Judgment
Judgment is the typical act of intelligence. Perception is a judgment of place; memory, a judgment of time; imagination, a judgment of ideal worth. ~ American philosopher John Dewey
Stop thinking that anything is black-and-white. Appreciate nuance. Stop categorizing. See the world in all its shades.
Nature is truly wondrous, in every way. Appreciate it for what it is. Sense the interconnections. Experience the entanglement.
All before you are merely symbols. Like the shiny ones and leave the dull and dirty ones alone.
Conventional wisdom is that judgment is spiritually bad. Very funny. ‘Conventional wisdom’ is an oxymoron.
Discrimination is the mental quality of discerning quality. Do it to the fullest. After all, aren’t you trying to be a wonderful process? Defining wonderful is itself a judgment. You cannot be what you cannot conceive.
All that you have is the play of concepts. Play the finest concepts you can find.
Your mind naturally employs heuristics to save itself effort. Anytime you notice a judgment that has a whiff of negativity, bias, or selfishness, understand the heuristic by having the mind explain the reasoning behind it. Have your mind finetune its heuristics.
The dynamic of improving mental health is treating your own mind as your personal servant: to do the bidding of your will, which is to be as fluidly productive and entertained as possible.
It is only slightly ironic that you must use your mind to discipline your mentation. Your mind is all that you have to work with, and it is multifaceted. Think of your mind as a muscle which must be prudently exercised – not allowed to strain itself with the overexertion of nattermind, nor, conversely, to lazily set yourself in cruise control and let your mind run your life as it has. In short, witness with will.
Critically examine the symbols that serve as your headlights. If an idea isn’t working for you, drop it. There is no end of ideas. Without beliefs, you can readily adopt any notion that might suit the occasion.
“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” ~ American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson
Within reason and economy, insist on the best. Especially demand of yourself – you as a process – to give the finest results possible. A concept is only as good as its application. Be a crafter of your life by honing your selection and application of concepts.
“Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.” ~ Irish writer Oscar Wilde
Don’t let it unduly bother you if you make a mistake. You’ve messed up so many times you should be used to it by now. Do your best while accepting the limitations of your shell.
“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” ~ English politician Winston Churchill
You cannot undo anything. Beyond necessary remedy, move on.
