Daily Yamabushi

A sign you are in the moment

Judgment calls are clear examples of living in the moment. They could go either way, and that alone keeps you on your toes.

Be thankful for the moment. Then, use your gut judgment to make the call. And once it’s made, it’s made. No need to get all tangled up with what ifs.

The default

Only something you can do is the default. You want people to seek you out for being you, not some carbon copy of someone else. This means you have to make a point of being you. I don’t mean going out to the rooftops and shouting ‘this is me!’, although that might work. I mean being selective about what you choose to do. About choosing things that are distinctly you. And about drawing a line in the sand when people try to impose their own beliefs on who you chose to be.

Only something you can do. Only something you can be. How it should be.

Wherever the wind takes you

The difference between a stationary and a moving wagon is huge. If you’re not on it when the wheels are rolling it’s hard to get on.

Hard, but not impossible.

Either way, momentum is necessary. However small.

Start with the small things, let them build up to until you can jump on, then let the momentum lead you wherever the wind takes you.

Should it be?

If it doesn’t have to be you, if someone else, or something else, can do it, you should probably let them.

If it doesn’t have to be you, it shouldn’t. You’re more valuable than that.

The option that works

If you’ve set things up right, the logical next step will appear. However, without a few roadblocks, without a few challenges to overcome or decisions to make, life becomes predictable and, frankly, boring.

This realisation doesn’t help anyone though.

When you’re stuck and wondering which way to go, take the time to assess your options. Write them down if you need to. Alternatively, go straight into doing the yamabushi thing and head off into the mountains. You’ll find that a change of scenery will bring a change in perspective. With that, you get to see the decision in a different light. Give it enough time, and the answer will feel like the logical next step.

Sometimes, this is the only option. Most of the time, it’s the option that works.

Your move is our move

Even the slightest twitch can have huge consequences. Whether we like to admit it or not, we are all connected. We are all together, we all move as one.

When one of us moves forward, we all move forward.

Your move is our move. Move forward.

It might as well be you.

Someone’s going to make it, big time.

Someone’s going to make it, and it will be like nothing before.

Someone’s going to make it, and it might as well be you.

Use the fear to your benefit

Let it inform the way you live. Let it drive your decisions and motivate you to do things you otherwise wouldn’t. Things that if you didn’t do, well, you wouldn’t be you.

Don’t be afraid. Don’t let the fear paralyze you. Use it to your benefit.

Whether you like it or not

Some things we’d rather not remember. Some things we’d rather push to the side so that we can focus on moving forward.

Do that.

Every so often we think back to a cringy thing from the past, or something we’d rather didn’t happen.

Good, make sure you don’t do it again. Don’t blame yourself (too much) for those things, and remember that they are in the past, and the past doesn’t have to have anything to do with the present.

Things that are a part of your history are a part of your history. They are irrelevant to the now, and therefore they don’t exist.

This isn’t to say you should just forget about your actions in the past and not take responsibility for them, but rather that you should use what you’ve learned to educate how you go about the now.

The only way to know for sure

We all seek the best path, the best way. However, knowing what isn’t the best path is just as important as knowing what is.

And the only way to know for sure? Take the path.

The more paths you take, the more chances you have to know.

The more chances you have to know, the more you can be certain it is the best path.

Better than not getting lost

Today I climbed a peak I had climbed many times before. I am very familiar with this mountain, with the windy paths, steep slopes and deep forests. However, there was one spot I had never been to that caught my eye.

So I followed it. And followed it. And followed it. Until I had gone too far. Until I had to turn around and retrace my steps because I was getting lost.

But I’m glad I went there. Now I know what it looks like. Now I know what to expect when I go there.

Now I have no regrets.

There to be pulled

Some appear out of nowhere. Some take years to build. Some appear on a platter.

All levers are there to be pulled.

How soon can you make them?

If a decision is going to give benefits for the long term, even potentially, the incentive to act on it soon is greater simply because it means you get those benefits for longer.

If the benefits are for the long term, the question goes from ‘should I make this decision?’, to: ‘how soon can I make it?’

Purpose for purpose

Building something for a purpose and maintaining it for a purpose are two different things. The purpose may change, in which case you may need a new system. The system may change, in which case you need to change the system to fit the purpose, or to update your purpose.

In both cases, “is it fit for purpose?” is as good a question as any.

Is the system meeting the purpose? Is the purpose meeting the system? And, more importantly, “Is the purpose meeting the purpose?”

In the moment

In the moment it feels like there’s no respite. In the moment it’s like there’s nothing greater than getting through the moment. In the moment, it’s tough.

But you’re tough. And if you can be tough in the moment.

It’s only tough, for now.

Title says it all.

Truth is, even with the best blueprint in the world, no one knows what it will really look like.

Until there are footprints on it.

Let the answer find itself

Get yourself out there on whatever feels right in the moment. Try try again. Before long, you’ll know what’s right for you. All that’s required is that you get out there.

Instigate. Investigate. The answer will find itself.

See it through

They say starting is half the battle. And that’s all the more reason why once you have started, you must keep up the momentum at all costs. If something comes to its natural progression, then by all means stop, but until then, give it everything you can to keep going.

Don’t lose your Mojo. Don’t lose the momentum you’ve already built. Keep it up, and see it through.

Hang it out to dry

Don’t leave your dirty washing out to dry.

Your clean washing though?

Your clean washing you should definitely hang out.

Putting your best foot forward means showing the world what you’ve got. It means putting your work not on display per se, but in a place where people who care have the chance to benefit from it.

Hang your clean washing out to dry.

You make it work

Something doesn’t exist in the world you think should, so you make it. Something doesn’t exist in the world in the way it should, so you make it.

You make it work.

These days, more and more people are finding it possible to make their way as an artist. I’m constantly amazed at the creative ways people can make a living.

Those people are making it work.

All you need to do is to get out of your own way. All you need to do is to channel your creative energy into producing output on a regular basis.

All you need to do, is to make it work.

Just make it

If something is worth creating, it’s worth creating well.

If something is worth thinking about creating, it’s worth creating.

More and more YouTube videos are being created, more and more books are being written, and more and more artworks are being painted. It all gets so much you wonder if you could ever contribute anything of value.

You can. And you should. If not for our sake, for your own.

Anything you create has value. You just have to create it.

Those were simpler times

Those were simpler times. -You

How often do you find yourself saying this? How often do you reminisce about a time long gone?

The thing is, things can change drastically and in some ways become worse, but equally they can become better too. And all you need to do is give it some time, or change your perspective.