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  • I may seem normal now, but I used to be weird.

    When I was in high school, I attracted some interesting attention.

    My best friend and I liked to talk about science. He was loud. 💣

    One day, we were chatting about nuclear bombs during lunch. You know, the usual stuff: how they work, how to build them, etc.

    The vice-principal approached us and began his investigation.

    I’ve got lots of stories like that.

    (no one will like this story. it seems random and weird. people will think I’m just trying to get attention. yes motherfuckers I’m trying to get attention.)

    I want YOUR ATTENTION.

    (Michael, you’re getting desperate. this is just a cry for help. yep, it’s a cry for help.)

    I want you to HELP ME.

    (can’t you just stop telling this story and go be normal? no, that would be acting out of fear.)

    (is this really going to help sell anything? i don’t know, but it’s gotten me this far. i don’t think it’s wise to abruptly change course right now. keep riding the wave and see where it takes me)

    Anyway…what was I saying?

    Oh, yes, I have a long list of stories about how I have attracted suspicion from authority figures.

    I guess I’m weird.

    Huh.

    Fine, I’m weird.

    You know, there are lots of people who can’t stand being weird. I used to be like that, in fact. I tried desperately to hide my weirdness.

    It’s not a good idea. Don’t go there. (but yeah, it’s tempting)

    A better approach is to ACCEPT your weirdness. Minds are weird. There’s nothing you can do about that.

    Meditation will teach you how to accept the weird things that your mind does. It will help you be yourself. (it’s hard to accept the weird things your mind does)

    Don’t you want to be yourself? (no, of course you don’t. society has taught you to hate yourself. we call this “low self-esteem” and treat it like it’s a disease.)

    [This course] will teach you how to accept yourself.

  • I hope my personality doesn’t change

    I have a big announcement.
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    I finally got a haircut (after 6 months) 😲

    It was originally scheduled for April 21, but it got postponed…

    Don’t worry, it’s not much shorter than it was yesterday. Only a tiny bit.

    It’s been quite an adventure, having longer hair (I’m now considering using conditioner. I don’t even know what to do with that. It’s ok…I’ll figure it out).

    So yeah, it’s just a little bit shorter. Because a lot shorter would have to involve another personality change, and I’ve worked so hard to develop this current personality.

    I’m sure you can imagine.

    Because it is a question of personality. After all, my hair is such a prominent feature in my videos. I’ve spent so much time brushing it out of my eyes, making sure it looks OK on camera, and even cutting it myself once, back in June (I think it was June…who knows?).

    I’ve often been reluctant to make videos because of how my hair looked.

    Seeing myself on camera is awkward enough to begin with. I don’t usually love the way I look, so that’s a whole bunch of mental content that has to be accepted in order to make a video.

    All kinds of judgments, evaluations, images, stories, etc. Just going through my head. Like dust getting kicked up. It’s not easy to focus with all of that going on.

    But, that’s how the mind works, and you have to work with it.

    Do you want to learn how to accept whatever stuff comes up in your mind, no matter what it is?

    If so, the course might be for you: https://michaelkorman.com/no-problem-meditation-course/

  • Are you feeling stuck?

    Here are three things about anxiety disorders:

    1. The problem is always avoidance.
    2. The solution is always exposure.
    3. Everything you complain about is the result of an anxiety disorder.

    WHAT???? 😲

    Sorry, I always forget to put the trigger warning at the beginning of the email. Damn it. 🤦‍♂️

    OK, consider yourself warned (retroactively).

    You feel stuck because you're acting stuck. You're acting stuck because you're afraid of moving. The only way to move is by moving.

    If you had no fear, you'd have nothing to complain about. You'd be acting instead of complaining.

    Before you say anything, no, it's not possible for someone to prevent you from acting. It only seems that way because you're fixated on that particular strategy, and are unwilling to accept anything else as “acting.”

    Come on, snap out of it.

    Yes, it's your fault.

    Sorry not sorry.

    No, you can't snap out of the flu, but you can indeed snap out of an anxiety disorder.

    (reminder: unsubscribe link below 👇)

  • If You Expect Meditation to Calm You Down, It’s No Wonder You’re Stressed Out

    If Meditation is Boring, You’re Doing it Wrong

    Meditation is not difficult.

    Why do you even want to meditate? That’s what you should be asking yourself.

    If you don’t enjoy meditation, then yeah, it’s going to seem difficult. Anything that is sufficiently painful is going to feel difficult if you force yourself to do it for long enough, including meditation.

    What are you hoping to get out of meditation? If you’re hoping to get peace, relaxation, tranquility, and calm, then you’re probably going to be frustrated.

    Even if you get those things occasionally, they’re not going to be there all the time. When they are, meditation will feel easy. When they’re not, it will feel difficult. And you’ll stop doing it.

    Are you trying to meditate because you have some big problem in your life you need to fix? Anxiety, depression, relationship problems, weight problems, addictions? Meditation might help with those, and it might not. It might even make them worse at times.

    Am I trying to talk you out of meditating? Nope. I think you should meditate. But I also think you should have reasonable expectations for what’s involved.

    Are you a high-achiever? If so, you’ll probably get frustrated with meditation.

    Meditation isn’t one of those things you can master in a few weeks, take pictures of your progress, and post on Instagram. Sure, you could take pictures, but who’s going to see the progress? It’s all inside you.

    All inside you. Nowhere else.

    Where else would it be? Come on, think about it. Use your brain.

    Meditation is the key to your happiness. You know this. That’s why you want to be able to do it.

    Why You Can’t Meditate

    Unfortunately, the biggest obstacle to your happiness is YOU.

    YOU are screwing it all up. Sorry not sorry if that offends you.

    YOU are demanding, high-maintenance, and perfectionistic. You have impossibly high standards for yourself (and for others).

    So, if you want to meditate, you’re going to need to find some way of working around YOU. Because YOU certainly aren’t going to step aside and make this easy for yourself.

    You can’t just tell yourself to get lost. It doesn’t work that way. You know better. You’re just going to argue and justify and rationalize.

    You have to launch a sneak attack of some kind.

    Here’s what I suggest: accept yourself. Radically.

    Stop fighting with yourself. Just allow yourself to do whatever it is that you are doing. Trust that whatever you’re doing is something you’re doing for a good reason. Yeah, maybe it’s not going to work, but at least you’re doing it for a reason.

    You can meditate no matter what. Even if you’re not making progress, even if you have nothing to show for it. You can still do it. You can still waste that time.

    Either meditation is good or it isn’t. Which is it? If you’re trying to meditate, I assume there’s at least a part of you that believes it would be good for you.

    So, commit to it. Not forever. Just for a little bit. 20 minutes. Whatever.

    Just do it.

    See what happens.

    Meditation is Boring, and That’s Why You Should Do It

    When you “waste” your time meditating, it feels bad, right? It feels boring, pointless, stupid, and you get impatient, right?

    Good, that’s how it should be. Try to enjoy those feelings. They’re there for a reason.

    I have no idea why you feel those things. I could guess, but it’s none of my business. It’s your business. Literally, this is your business, that you have been engaged in for years. Get out of your way. Let yourself get on with your business.

    How to Meditate Without Hating Yourself

    Radical acceptance.

    This is what makes meditation work. It’s what makes meditation doable.

    If you don’t have radical acceptance, you will be struggling to meditate. It won’t be fun, you won’t look forward to doing it, and you won’t do it.

    Radical acceptance of whatever comes up.

    Thoughts, feelings, sensations, sights, sounds, judgments, evaluations, memories, fears, plans, hopes, regrets, pain, pleasure, urges…

    All of it. No matter what.

    This is what you’re practicing. How to let things come and let them go. Like clouds in the sky.

    You can’t decide that some of them are good and some are bad. That’s not radical acceptance. That’s picking and choosing.

    You need to be OK with all of them.

    It doesn’t mean you have to like them. Only that you have to stop fighting them. You can still dislike them as much as you please.

    You can still whine and complain about them. Just don’t fight them. Don’t try to get rid of them. Allow them to exist, to do their thing.

    This is your business.

  • Stop complaining and just deal with it

    Radical acceptance means you accept things radically. All the way.

    You don’t fight back.

    If you’re turned off by the word “acceptance”, it’s probably because you think I’m telling you to be happy 😀👌🎉 with the things you don’t like.

    As in, “stop complaining and just accept it”. 🙏

    No, that’s not what I’m saying.

    “Acceptance” means you stop fighting. You don’t have to like it. You’re allowed to complain. Just don’t avoid it.

    I would never tell you to “accept your fate”. Your fate is your fate whether you fight or not.

    Before you can practice acceptance, you have to realize you’re fighting. Do you see that? Are you aware of all the ways in which you fight?

    Fighting what?

    Your experiences: thoughts, feelings, sensations.

    Sometimes, you get it into your head that you don’t like some of these things. When that happens, you try to move away from them. That’s what I mean by “fighting.”

    To accept those experiences, you would STOP moving away.

    So, if someone calls you an idiot, you might feel offended. Fine. What do you do next? If you block them on Facebook, you’re moving away from the feeling of being offended. That is not acceptance. Do you see?

    Acceptance would mean you don’t block them. You don’t have to like them. You just don’t do the thing that you’re inclined to do to get away from the feeling.

    It’s simple.

    But it’s weird.

    ACCEPTANCE. This is the key. The missing ingredient.

  • My secret weapon against the Piano Teachers

    “Michael, you’re so confrontational, negative, provocative, you’re being unfair to us, you’re triggering us, you’re being mean…”

    No.

    Look what’s actually happening here. All of you think one way. I, an individual, am showing up and saying something different.

    Who’s the one with the power here? I have zero power. Nothing. I have this keyboard and this microphone. All I can do is speak and write. That’s it.

    They can do anything they want. They are society.

    (From episode 4 of the podcast: “Why I Hate Piano Teachers.”)

    Going against the group is scary. They have enormous power. As an individual, what chance do I have?

    Not much, unfortunately.

    However, the real battle is mental.

    Staying balanced. Holding true to my values. Using this as an opportunity for creative expression, rather than defending my own ego.

    That’s not easy. But, I’ve practiced it, and I continue to practice it.

    Do you want to know what meditation is going to do for you? This.

    Where do you get a sense of accomplishment just from sitting with your eyes closed, doing nothing? Here it is, right here.

    Meditation is training for real life.

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