Lean into the pain

Someone linked to this a couple of months ago, but it really resonated with me. It's from the Lean into the Pain entry in Aaron Swartz's Raw Nerve series.

My interpretation wasn't quite the same, but the way I put it was an analogy to an occasional trope in fantasy or sci-fi novels, where something is psychically exerting a feeling of fear or pain onto the protagonist to drive them away from something, who realises what's happening, and that by moving towards where the pain is greatest, they can actually use the pain as a compass to tell them where to go.

Similarly, my brain often generates a "don't think about this, it'll be scary!" feeling about something I need to do but have been putting off. If I listen to the scary voice, I can end up not doing it.

But the voice is actually really, really useful as a way of highlighting those things you need to do, and once you've learned that most of the time, the things you've been putting off are not that bad (or at least, it's a relief to start dealing with them rather than let them get worse), that feeling is a really useful guide to what I should try to do next.

More Skyfall

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Syria Opposition Government

Syria rebel factions form an opposition government. It's yet to see if it'll last successfully, but it's a good step, it's seeking international recognition from several other countries (neighbouring countries, France, USA, etc). And generally seems a better hope for the future than, um, whichever murderous bastard was the previous dictator, I can't remember.

Fighting and dying continues.

Does anyone have a better read on the situation in syria? I only know whatever's in the headlines on aljazeera english (which is pretty good at listing the international news with less of a pro-UK/USA bias and with a blessed, blessed absence of celebrity gossip and artificial controversies).