nothing quells anxiety better than action
We don’t procrastinate because we’re too busy, we do it because we’re scared of discomfort. Change that today! Watch inspiration take hold and pave the way toward a new life. You’ll be surprised how far you can go if you stop letting fear dictate your momentum. Embrace the resistance, the challenge, and the change. There is a reason successful people have more opportunities, it’s because they take more chances. Those chances are what harden us against the call to come back inside where it’s safe, and open us up to a new reality.
How do you know when you arrive at the threshold for change? You hear the voice of resistance — the invisible force of self-sabotage, pride, and ego — pleading for your comfort and safety; “it’s too risky, you shouldn’t do it.” But do it anyway, because nothing quells anxiety better than action.
The only better time than now to make a decision to improve your health or your life, was yesterday and you’ll never get that back.
everybody raise your hand
Everybody raise your hand… now raise it a little higher.
If you’re like most people you raised your hand fairly high, but still had something left to give, which gives you the ability to raise it a little higher on the second request. Why not give it everything you have at first?
You’ve never seen a successful author who says “I had a really good line, but I’m going to save it for my next book.” Or a professional bodybuilder who says “I had a few reps left in me, but I’ll save it for the next workout.” Instead, you hear things from the greats like “success is my only motherfuckin option, failure’s not.” The best people give their best effort all the time.
We hold ourselves back by setting up fictitious barriers in our head to stop us from committing to fully engaging in the work that needs to be done so that we can use that as an excuse not to try because we are SURE we are going to fail.
These barriers are all self-made and self-imposed. Fear of failure is never a reason to not give your best effort. At worst you will have to change an opinion, method, or direction. Yet, without fully committing, seeing it through and failing, you never give fate an opportunity to intervene.
There is only one you. Give your best effort at who you want to become because if you’re not living the life you dreamed of, you already failed and haven’t realized it.
choose wisely
Reactions matter. It’s much better to be optimistic and disappointed than pessimistic and right. Being positive or being negative isn’t going to change the situation at hand, but it will change the way you feel about it, and even has the ability to affect future outcomes.
The way you talk and think about your experiences has a major influence on how you perceive them. Your thoughts are tightly linked to your emotions, so thinking subtle things like “that was too hard” or “I’ll never be good enough” can leave you in an anxious state of mind that hinders future performance. You probably think it just affects you in the short term, but your self-talk has the ability to sink deep into your subconscious. If you begin to internalize negative self-talk, if can become a huge roadblock on your path toward reaching the person you want to be.
Think of our reactions as subconscious programming. Dr. Bruce Lipton, found that 95% of what we do every single day is controlled by our subconscious mind**. Your deepest, most unrecognizable, thoughts are driving your performance, and ultimately your life. How you choose to program it is up to you. And in the words of Viktor Frankl, it is “the last of human freedoms is man’s ability to choose his attitude in any given situation.”
Choose wisely.
book summary: Sacred Cow
Sacred Cow by Diana Rodgers & Robb Wolf
4 out of 5
TL;DR Eating meat isn't killing the planet, however if we want to thrive it would BEHOOVE (get it, ha!) us to implement sustainable farming practices.
Do #vegetarians live longer than meat eaters?
No. However due to confounding factors around health, non-vegetarians are more likely to smoke or excessive drink, ultimately leading to earlier death therefore skewing results.
Are we eating too much #meat?
Our consumption has declined since the 70's — from 2.7oz per person/per day to 1.8oz as of 2016. We've made up the difference by increasing our intake of calories from sweeteners, grains & seed oils.
How much protein should we eat?
The RDA (aka MINIMUM WAGE OF #NUTRITION) states 0.8g per kg of bodyweight. This recommendation is only enough to keep you alive, not optimize your life. The AMDR (acceptable macronutrient distribution range) has a better grasp at 10-35% of calories coming from protein. Largely comes down to your goal.
Is grass-fed healthier than regular #beef?
Marginally yes. Perhaps not worth the money from a nutrient perspective, however if we look at sustainability, ethically raised meat will have less environmental impact overall.
Isn’t it possible for me to get all my nutrients from plants?
Yes, but only if you want to look like a pile of hashbrowns. Most people cannot thrive on a meatless diet because nutrients in plants are not as bioavaliable & most contain antinutrients causing multiple issues. Plus, you would get fat trying to match nutrient profiles: You'd need to eat 600 calories of beans & rice to get the same amount of protein you can get from only 160 calories of beef (3.5oz), not to mention B12 & heme iron.
Are cow farts killing the atmosphere?
No. Methane from cows is natural, whereas fossil fuels are not. Fossil fuels come from “ancient” carbon that has been locked underground for millions of years, and when extracted, adds new carbon to the atmosphere. Cows transform existing carbon, in the form of grass into methane as part of their digestive process. Methane is then farted out, broken down into H2O & CO2 molecules which are cycled back to grow more grass & the cycle continues.
more exercise isn’t the answer
Why do most people choose to exercise? I assume it’s deeper than simply making an attempt at being healthy, and more along the lines of wanting to lose weight to look good naked. That’s fair, I TOO want to look good naked. HOWEVER, I am here to tell you not to fall prey to the simplistic mantra of “calories in, calories out.”
More exercise isn;t the answer in your quest for a sexy body. Multiple studies carried out by health and fitness experts have concluding that exercise doesn’t really result in much weight loss(1,2). A study from Harvard University, reported that exercise alone was not adequate for preventing weight gain in people who are already overweight(3). Furthermore, after 8 weeks of your favorite aerobic exercise, you’ll hit a plateau, where continuous work will not bring you any further progress AND may even cause you to lose muscle while storing more fat.
None of this is to say that we shouldn’t be exercising, but relying on it to get you the body you want without addressing all other aspects of your lifestyle is misguided. The reason why certain exercise protocols — specifically, resistance training — are implemented when it comes to transforming your turnip shaped body into one made for selfies is that it helps RETAIN MUSCLE while cleaning up the diet is largely responsible for the reduction in fat mass. Both are necessary for the best results, but neither will give you the best results on their own.
References in link
why can’t we get better info
Why is it that the only thing we hear about how to protect our health during this pandemic revolve around external precautions? Social distancing, masks, quarantining. There’s no ethical reason behind the lack of advice regarding diet and lifestyle. Unfortunately, it all comes down to the financial interests of large corporations who DO NOT have your health, or best interests in mind.
Bolstering health is relatively simple. Eat whole, unprocessed foods. Get outside in the sun. Move as much as you can. Sleep like you’re on vacation. And connect as much as you can with the people you love. Yet, none of this is talked about. Instead, we have things happening like governments deciding the best choice for our health is to CLOSE NATURE (beaches) while they leave McDonald’s open.
We were in a health crisis before this pandemic came around — obesity, heart disease, diabetes. It seems to me that if we had been having the correct conversations about health PRIOR to this, it wouldn’t be as bad. Wearing a mask is not going to make everything okay because all you have to do is remove it and shove some waffles in your mouth. What ever happened to wanting to be resilient in mind and body?
Part of this is taking ownership of the issues at hand, but I understand that most people only listen to headlines. Unfortunately, headlines are driven by corporate interests, not the wellbeing of the public.
The financial health of large industries, is more important than your individual health or longevity. As a matter of fact, the food industry directly objects calls for healthier guidelines. An example of this can be seen in a health report by the World Health Organization — composed by a panel of 30 experts from 22 countries. The conclusions were commonsensical: too much sugar and fast food are unhealthy. NO SHIT!! However, despite this obviously being sensible advice, a protest against these findings arose within the food industry. Actions by the Snack Food Association, Wheat Foods Council, Corn Refiners Association, International Dairy Foods Association, the Sugar Association, and many others, called for ceasing all financial support of the WHO by the United States. This was based on the grounds that the report was garbage science, not founded on any concrete scientific consensus.
There’s a reason we aren’t getting quality information regarding health and it’s because the narrative is directed by those who seek profit.
the present moment is all we have
In nature, animals fight or chase one-another because someone is hungry. After the confrontation (or dinner) everyone goes their separate ways, carrying on with life instead of dwelling on what just happened for the next few hours or days. Nature flows simultaneously with time.
In the modern world, we encounter things like arguments, getting cut off in traffic, or Karen trying to ruin the cookout. Afterwards, we rarely go on with our lives, instead we relive the past situation and experiencing the same emotions allowing it to affect us long after the event happened. As humans we spend too much time stuck in the past.
The present moment is all we have. Everything that happened to you, every encounter, every decision and subsequent outcome made you who you are. This is not to say that we need to be happy about everything but we are the product of our experiences — good and bad. So live your life right now, and never look back because it’s all working out how it was meant to be.
people will say you’ve changed, but isn’t that the point
As a habitual line-stepper, I often challenge people on things they say. My intention is not to be a dick, but to figure out if they even know why they believe the thing they’re saying. Generally, when I pose the question, “why do you believe that?”, people get flustered. I think they get this way because they’ve adopted certain premises — from teachers, mentors, and family — without independently challenging that line of thought to clearly develop their own philosophy. We’re all guilty (even me) of carrying on with a line of thought that doesn’t serve us, but it shouldn’t be a matter of contention when someone asks why. It should be a moment of reflection.
Perhaps, the reason why such inquires seem maligned is that our beliefs are directly tied to our identity. When people challenge our beliefs, it can feel like they are attacking us for being who we are. That isn’t always the case, and we should know and be able to explain why we believe the things we do. If we can’t explain why we believe in something it is time to sit back and wonder if that belief we hold so dearly is really beneficial. These premises, ideologies, thoughts, philosophies, and beliefs all have the ability to drive our lives, either in a good direction because they are accurate and aligned to the right purpose, or toward a negative place because they are inaccurate and contradictory to what we are trying to achieve.
We’re all allowed to hold differing opinions but I don’t think that a belief has any merit if you can’t explain why you hold on to it. I think people are scared to change because their identity is tied to a certain belief system, and if they change they will have to admit to themselves that they were wrong. I can tell you first hand, that hurts, but if it gives way to a new belief you can stand behind, it’s a painful transition worth taking because it will lead to a better version of you.
We’re not meant to be the same person all our lives. We’re meant to grow, search for happiness, share our love, explore passions, and change the world. Challenging your beliefs will make you different. People are going to say “you’ve changed”, but isn’t that the point?
from what the body looks like to what it can do
We need to change the narrative from what our body looks like to what it can do. When we say we want to get fit, what we really mean is that we want to look good naked. There’s no reason we can’t excel at both, but we need to be honest with ourselves. Mistakenly putting aesthetics before function makes exercise joyless. It serves as punishment for who we’ve allowed ourselves to become. It’s an unhealthy relationship, fraught with anxiety, only carried out because we think we look fat.
We scroll through instagram for inspiration from perfect looking people for tips to lose belly fat or build a butt, as if aesthetics are all that matter. We have it all backwards. We need to embrace the joy and freedom of moving well. It shouldn’t always be about working out on behalf of your abdominals muscles. They should be working for you by moving with purpose.
facts don’t matter
There are a core set of human drives we care about, but we don’t respond if what is being offered is a direct change to one of those drives. That is why I can tell you exactly what you need to do to get the result you desire, but if it doesn’t resonate its disregarded. Simply stating facts on what needs to be done often fails because they lack an emotional connection. If we distrust a fact, we discount it.
If facts were enough to change minds, everyone who needs to lose weight or get healthy would only ever have to read one diet book. On the other hand, stories provide an invitation for change. We respond to them because they inherently offer a new way of being, providing us with the ability to change the mundane into the marvelous.
Most people think that to change your story, you have to completely adopt a new line of thinking, rather than create a life that makes what you seek self-evident. You only relive a past story because past experiences have made it evident to you. Therefore, if you want to change your life, you have to create a new story through new experiences that will solidify the narrative and make you the person you wish to become.
think outside the box
When I ask people what they’re doing to create a healthier lifestyle, most respond with some variation of “moving more and eating less.” While that’s helpful, it largely misses the point. Health isn’t only about finding ways to incorporate exercise into our lives, just as it isn’t all about cutting calories. This line of thought only seeks to change our appearance, as how we look on the outside is how we’re judged.
To genuinely improve our quality of life and overall health, we have to go beyond the current narrative — “move more, eat less.” We need to start thinking about things like fixings our sleep habits, starting a grateful journal to mitigate stress, finding a healthy recipe to cook and enjoy with someone close, buying house plants to improve the air quality in our homes, or go for a walk after a meal to help with your digestion and get some sun.
Health is cumulative. Choosing only to battle with the symptoms of a poor lifestyle — e.g., the expansion of your midsection — will never lead to an optimal life.
what’s more important — diet or exercise?
What is more important — diet or exercise? Should you prioritize diet at the expense of exercise, or eat whatever you want and move as much as you can?
If you want to be healthy, lean, strong, live a long time, and continue to do the things you love throughout your life, then a foundational focus on nutrition is the best choice. We’ve all heard that you can’t out exercise a poor diet, and it’s true. Everything we shove into our mouth eventually becomes part of us. The macronutrients — protein, fat, carbs — and micronutrients — vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals — are the building blocks for our muscles, bones, tissues, and organs. Poor choices in nutrition, lead to poor structures in our body, ultimately giving way to degeneration.
But wait… I thought exercise is supposed to fight against the aging and degeneration process!? Yes, you would be right by thinking that, but again our bodies are made of what we put into our mouth. While you can eat like shit and exercise those extra calories off to give the outward impression of healthy body, your internal processes are not able to keep up with the demand as they don’t have the necessary nutrients to elicit proper repair and recover of all the exercising you’re doing. By trying to out exercise your poor dietary choices, you are effectively burning the candle at both ends. And because I’m fancy, I’ll quote Lao Tzu by saying “the flame that burns twice as bright, burns half as long.” In other words, you’re not doing yourself any favors by going off the rails with your diet and trying to make it up with exercising more.
So what should you eat?
Nutrition should be individualized to the person and unique to their goals. If you want to know more reach out. To get you started here are a few tips everyone can agree with and incorporate:
Eat whole foods (you don’t have to shop there, just stop buying processed foods)
Eliminate all vegetable oils from your diet (Soybean, Corn, Cottonseed, Canola, Rapeseed, Sunflower, Sesame, Grapeseed oil)
Shop on the perimeter of the grocery store (the center is full of deception disguised as food)
If it comes in a box and you can’t pronounce ALL the ingredients don’t buy it (this is the deceptive fuckery)
it’s too late to get your shit together if it’s already in the fan
Strictly speaking from a health and disease standpoint, it’s generally too late to get your shit together once it’s hit the fan. The sad part is that the disease process doesn’t come without warning, nor does it happen overnight. You basically have to ignore all the warning signs that you’re approaching the edge of a cliff. And as you go over the edge, your prescriptions allow you to think you’re flying, until you’re not.
Working with clients, and personally overcoming hardships, I figured out firsthand that no one is going to be able to save us from ourselves. We have to want to change before we can expect it to happen. The first step is bringing awareness to the effect our mindset and lifestyle is having on our health and longevity. Only then can we expect change to happen.
Think about the following questions. If you’re not able to answer them with positivity, you may be heading toward a cliff.
Are you having issues managing your food addictions? Confused about what you should be eating? Or unhappy with what the mirror is telling you?
Are you under-exercising, or perhaps worse, over-exercising?
Are you not getting enough sleep, but haven’t been able to mange yourself to get the sleep you need and know it’s costing you?
Are you doing what you love to do everyday and can truly say you’re happy right now?
Are you living the life you’d live if money weren’t an objective?
healthspan > lifespan
As a society we’re living longer, but at what cost. There are more years to our life, but less life in our years. We need to understand that there is a difference between lifespan and healthspan. Lifespan is how many years you’re able to accumulate, whereas healthspan is how long you’re able to live with vibrant health and without limitations.
One way to achieve a significant healthspan is to focus on acquiring and maintaining muscle mass as you age.
Muscle is the organ of longevity. It provides you with the strength to do the things you want — walk, hike, climb, lift weights, swim, bike, and get up off the ground when you fall or better yet, save you from falling. It is largely responsible for your metabolic rate — the more muscle mass you’re able to maintain throughout your life the greater amount of calories you’re able to burn at rest, and because of this there is a greater likelihood of staving off the metabolic pathologies of obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, Alzheimer’s (Type 3 Diabetes), and cardiovascular disease. And, lastly, muscle serves as a reservoir of amino acids that the body can utilized to repair the body in times of need — e.g., when you’re laid up in the hospital.
None of this is meant to say that you need to look like a body builder to live a long and vibrant life. The point is that we need to change the conversation. It has always been about adiposity and losing weight. Never has it been about the importance of muscle. The problem with this, is that when you go on a diet in an effort to lose weight, yes you burn some fat but you’re actually losing muscle at the same time (unless you’re actively resistance training concurrently). By making the conversation fat centric and only focused on losing, we are exacerbating the problem of muscle loss.
There are only two way to stimulate muscle building, the first is prioritizing dietary protein (which is a big deal). Eating high quality protein OF ANIMAL ORIGIN will be the best option from a nutritional perspective. Adversely trying to achieve the same protein intake via plant sources is calorically devastating because you need 2 to 5 times more to elicit the same response for muscle building — e.g., 6 cups of Quinoa at 1300 calories holds the same amount of protein as 8oz of Chicken Breast at 300 calories. And that is not even going into the difference in amino acid profiles between the two (we’ll save that for another time).
The other way to stimulate muscle building is actually using your muscles. While, I am way less strict than I used to be, I think it would benefit everyone to incorporate some type of resistance training into their life. You can never go wrong with learning how to properly deadlift, squat, pull-up and overhead press. But at the end of the day, find something you love to do and keep doing it. Your body will thank you down the road for not forgetting about your muscles.
Stay strong.
Don’t worry about my mask, if you got Cheetos in your grocery cart
Don’t worry about my mask, if you got Cheetos in your grocery cart.
Please do not outsource your health concerns. They start with you and are an accumulation of all the decisions you make. The burden of health starts with each one of us. This is not to say we shouldn’t be respectful and wear a mask while in public during this time, or cover our mouths when we sneeze. However, it is everyone’s responsibility to make the best decisions regarding our individual health — e.g., eat better, move more, go to sleep earlier, and finding ways to mitigate stress.
Obviously, I’m biased, as I am the center of my own universe. Maybe she was buying Cheetos for the birds or homeless. Either way, I think we need to be clear on the subject of securing our health first.
Anytime we’ve flown anywhere we hear the familiar instruction to secure our own masks before attempting to help others in the event of there’s an emergency. We’re supposed to do this because in times of crisis, securing ourselves first, allows us the freedom of greater safety. Without securing ourselves, we are more likely to be impacted by the unknowns of the situation, ultimately leading to negative outcomes.
What does all this mean?
Take complete ownership of your health. Those most affected by this virus are the ones who are metabolically challenged, overly stressed, have preexisting conditions or a litany of other issues. The majority of these issues come from years of poor choices. Because health is cumulative, we all need to start making better choices.
how to change your life…
Take a moment to look at your life. What do you see? What story are you telling yourself? Are you thinking the same thoughts as yesterday? If you are, you’re more than likely to make the same choices today. Those same choices made today are leading to the same behavioral outcomes tomorrow. Practicing the same behaviors tomorrow will produce the same experiences, leading to the same outcomes in your future. As a result, you’ve become stuck in a perpetual cycle. And, depending on the story, it can be good or bad. Your yesterday seamlessly becomes your tomorrow. This is why the stories we tell ourselves are important.
The moment you’re able to imagine a new future for yourself, think about a new possibility, and start to create different outcomes to specific questions — such as, what will it be like to like without this pain? — your mindset starts to shift. You realize normal can be different than what it has been — less pain, less stress, less weight. To get there, you first need to be aware of where you are currently and where that trajectory is taking you (this is your current story). Once you have a grasp on your current narrative, you can better create an intention to change that story toward one of health, vibrance, strength, and longevity. Providing a sense of clarity on what you want versus what you no longer wish to experience, is a bit like a Choose Your Own Adventure book, once you know there are multiple outcomes available, you can freely change the story.
Once you understand that it’s possible to create an alternative future story — living without pain, extra weight, or risk of disease — you are no longer living in your past story. The awareness that comes with the ability to know that you can live a life you desire carries an emotional impact that is truly compelling. Excitement, hope, and an anticipation of an improved version of yourself will always outweigh any advice driven by the distraction of mere facts (your calories are too high, your cholesterol is too high, etc.) on your story. Your new story is set in motion through awareness and solidified by the emotional connection you create with the new story.
The crazy thing is that the mind doesn’t know the difference between a perceived reality and one you are actually living, therefore the intention of creating a new story captures the essence of the person you wish to become, and at the same time sets the transition into motion. When we’re presented with a new story of better health, and associate that thought with emotional anticipation of the desirable experience, we’re becoming susceptible to the end result. We’re conditioning, expecting, and assigning meaning to the delivery system — which in this case is the new story we intend to tell ourselves.
fuck you with a smile!
The first comedy special I ever saw was Eddie Murphy Raw. Fucking classic. The genre of music I fell in love with was 90’s Hip-Hop. Fucking great. And the most influential person on my career was Charles Poliquin. Fucking amazing coach. Point being there have been a lot of f-bombs in my life, so it has become part of my vocabulary to the dismay of some around me.
I get it, it’s not for everyone. But for me, it’s one of the most interesting and versatile words in the English language. There are almost 30,000 words that begin with the letter F, and it is the only one that is referred to as the F-word.
It’s the one magical word, just by its sound can describe pleasure, pain, hate, love, and exasperation.
It falls into many grammatical categories, for example:As a transitive verb; Corona fucked everybody.As an intransitive verb; Corona fucks.
The meaning is not always sexual, for example:
It can be used as an adjective; “I’m doing all the fucking work.”As an adverb; “You talk too fucking much!”As an adverb enhancing an adjective; “You are fucking beautiful.”As a noun; “I don’t give a fuck!”As part of a word; “Un-FUCKING-Believable” or “In-FUCKING-Credible”And, as almost every word in a sentence; “Fuck those fucking fuckers.”
There isn’t another word with the versatility of the word fuck. Look at how it can be used to convey the following sentiments…
FRAUD: “I got fucked at the deanship today.”
DISMAY: “Aw, fuck it.”
TROUBLE: “I guess I’m really fucked now.”
AGGRESSION: “Don’t fuck with me.”
DIFFICULTY: “I don’t understand this fucking question.”
INQUIRY: “Who the fuck was that?”
DISSATISFACTION: “I don’t like what the fuck is going on here.”
INCOMPETENCE: “He’s a fuckup.”
DISMISSAL: “Why don’t you go outside and play hide and go fuck yourself?”
And the classic, CONFUSION: “What the Fuck did I just read?”
All I’m saying is that it’s a great word. If you don’t like it FUCK YOU! :)
health comes from within
When it comes to health, the world is trying to do it on the outside, when it’s really an inside thing. We’ve been sold on the idea that anything showing up on our body externally — weight gain, skin problems, sexual dysfunction, etc. — is nothing more than a simple burden, solved by taking a pill, having an elective surgery, or slathering something on our skin. While this can “help” the situation, it does nothing to address the real issues. The things that manifest outwardly are indicative of a larger problem going on inside the body.
better with age
My birthday is this month. I’ll be the oldest I’ve ever been. At the same time, I don’t remember a time where I’ve felt better, either mentally or physically. I’ve had my share of issues like everyone. I’ve been fired from almost every job I’ve ever had, received a broken heart from every girl I’ve been with, live through years of suicidal thoughts, and was scared to figure out who I was supposed to be for most of my life. I’ve had broken bones, muscle tears, stitches, cavities and surgeries. Yet, here the fuck I am, smiling as I write this.
It seems like everything we’ve been told about getting older revolves around us having to settle for a lesser version of ourselves. If anything, I believe all my experiences, all my failures, all my scars have made me who I am today. Perhaps that’s a bit cliché, but I’m grateful for the ride.
I’m not here to sell you a special plan on how to achieve endless vitality or real self-transformation (ALTHOUGH I am available for CONSULTING ;), but that it is possible to grow into a better version of yourself. There’s no specific thing you need to do, no pill to take, no exercise regimen to complete, or guru to see. I’ve done my share of following. Some things work, other don’t. It’s a mistake to force something that isn’t truly in line with what you want. Don’t be afraid to try something else. We’re all built different, so you have to keep that in mind at every step.
don’t fly too low Icarus
The classic Greek story of Icarus, as most of us know it, warns us about the perils of not listening to an authority. In this case, his dad Daedalus fashioned wings made out of feathers and wax to help his son escape from the island of Crete. As he took off, Daedalus cautioned Icarus not to fly too high as the heat from the sun would melt the wax, causing him to fall to his death. Failing to heed his father’s warning, Icarus soared too close to the sun, falling to his death in the sea below. It’s a classic story of hubris.
This is the version of the story most of us know, as it has been told this way for the last few hundred years. Yet, the original telling of the story, dating back some 2000 years spoke of Daedalus’ more important warning to Icarus, when he exclaimed “not to fly too low as the mist form the ocean will weight down your wings and you will surely perish.”
Why the retelling?
I think it was to create good workers and keep people in line. Very few people have the courage to change the world, much less go after what they want in life. The industrial revolution needed people to follow directions so that things could be made. With that came the safety of a paycheck and the security of a good life. There was little room for those who had the hubris to dream bigger. To seek out new frontiers. To challenge the status quo.
Unfortunately, the safety of following the formula of go to school, get a job, no longer guarantees any form of security in the modern world. Acquiring debt, to buy things we don’t need, to impress people we don’t like is what keeps the story going. We work to accumulate things, trading our health along the way, and at the end we realize the things we have are not as rewarding as the experiences of creating a life — failure and all — would have been.
Narrative is everything.
We’ve flown so low for so long, that our collective narrative isn’t able to tell the difference between what we are told is good for us and what we really want. We’re disconnected from telling our own story. We don’t need to fly so high that we are scorched by the sun but our acceptance of this status quo is making us invisible to the world we want.
The real meaning of Icarus, at least to me, is to heed the warnings of those we trust, but do not be afraid to leave the safety of your comfort zone to try new things, to leave the island of the status quo and search for a life you always wanted.