Mindful Matter
Per aspera ad astra.
A couple of months ago, I was driving with my parents to Ventura, CA to visit Mike. After a few hours in traffic, we decided to switch on a recent Oprah SuperSoul Conversations podcast episode with author and spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle. In the last 10 minutes, their conversation moved to the current state of the world. Oprah asks Tolle: "So, what is your interpretation of these troubled times we are living in?" He replies: There is a Latin saying going back 2000 years: “per aspera ad astra" which translated means “through adversity to the stars,” or, "through hardship to the stars." So whenever an obstacle rises that seems to block the path forward, in reality the obstacle has an essential function. And that is, it forces me or it forces humanity to generate more — either more strength, more energy or more consciousness." That got my interest. It reminded me of the Stoic view of adversity, a concept that really resonates with me, and we have written about before. Tolle continues: “It even operates on a physical level. If you want to make your body stronger, what do you do? You say, well, you need to exercise. But what is exercise? Exercise is … for a while you have to make life difficult for your body ... you have to lift this weight … ”Oh my god, it’s so [heavy]” … You are not in your comfort zone anymore … And so life becomes difficult for the body and then there is a demand for more strength … When life becomes difficult for human beings there is demand for more consciousness.” For Me, The Meaning of Per Aspera Ad Astra When I look at my own life, I see that my greatest periods of personal growth came after particularly challenging moments — moments where I was beyond my comfort zone. This idea of growth through adversity has come up in the Holstee Membership a number of times, particularly in the importance of Adventure and the beauty of Resilience. While it doesn’t make going through tough times any easier, this idea does give me hope that through it all, we can rise higher than where we started. To the stars, Dave RadparvarCo-Founder, Holstee [Editor's Note: While Eckhart Tolle attributes the phrase "per aspera ad astra" to 2000 years ago, it's important to note that this is not historically accurate. The exact phrase "per aspera ad astra" is of more recent origin, with documented usage dating back to the early 20th century. However, the concept of overcoming adversity to achieve greatness does have roots in classical literature. For example, Seneca the Younger wrote in his work "Hercules Furens" around 54 AD: "Non est ad astra mollis e terris via" (There is no easy way from the earth to the stars).]
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The Golden Mean.
October is the month I was born, which makes this month’s theme of Integrity the equivalent of my astrological sign in the Holstee-verse (high-five to my fellow equitable and slightly indecisive Libras!). They say Libras are all about balance. Perhaps that is why this month I was drawn towards Aristotle’s concept of the Golden Mean. According to Aristotle, a pioneer of western philosophy, identifying our virtues is important but the real impact comes from being able to put our virtues into action — in the right way, at the right time, and with the right intention. In this month’s Integrity Guide, we explore his concept of the Golden Mean, the sweet spot of our moral behavior between two extremes, with excess at one end and deficiency at the other. Take courage, for example. Too little can translate to cowardice, while in excess it can become recklessness. But when we apply just the right amount of this virtue, we can be courageous in a way that meets the needs of the situation and doesn’t lead to unintended consequences. What values are you practicing in excess or in deficit? How might you be able to bring those values back to the Golden Mean? It’s all about the balance, Mike RadparvarCo-Founder, Holstee
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30+ Journaling Prompts To Kickstart Your Writing Practice
One of the hardest parts about journaling is knowing what to write about. In this post, we’re going to help kickstart your journaling habit. We’re going to provide you with 30+ journaling prompts to help you kickstart your journaling practice. These journaling prompts can be people of all ages — adults, teens, and even children (some of them). We have divided them into a four sections: Daily Journal Prompts Journal Prompts For Self-Discovery Journal Prompts For Mental Health Journal Prompts For Gratitude You can use a single prompt or multiple prompts for each journaling session. What matters most with journaling is consistency. Don’t feel like you have to work through dozens of prompts each time you journal. Doing just one each day is enough to have a profound effect on your life. Create your own Journaling practice with our free journaling tool: Reflection.app. Daily Journal Prompts Use these journal prompts to help you evaluate how your day went, what successes you had, and what you want to change tomorrow. These prompts will help you ensure that you live each day to the fullest. What did you experience today? What were the highlights of your day? What brought you joy? Were there patterns in your highlights? What were the lowlights of your day? What challenged you? What did you learn from your lowlights? What do you want to do differently tomorrow? What do you want to keep the same? What are you grateful for today? Why? Journal Prompts For Self-Discovery Use these journal prompts to discover more about who you are, your hopes and dreams, your fears, and what you hope to accomplish in your lifetime. These prompts will help you discover more about who you are, what you love, and the things that bring you joy in life. How do you define success? Who are you grateful for today? Why? If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? What’s keeping you from making that change? What is your personal motto? In what ways are you not living by your motto? What advice would you give to your past self? What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given? How often do you apply that advice to your life? What were your hopes and dreams in the past? What are your hopes and dreams today? In what ways have they evolved? What accomplishments are you most proud of? What is something you’ve never done but want to do? If you weren’t afraid of anything, what would you do? Who do you look up to the most from your past? What character qualities do you admire about this person? Journal Prompts For Mental Health Use these journal prompts to think through difficult problems, sort through painful issues, and achieve greater mental health and clarity. These prompts are helpful for resolving sticky issues that you can’t seem to get out of your head. How would your life change if you fully believed in yourself? When did you experience the most pain? What did you learn from that pain? How have you found peace beyond it? What one event in your life has changed you the most? Why was it so transformative? What is keeping you from living your most fulfilled life? What beliefs are you holding on to that no longer serve you? What scares you? How can you use your fear to motivate you to take action? What do you wish you could change about your past? What would change if you made peace with the past? What do you love most about yourself? What makes you feel most alive? Journal Prompts For Gratitude Use these journal prompts to spark gratitude in your heart. As you journal through them, ponder all that you’re grateful for, why you’re grateful, and how you can continue to grow in gratefulness. Who are you grateful for? Why are you grateful for them? What are five things you’re thankful for? What are some moments where you experienced joy? What were the best five days of your life? How can you recreate those best days more often? What are you looking forward to most in the next month? Who do you need to tell that you love them? If your life is a story and you’re the author, what does a happy ending look like? Start Journaling Today Journaling is an incredibly valuable practice. It has numerous health, emotional, and spiritual benefits. It allows you to take a step back from your life and evaluate what’s working well and what needs to change. Ready to get started? We have created a simple app to help you start and keep a journaling practice. If you're looking for additional journaling prompts to grow your self-reflection practice, check out Holstee's Reflection Cards.
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What brings us together.
We recently announced a new product collaboration with UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center to create a colorful boxed set of 30 science-based practices for a meaningful life. One of the things that I admire most about the Greater Good Science Center is their dedication to surfacing the science behind a flourishing and compassionate society. This is especially important now. Whenever I look at the headlines, it seems like the world is getting more and more divided. People are further solidifying the edges of their identities and the tribes they identify with. I worry that it’s a downward spiral — the less people feel they have in common, the less likely they are to be kind or generous, which fosters even more negativity — and the cycle continues. The good news is, the opposite is also true. The more we feel a shared identity with others, the more likely we are to be kind and generous to them — which in turn makes us feel a greater sense of connection and belonging. The cycle can be beautiful and virtuous, instead of fearful and hateful. To help us understand the science behind this, we can turn to the Shared Identity practice, one of 30 practices in the Greater Good Toolkit. Along with the research, the practice outlines a practical exercise to help foster empathy and connection. Here is a summarized excerpt: Think of a person who seems to be different from you in every way you can imagine. Make a list of all of the things that you most likely share in common with this person. Perhaps you both work for the same company or go to the same school? Review this list of commonalities. Does it make you see this person in a new light? Instead of viewing this person as unfamiliar or as a member of an out-group, try to see this person as an individual, one whose tastes and experiences might overlap with yours. Repeat this exercise whenever you meet someone who initially seems different from you, with whom you have a conflict, or who makes you feel uncomfortable. While simple in practice, the science behind it is powerful. In a 2008 study on empathy that is referenced in the practice, researchers found that: “Participants who reported feeling a greater sense of connection to other people, regardless of group distinctions, and to the natural world at large also reported less egocentricity, more concern for others, and less interest in having power over others.” The more we realize and appreciate how similar we actually are, the more we are able to treat others as we would want to be treated — with care and kindness. We’re in this together, Dave RadparvarCo-Founder, Holstee P.S. We are offering 20% off of all Greater Good Toolkit pre-orders until this Thursday, when we officially begin production. Visit the Toolkit Pre-order page →
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Q&A with Leah Duffney
This month’s art is by Holstee’s very own graphic designer, Leah Duffney. Based in the cozy woods of Vermont, she loves creating compelling visual solutions that help tell a brand’s story and make an impact. Leah believes integrity is an intricate balance between doing what is right in your heart and taking action. For a little more about Leah, here's a short Q&A! Where is home for you? Home is in the mountains of Central Vermont. What is your definition of a successful life? A successful life is one you can look back on when you’re older and feel pleased with the journey you’ve lived. You are able to look back at all the adventures you’ve taken, accomplishments you’ve made, reflect upon the “downs” you’ve had and are proud of the person you have become. A successful life is one of integrity—always taking action and following your heart. Describe your perfect day. My perfect day is when I find balance in productivity and self-care. I love being able to start my day in a way that allows me to feel full and ready to take on the rest of it! This could be a range of things like going to the gym or sitting on the front porch in the morning sun and listening to the world around me. How did you get into design? I was always a creative thinker—even as a child I was constantly drawing and coming up with new ways to challenge myself creatively. I took as many art courses in high school as I could and when I took my first Graphic Design class, I knew it was what I wanted to pursue as a career. What I love about being a designer is that there are so many facets in the industry—so many different areas and styles to explore. It gives me the ability to continue challenging myself and discover new ways to creatively problem solve. Where do you find inspiration? Anywhere and everywhere! I can’t seem to walk into a store without looking at or taking pictures of inspiring branded materials—packaging, signage, product design, etc. I also look on Pinterest but most of my creative inspiration comes from Instagram! I have an absurd number of Instagram collection boards of designs, styles, techniques, and project ideas that inspire me -so when I start a new project or want to challenge myself, I can easily look back and reference those inspirational pieces! What's your dream design project? I don’t necessarily have a “dream” project but any opportunity to create compelling graphics/branding to support a business is always the most fulfilling part of my job. I love taking a business’ story/mission and creating its visual direction. I find joy in designing cohesive elements that tell an engaging story that makes an impact. Which designers or thinkers influence/inspire you? There are so many people I am inspired by! I have to start by saying that Wassily Kandinsky, a 20th century artist known for his geometric shapes and lines, is someone I draw a lot of inspiration from. He is believed to be the first artist to arrive at a true and complete abstraction. One of my favorite pieces by him is titled “Composition VIII”. But there are many modern day designers and thinkers that I am inspired by—too many to list but I have to share a few!… Olivia Herrick, Carli Anna, Amy Bridgeforth, Morgan Rapp, Kim Lincoln, Kelsy Stromski, and the teams at Outline & Stitch Design Co! These are all people and teams that I look up to when starting a new project because of their unique outside-the-box thinking, creativity, use of color and typography, and influence in the creative community. What was the inspiration behind this design? Throughout my life and my career, my goal was to always follow my heart. It was never about following the money or doing things I don’t agree with—it was always about doing work and making decisions that were fulfilling and made an impact in some way, shape, or form. Design has always been something that felt natural to me so I knew that I had to follow that path, even if I didn’t know exactly what that path looked like. (I still don’t! And that’s why it’s a journey.) So, I wanted to create a piece that reminded people to follow their inner truth and rise up to it, especially when the going gets tough. We are our integrity—our work, our decisions, our words and if we stay true to that, we will always find our way. At the moment, what is your favorite… Color: I love so many different colors but my ultimate favorite is matte royal blue—not specific at all, right? Ha! Food: Oh food, my favorite thing of all! Sushi and anything pasta related are top of the list. Song: Honestly, I have never had a favorite song! I like way too much music to just pick one. I love everything from pop, R&B, reggaeton, hip-hop, country… the list goes on. It entirely depends on my mood. Quote: “The details are not the details. They create the design.” – Charles Eames
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The legend of Django Reinhardt.
Django Reinhardt is known as one of the best jazz musicians of the 21st century. What’s less known is the story of his incredible resilience. I came across this story while getting lost down a Wikipedia rabbit hole one recent night and wanted to share it with you. Reinhardt was born in 1910 and grew up in a family caravan with his single mother and siblings in a nomadic Romani settlement outside of Paris. Life in the settlement wasn’t easy, so he became skilled at stealing chickens for his family. Reinhardt was also musically inclined and taught himself the violin, banjo and guitar. At the age of 12, he would travel outside of his community to Paris to put on shows. By 18, he was a favorite in Parisian dance halls and beginning to gain international fame. Then the unthinkable happened. One evening, a candle fell into flammable liquid as Reinhardt and his wife slept. Their caravan immediately went up in flames and they barely escaped. Reinhardt was hospitalized for nearly two years with bad burns across his body. Two of the fingers on his left hand were burned with silver nitrate to make what remained of his hand usable, but the doctors doubted that he would ever play guitar again. In a way the doctors were right. Reinhardt was never able to play the guitar as he did before the fire. Instead he changed his technique, creating a new style to accommodate his hand. "Instead of playing scales and arpeggios horizontally across the fretboard as was the norm, he searched out fingerings that ran vertically up and down the frets as they were easier to play with just two fingers. He created new chord forms. . . . He pushed his paralyzed fingers to grip the guitar as well, his smallest digit on the high E string, his ring finger on the B, and sometimes barring his index finger to fashion chords of four to five notes. He then slid his hand up and down the fretboard, employing these chord forms to craft a fluent vocabulary."Excerpt from “Django: The Life and Music of a Gypsy Legend” by Michael Dregni This new style sealed Reinhardt’s status as a music legend. During the first part of the 20th century, he was considered the most famous jazz musician in Europe. This isn’t the only obstacle Reinhardt overcame. His biography includes many fascinating stories (including 2 failed attempts of escaping France in World War II, once where his life spared by a jazz-loving soldier). For many people, a life filled with so many obstacles would kill the spirit, if not the body. But Reinhardt was determined to overcome his impediments and bring his own style to the music he loved so much. In the process, he created an incredible library of music (I’ve been playing his Spotify hits on repeat for the past week). His legacy is a powerful reminder that life can give us obstacles — but it will not be defined by those obstacles, only by how we respond to them. Dave RadparvarCo-Founder, Holstee
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