – whatever gets you there. My Nanny didn’t study as a monk, but she gets it. A lot of people get it. They clear their heads, get some air, gain perspective, check in, pray, give offerings, do therapy and get a little help from their friends.

People get caught up in fancy spiritual terms and forget that they were coined in a very different time from our own. The same idioms and imagery may not work for us. Spiritual practices, such as mindfulness and prayer, capture a universal part of the human experience. Human experiences don’t “belong” to any particular culture or group. You can bring yourself back to yourself in many ways, whether through established spiritual traditions or more eclectic approaches.

For my grandmother, it’s mountains and goats. The goat climbs up the mountain in his endless pursuit of the summit. But when he gets to the top, he sees the whole mountain range. It’s endless and stretches out to the horizon. He might get discouraged, but during that peaceful time on the summit, he can see the whole picture, the totality of challenges that we all experience. It allows him to practice acceptance of the perpetual climb. And that acceptance gives him the strength to move forward.

How do you handle recurring challenges? And are goats the most inspiring animal? If not, then which one? Start the debate in the comments or at a Low Entropy meeting, and convince everyone with your air-tight argument.

. . . and also it’s flamingos. It’s obviously flamingos.