picture in my mind

The compelling thing I find about Jordan Peterson is that he is often able to put really abstract, spiritual, psychological ideas, or metaphors into these logical connections that you can't help but agree with. It's amazingly refreshing, and I find myself on occasion needing a little bit of his perspective, after delving into various topics. Especially if those topics tend to be very abstract and metaphysical and 'fluffy' in certain corners -- Mr Peterson puts you back on solid ground with those concepts.

Well, what else would come out of chaos? If you fall apart and then you put yourself back together, what is it that comes back out? Well, at least you were in better shape than you were before. Then maybe you do that 20 times in your life, or 50 times, and you do it voluntarily. Every time you do it, you're more like the thing with the halo and less like the thing that's being thrown overboard by your friends.

...

Just because something terrible happens to you, doesn't mean you get to wander off the path and make things worse. Maybe it doesn't matter how terrible it is what happens to you.

... maybe the only real misfortune is to become corrupted.


He makes it so clear to me. It's like, I know these stuff, you know. My religion tells me to be good, and kind, and respectful to my parents and all humans, and do good deeds to purify yourself. But Mr Peterson tells it straight and ruthless to your soul and addresses your dark impulses: oh, life is difficult, is it? Humans are mean to you? I'm sorry dude, you still have to play nice and play by the rules. It's not an excuse for you to be evil. And it reminds me of Joker, the movie, you know? That whole argument about society creating the very evil that torments it. Which has a lot of truth, certainly. But then is Arthur not at fault? He is still at fault, is he not, because no matter how terrible humans have been around him, his entire life, it doesn't give him license to be evil or cruel. At book club, we often come down to this dichotomy: this path that creates both the hero and the villain. A lot of characters are one or the other inclined. Because the very same excuses and circumstances that can drive one to horrendous action, can create nobility when endured and overcome. And it brings us to that other dichotomy about what actually has control over our lives and our destinies -- are we always a result of our environment, or do we have power over our lives (respectively democrats/liberals vs. conservatives, to be terribly reductionist, ahah)? I think I perhaps used to have too much sympathy for the former, but in recent times, I swing from one end to the other, I feel. (Oh, the ever elusive ideal, balanced position.) Perhaps when one grows and matures into higher awareness, it becomes more sustainable to keep middle ground, to have sympathy and empathy, and yet have solid control over one's decisions and path.

God, grant me equanimity and patience and the ability to see the right path.



And then later Datin S shared this beautiful excerpt about working through such things, you know.

"Yet the jungle challenges our spirit of adventure too. It invites us to risk the pioneering journey through the obstacles we meet in the long and arduous process of becoming who we truly are. It is no accident that so many archetypal stories tell of how the beautiful princess can only be reached by the prince who has the courage to struggle through the dense and fearsome forests to liberate her. We are both prince and princess in our own stories. There is a pearl of great price to be discovered, and it will only be found if we risk the struggle to penetrate the entanglements of our fears."



As a last bit to this compilation of new learnings in recent days, here is something I've learnt, about organising my mind, reducing mental noise, and having clarity. I used to talk about compartmentalizing thoughts as a necessity to coping with my used-to-be-uncontrollable-emotional-states, but thus far, it had been largely lip service. But here, I'd learnt about an amazing visualization process for my mind, that really tells me to go to a room in my head for particular tasks! I was super excited to discover this. Insya Allah, this shall be another step towards productivity! I often feel very defeated when I think about how productivity for me appears to be like a mountainous task and yet for other people they live with enviable levels of efficiency and I wonder how they function internally as humans (cough all the SJs in my life, cough) -- but I've learnt to appreciate personal goals and personal gifts.

 

Creating imaginary spaces and rooms (with accompanying decor haha) is super fun.