Back with an old friend

Posted on by philipdodson

After 6 1/2 years of continuous daily blogging, that’s over 2,400 blogs without missing a day, I decided to take a break in April. I’ve been back a few times, but I’ve certainly dropped or lost the daily habit. It has been good having a break and I was getting a little stale, just bashing out the posts to keep the streak going. I was doing it for the ego and not the love.

I have been reading a few of my old posts and that has sparked the bug again, it’s like being back with an old friend that you haven’t seen in years but the love is still there no matter what.

I have missed my blog and that is a good thing, I think before I had taken it for granted just how much joy this daily exercise in writing gave to me. It is a period of time where I am in the moment, I am sharing my thoughts, my wisdom, my experience, and most often, I am talking to myself, giving myself advice. It is the joy of doing and not the outcome. If you take regular daily steps then you get to the outcome anyway and you avoid the suffering of thinking about the big picture which is too daunting.

Of course, like most of us, we are good at giving advice and poor at taking it or acting on it, especially our own. We are not good at eating our own dog food.

I actually do this blog for the joy of it and I genuinely do not mind if no one else reads it, that is the best way to be, I write for my own pleasure and you could say ‘well, just write in a paper journal or an online journal and don’t bother publishing it’ and, to be honest, there is something in that. I did do 6 plus years of daily journaling, which was never published.

However, I do know that many people over the years have also enjoyed reading my blog, so if you have something to say, and we all do, then it is definitely worth sharing it.

Until we share our work, it is not created, it is not born, by hitting that ‘publish’ button we are actually stepping over the divide from thought and fear to creating, and that is a step not to be underestimated, in terms of how it builds our confidence and habit of showing up and being brave enough to ‘step into the ring and dare to be great’ (Brene Brown).

It could ramble on some more, but that is it for today…it’s great to be back with an old friend.

Safety is killing us

Posted on by philipdodson

The human race has evolved over hundreds of thousands of years and it is only in the last 20-30 years, in fact, maybe the last 10 years that we have been obsessed with removing all risks and seeking a guarantee for every single thing in life. We want no risk, yet we are the most depressed, disconnected, egotistical, addicted and unconscious humans to ever walk this earth.

How did the human race survive without all these obsessive regulations, sanitisation of all things and fear of everything including our own shadow?

The thing is safety removes innovation, removes taking the plunge into the unknown, it teaches fear, it encourages avoidance, it harms connection. Safety is fear that paralyses and risk is a fear of the unknown that once conquered enables the magic of life. Without any risk the purpose of life is negated, there is no experimenting with what might work, there is no innovation, there is no excitement, no thrill and no advancement of the human race. Fear used in an innovative, creative and risk-taking way is the source of all experience and adventure in life, if used like this it is our guide to the beauty of the unknown. That’s the very reason to leap out of bed each day and truly be brave enough to show up and be the leading role in our own film. Safety stops us having the difficult conversations and saying what we truly feel from our soul…it’s safer to say nothing.

Difficult conversations take vulnerability and bravery to step into the unknown and that is killed by this constant fear of stepping into the ring and showing up as it is deemed risky. Avoiding life in order to be under the illusion that we are prolonging life is crazy. Hiding from life to live longer. All fear boils down to fear of death and this falsehood that is peddled to us that safety is good is creating even more fears. Fear is a money maker when it is a psychological fear of the unknown that is the future. But safety does not allow us to overcome fear it simply puts up a ‘shield’ that we believe we are safe behind. However, it creates inner suffering of not being free and denying ourselves the adventure of life. We end up creating even more fear. It becomes a vicious circle. Taking a risk releases fear and suffering.

If we are to continue to evolve as a human race and advance and overcome the challenges that we face we have to go to the edge of the circle, to the wilderness, we have to cross the divide of different opinions and step into the other bubble. We can not stay in the safe centre hoping that we will stay safe and it will all go away like an ostrich burying its head in the sand.

If we want inclusivity and diversity, if we want equality, if we want a better environment, if we want less poverty, more opportunity for all, no wars, more freedom, better healthcare, better education, and no judgment or racism, then we have to be brave enough to listen to others, to empathise, to step out of our comfort and safety zones, we have to be vulnerable. And that is a big fucking risk and one that we can only take if we stop seeking safety in everything in life. We have to stop kidding ourselves that safety is safe and that risky is unsafe. It is the other way round.

Take the risk because safety is killing us.