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5 minutes to slow down, laugh, and share something in common. Every Thursday.
Today’s Setlist
🎩 One Theme → Presence
😄 Funny Business → English…what a language
📊 Community Poll → We do not care about stars…at all
🤝 Help → Giveaway time
Last Thursday, I talked about my goals for bootstrapping my way to making a living from my newsletter and STFD Community.
Beehiiv—where I write this newsletter—must have heard me because they sent me an opportunity.
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Presence
Living in the past is stress. Living in the future is anxiety.
Ironically, I’m going to explore this with a story from a few days ago. I’ll write in the present tense out of respect for the present.
I am on a drive to participate in a yoga class, led by the immensely talented Mychal Prieto.
I am driving on a highway in Los Angeles—essentially a Mad Max apocalyptic wasteland.
Live Traffic Feed from Interstate-405
I suddenly snap into an intense presence.
“How long was I daydreaming?”
“What was I even thinking about?”
These thoughts cross my mind as I immediately put them to rest. I am in the present now.
A car merges from the lane to the left into my lane, drives for a few seconds, and enters the lane to my right. The license plate of this car is 1PJB444.
I notice the angel number—as I try to do—and interpret it as a sign to stay present.
A few seconds have passed. A car merges from the lane to my right into my lane, drives a few seconds, and enters the lane to my left. The license plate of this car is 9RXF666.
I notice the angel number—as I try to do—and interpret it as a sign to stay present.
I see the humor in this present experience, as 444 and 666 intersect me in my presence. 555. The middle.
I laugh and start thinking about how this will be a wonderful newsletter. So long, presence…
I’ve been practicing ‘Presence Over Comparison’ breathwork on Othership for the past few days, where the guide, Finnean, concludes the session by saying:
“If you’re depressed, you’re living in the past. If you’re anxious, you’re living in the future. If you’re at peace, you’re living in the present.”
I think about how true this rang for me, and how I wanted to embody more presence…
I gently return to an intense presence.
I merge to the right, and I exit the highway.
Note: The ‘Presence Over Comparison’ breathwork link expires after a few days. Message me if it’s expired and you’d like to try it. Message me if you tried it, and desire a free month of the Othership app.
😄 Funny Business
@itsbobbyfinn I think it’s time to drop English class #skit #lol #fyp
📊 Community Poll
Results for last week’s question: What’s your star cutoff for a restaurant being good or not?
What did I learn here? that we have very little interest in exploring star cutoffs. Can’t win ‘em all.
On to this week’s question…
All other things aside (e.g. ease of eating), what’s the BEST TASTING crustacean? |
🤝 Let’s Help Each Other
It’s giveaway season.
I’m giving away 4 spots to the next Slow The Fuck Down experience, taking place August 24th!
All I ask in return is 15 minutes of your time to hear your thoughts on my newsletter.
Save $55 while getting to talk about yourself for 15 minutes? What. A. Fucking. Deal.
 | Begin and end with love,  |
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Confine yourself to the present. — Marcus Aurelius