#tds990 Life is not personal

“Mind — in its tiniest form — is what comes between us and the world around us. And mind, many have said — since the Stoics and before — is what projects our imperfect longings and understanding onto reality. It’s not events that undo us, it’s what we make of them.” Pico Iyer

Listen to Leonard Cohen explain the idea that ‘none of us are deserving – the cruelty or the grace’. It is just not always about you! If you can take more time today (it’s Sunday after all!) to find stillness read Pico Iyer’s essay ‘The disappearance of self in Japan’ (quote above from it). Well worth taking time for a close read.

TL;DR

“We in the West, especially in recent decades, are taught to “be ourselves.” Authenticity comes in acting and speaking as only you can act and speak. In Japan, the most considerate thing is not to be yourself. Not to impose your particular personality — and preferences and prejudices — on a situation. The ideal is to play a part — to be generic, in a way — and to perform the Platonic ideal of a convenience store clerk rather than complicate the matter by insisting on being Yukiko or Naohiko.” Discuss.

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This Daily Stillness has been recycled from previously published ones:

• #tds213 Life is not personal (Jan 29, 2016)
• #tds231 Life is not personal (Feb 16, 2016)
• #tds607 Life is not personal (Feb 26, 2017)