Mindful Matter
We’re in this together, and we always have been.
Lately I’ve been sitting with the thought that every person I have ever met, every stranger I have ever walked by, my childhood neighbors, my favorite living authors, the sandwich maker in Sicily, every one of you reading this email — every human on this planet has been affected or will be affected in some way by the coronavirus. Never in my lifetime have I experienced something that has so quickly been experienced by everyone I know and don’t know at the same time. The thought is profound. And in this instance deeply sad, with so many people’s lives upended, uncertain, and touched by fear and tragedy. But this thought has also opened something inside of me. It has reminded me of how deeply connected we all are, and how much our existence depends on one another. One state or country cannot expect to stay safe while those outside their borders are still at risk. And in many cases, the food and essentials we depend on come from outside our communities, making us reliant on global supply chains for many of our needs. On a local level, we see how much our health, safety and comfort depends on one another. We are indebted to the healthcare workers on the front-lines keeping people alive, and to the people at the local grocery store keeping necessities accessible. We have created a world where everything from our economy to our health is deeply interconnected. It is impossible for one person, one family, or even one country to get through this alone. We can only get through this together. It is strange and ironic that in a time marked by social-distancing, our interconnectedness has become even more clear. I don’t know how these months will change us in the years to come. But I hope we can hold onto this understanding of our deep connection to one another and to the planet. Normally it’s easy to only see our differences — different countries, different religions, different languages, different politics, different preferences. The coronavirus is blind to these differences. The past few weeks have made it clearer than ever, we’re in this together, and we always have been. Dave RadparvarCo-Founder, Holstee
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There is fear, but there does not have to be hate.
With this month's theme of Wellness, we are constantly looking for ways to keep our balance amidst the uncertainty. A friend recently shared the poem Lockdown by Brother Richard Hendrick. It’s a beautiful and powerful message for what is currently unfolding around the world. We are re-sharing it below and have highlighted a few lines that we found particularly moving. We hope that reading it helps slow things down and brings a few moments of peace to your day, like it did for us. Wishing you health, comfort, and safety, Mike and Dave RadparvarCo-Founders, Holstee Lockdown Yes there is fear.Yes there is isolation.Yes there is panic buying.Yes there is sickness.Yes there is even death.But,They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noiseYou can hear the birds again.They say that after just a few weeks of quietThe sky is no longer thick with fumesBut blue and grey and clear.They say that in the streets of AssisiPeople are singing to each otheracross the empty squares,keeping their windows openso that those who are alonemay hear the sounds of family around them.They say that a hotel in the West of IrelandIs offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.Today a young woman I knowis busy spreading fliers with her numberthrough the neighbourhoodSo that the elders may have someone to call on.Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Templesare preparing to welcomeand shelter the homeless, the sick, the wearyAll over the world people are slowing down and reflectingAll over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new wayAll over the world people are waking up to a new realityTo how big we really are.To how little control we really have.To what really matters.To Love.So we pray and we remember thatYes there is fear.But there does not have to be hate.Yes there is isolation.But there does not have to be loneliness.Yes there is panic buying.But there does not have to be meanness.Yes there is sickness.But there does not have to be disease of the soul.Yes there is even death.But there can always be a rebirth of love.Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now.Today, breathe.Listen, behind the factory noises of your panicThe birds are singing againThe sky is clearing,Spring is coming,And we are always encompassed by Love.Open the windows of your soulAnd though you may not be ableto touch across the empty square,Sing. Brother Richard HendrickMarch 13, 2020
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Staying grounded in uncertain times.
I wasn’t planning on writing anything about the coronavirus. The truth is, I am finding it hard to focus on anything in this present moment. The uncertainty has me unsettled. The present is constantly overshadowed by thoughts of the future. What if my friends or family get the virus? What if our city goes into full lockdown mode? How is the world going to recover? Feeling overwhelmed, I turned to my journal and reflected on past moments of uncertainty. I started making a list of things to remember, things that could ground me, bring perspective and return me to the present. I wanted to send these to you in an email in case there is something in here that resonates with you — but also because I’d love to hear how you are coping. Here are a few items from the list: Meditation. Impermanence, or anicca as it is called in the Buddhist tradition, is the idea that things are constantly changing. And that we can observe that change without becoming consumed by it. A core concept behind Vipassana meditation and mindfulness is to experience the feeling of anicca in your own body by becoming aware of your bodily sensations without reacting to them with desire or aversion. Practicing this during meditation helps prepare us so that when we are met with unexpected sensations or experiences in our everyday lives, we are better prepared to experience them with a healthy level of perspective and equanimity. I have been returning to meditation regularly these past few weeks to help recenter me. Practice gratitude. This may sound counter-intuitive when it seems like there’s more to be scared, angry or anxious about. But I come back to these words from Brother David Steindl-Rast: “I didn't say we can be grateful for everything. I said we can be grateful in every given moment…” It is not that we need to be grateful for the virus or the school closings or the delayed travel plans. But every single moment has something that we can give thanks for, if we open ourselves up to it. Our breath — which reminds us that we have the opportunity to be here and be present — is a perfect example. Journaling. Just writing things down does wonders to help me sort through and get to the bottom of how I am actually feeling. This email is a perfect example. It started with a rant answering the seemingly simple question I am prompted with every time I open my journaling app: “Hey Dave, how are you feeling today?” Getting these thoughts out of my head and onto the page is a way of acknowledging the thoughts that are racing around my head. And as I acknowledge the thoughts, I notice that they begin to quiet. Support each other. In difficult times, it’s easy to think we are alone, especially with the currently prescribed “social distancing”. Reach out to those you care about — but instead of just trading fears and anxieties, try bringing a positive element to the conversation. Let your loved ones know you are thinking about them and tell them something you appreciate about them. Spreading the love is a great way to feel the love. Support others and you will feel supported. I’d love to hear, how do you stay grounded in times of uncertainty? Dave RadparvarCo-Founder, Holstee
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Making space for deep work.
During this past month of Intention setting, Dave and I realized just how much we want to do in 2020. We also realized that in order to make it happen without burning out, we need to be just as intentional about making time and space for it. That’s why we are planning to take several weeks off from writing our weekly Reflections to allow for some much needed “deep work”. During this sprint, we plan to dedicate our focused energy towards Reflection.app, the Holstee Membership, and a few new product concepts that we’ll share later this year. The concept of “deep work” was popularized by researcher and productivity expert Cal Newport in his book Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World. Newport defines deep work as: “Professional activity performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate.” It’s a valuable skill to hone, regardless of your craft. It’s also becoming simultaneously more valuable and more rare. Deep work requires us to be incredibly intentional with our time, which is really difficult when we have a lot of things vying for our attention. Newport offers three strategies to build a deep work habit: Schedule distraction-free periods, ideally with hard start and stop times. Develop a rhythmic deep work schedule, so that you no longer need to decide when or if you will go deep that day. Newport suggests blocking time in the morning if possible. Have a daily ‘shutdown’ ritual in which you make a plan for how you’ll finish incomplete tasks the following day. This will allow you to disconnect for the evening and get quality sleep so you can be ready and energized the next day. We’re excited to test out these principles during our own deep work sprint, and we’ll be sure to share our learnings once we’re back. While we’re taking a break, we’ve collected some of our favorite Reflections from the archive and will be sharing one every Monday. We hope this is a way to revisit the ideas that most resonated with our community, while keeping with the weekly Reflections tradition. Look forward to being back in touch very soon! Mike (and Dave)Co-Founders, Holstee
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Q&A with Daren Thomas Magee
This month’s art is by California-based illustrationist, Daren Thomas Magee. Daren is inspired by the human condition and hopes that his art resonates within all who experience it. He believes, "Tracing back far enough we’re all kin. It's vitally important to remember that as much as possible. It can provide a deeper sense of empathy for our fellow humans." For a little more about Daren, here's a short Q&A! Where is home for you? The beautiful Valley of the Moon, Ojai, California. What is your definition of a successful life? A successful life is one where you had the ability and space to express yourself fully without restraints or restrictions. Describe your perfect day. Early morning coffee. Create art. Spend quality time with my family. Go to bed peacefully with nothing weighing on my conscience. How did you get into design? I’ve always had an interest in how design influences our world. I started arranging things at an early age and delivered them to the world in whatever form I could accomplish. Having no classical training I’ve never been bound by any preset rules of the industry. Where do you find inspiration? Nature provides the greatest inspiration to me. It has no ego and exists purely based on how it best fits in its environment. What's your dream design project? Something huge, like billboard size! Which designers or thinkers influence/inspire you? Terrence McKenna and his willingness to explore the depths of his conscience has been an inspiration to me for a long time. What was the inspiration behind this design? I work with hands a lot. They are the most versatile tool in the animal kingdom. I am so grateful for their endless abilities and love finding new ways to use them in design. At the moment, what is your favorite… Color: Army Green Food: Sushi Song: ‘Around the Horn’ by Phosphorescent Quote: “You don't look out there for God, something in the sky, you look in you.” -Alan Watts
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The chairman of the mind.
I am the kind of person whose mind doesn’t stop racing. It is my default mode; I’m constantly thinking through what has happened and what could be — avoiding, at all costs, the present moment. At times, I like to think of this as an asset that helps me come up with new ideas. But most of the time, this non-stop background dialogue is distracting, exhausting, and often anxiety-inducing. My mind will replay something that went wrong until I thoroughly feel horrible. Or, it starts randomly highlighting all the things on my never ending to-do list or surfacing all the things that could go wrong with our upcoming round of production. Listening to a recent Tim Ferris interview with physicist Safi Bahcall, I was reminded that I’m not alone. In fact, Safi has come up with a pretty clever way of working with — not against — the thoughts that attempt to hijack our minds, time, and energy. He suggests that we begin by personifying each type of thought. For example, the voice that is constantly replaying that bad investment you made months ago — call that voice Mr. Money. The voice that is constantly creating concerns about what could go wrong on your next camping trip — call that voice Concerned Camper. The voice that keeps obsessing about the moment you made a mistake at work — say hello to Worried Worker. And on and on, repeating for each voice in your head that is fighting for your attention. Safi, calls this the “Chairman of the Mind” technique (though feel free to call it the Chairwoman or Chairperson of the Mind technique too). He explains how he visualizes a mock “board meeting” when his thoughts are getting the best of him: “You start by assuming positive intent. The character that’s stewing about the work, you thank them for their thoughts and you say... ‘I hear you — the reason you’re replaying this video in my head is that something happened today and you’re replaying that video over and over; there’s a very good reason that you’re doing that, and I appreciate that because you’re watching out for me. You want me to learn the lesson from that video.’ … You analyze it and you say, ‘Here’s what you’re trying to tell me. It’s this lesson. I said this stupid thing to my boss. I really shouldn’t do that. in this situation, here’s what I should do.’ And then you ask… ‘Did I get the lesson right?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Was that good?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Do you want to keep going, or was that enough for tonight?’… ‘No, we’re done.’ Boom, sits down. Then you go to the next… You start by thanking it for watching out for you. Assume positive intent. Instead of making enemies with your thoughts and trying to suppress them, you become partners with them, friends with them. Now, you walk through one by one, each of the three or four or five characters that were playing videos or audio about stuff that happened that day that you are stewing about. You just walk around the table. As soon as you’re done, as soon as the last person says, ‘Okay, I’m done,’ you feel this incredible calm… Because these guys are done.” In Safi’s experience, these voices — like people — just want our acknowledgment. And when we take a moment, hear them out, and seek the lessons, the thoughts dissipate and we are better for having learned from them. I was lying in bed the other night with thoughts racing and I gave this a try. To my surprise, I found it to be an effective, even enjoyable, way to acknowledge and organize the thoughts in my mind. Taking this technique a bit further, I have found that writing is an incredible way of getting thoughts out of my head and onto the page. We built Reflection.app for that exact reason. Beyond just being an oasis for your thoughts, Reflection.app guides you every month through a monthly review so you can identify patterns and set new intentions. I like to think of it as a Vice-Chair to my Board of Directors :-) Dave RadparvarCo-Founder, Holstee
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Time brings perspective, reflection brings clarity.
The Stoics, in all their practical wisdom, were advocates of reflection. Famed Stoic philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca captured the importance of reflection in this quote that I love: “I will keep constant watch over myself and — most usefully — will put each day up for review. For this is what makes us evil — that none of us looks back upon our own lives. We reflect upon only that which we are about to do. And yet our plans for the future descend from the past.” — Seneca It’s a powerful reminder. Over the past few months, I have moved my own reflection practice to Reflection.app — our new web-based app that organizes your Highlights, Lowlights, and Free Writes into a private and secure digital journal. Hands-down what I value most about the app is the guided Monthly Review. Looking back gives me a chance to revisit and feel grateful for all the beautiful moments I experienced over the past month. At the same time, it also gives me a chance to learn from and find peace with unfortunate events and challenging moments. Epictetus, a former slave whose pursuit of wisdom led him to become one of Stoicism’s most analytical thinkers, once said: “The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control.” — Epictetus Inspired in part by this Stoic approach, our Monthly Review includes a simple yet powerful framework for processing the month’s more challenging moments. For each Lowlight, you are prompted to ask yourself: “Was this within your control?” Then, there is an important follow up. Here is a preview: For Lowlights within your control, you’re asked: What would you do differently next time? For Lowlights outside of your control, you’re asked: How can you find peace with this? By revisiting my Lowlights days or weeks later, I have the distance I need to understand my experiences, emotions and actions — and view them with a more equanimous state of mind, seeing them without judgment but rather with the goal of finding peace and growth. It’s incredible how much perspective a bit of time can bring. Dave RadparvarCo-Founder, Holstee P.S. One of the most powerful features of Reflection.app is the way your daily journaling feeds directly into your Monthly Reviews, which feed directly into your End-of-Year Review. Our End-of-Year Review template launches in the coming weeks; sign up for Reflection.app now to get notified. P.P.S. We have released a ton of updates to Reflection.app in the past few weeks, including a bunch of bug fixes, new authentication options, and a roadmap to track your feature requests.
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Gearing Up for the Holstee Membership 2020
We launched the Holstee Membership four years ago as a monthly guided deep-dive into 12 mindful themes to help you slow down and carve out time for meaningful reflection and growth. Since then, we have been actively listening to our members to find ways to make this monthly exploration more insightful, inspiring, valuable, and fun. For 2020, our goal for the membership was to create space — more space for you to reflect and more space for us to dive deeper into the activities, research, and wisdom we have on each theme (without letting all that paper pile up). For this next evolution we have decided to replace our monthly printed Holstee Guide with a new Holstee Pocket Journal. This passport-size notebook is designed for on-the-go reflection. You can now capture your daily experiences and reflect on the month’s theme anytime, anywhere. Each monthly pocket journal will dive into one of our core themes through writing prompts, inspiring theme-based quotes, and a guided end-of-month review. We will keep the deeper content and research and take it a bit further with more nuggets of wisdom and inspiration. This content will live in a Digital Guide, with access to theme-specific activities and philosophies in one robust resource each month. Available as a printer-friendly PDF, there will be more space for you to go deeper if you choose. And of course, let’s not forget the Monthly Art! We will continue to include a high-quality letterpress print designed by artists from around the world in each pack. Not much changing here since our monthly designs are a crowd favorite. :-) For those who only want the art sent to them in the mail (and not the Pocket Journal) we will continue to offer our Art Membership with online access to the new Digital Guides. If you aren’t yet a Member, your first month is on us! Just use the code TRYHOLSTEE at checkout. To what lies ahead! Mike and Dave RadparvarCo-Founders, Holstee
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