Reaching for More

23/12/2024

One of the best examples of someone taking the burden of responsibility, and all that comes with it, is Telemachus, son of Odysseus.

But he did not always bear the responsibility of being head of house in his father's absence; only when the suitor's presence because unbearable did he finally set out to find out whether his father really perished or not.

It's moments like these that this question comes alive for us. "Do I want things to stay this way, or am I ready to change them?"

There's a lot buried within this question, and I'd love to break it down... so I am!

Just head over to my blog, Reaching for More (link in the bio) and once you sign up for the free email list, you'll get a weekly discussion which revolves around this very question.

Thanks for reading, I can't wait to see you over there!

19/12/2024

Don’t chasing feelings.

Like nymphs in a forest, you chase and chase until you almost grasp them, then…

*p**f*

They’re gone.

And now all you have left is the aftermath of your foolishness.

🖼️ Filippo Lauri (Rome 1623-1694)

18/12/2024

Few lines strike more deeply than Henry David Thoreau's declaration in "Walden":

"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation."

Thankfully, HDT doesn't leave us out to dry, and gives us a most incredible answer...

After he makes that famous statement, he tells the reader what he believes is the answer some pages later.

Understand that HDT wouldn't just give us any answer—unlike what you see commonly today on social media where answers to life's woes abound, yet none are the wiser, HDT did his best to live out his philosophy.

He was as true a pragmatist as one could be and didn't bother with airy speculation and theory.

As Freud says: "He does not believe that does not live according to his belief."

And Thoreau proves to us his belief:

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."

To counter a desperation that comes from resignation of life, HDT correctly discovered that he must begin living deliberately.

To set a deliberate aim for yourself, you need to have an idea of what you want to hit.

Desperation is rooted in aimlessness, so you have to pick a target or face the consequences: a life unlived.

What impact do you want to make?

How come you keep coming up short?

To live deliberately, as HDT outlines in Walden, is a real challenge, and much of what he prescribes is not for the faint of heart.

Perhaps the best demonstrations of a deliberate life are those we find in the stories of the heroes of old.

The hero's journey is no less than what we're embarking on here... without an understanding of that process and examples of it, we will continue to handicap ourselves.

In an effort to give a little taste of how you might begin to live deliberately, I've outlined 6 ways to set your aim truer and make the most of your efforts.

You can find that in this week's newsletter:

https://open.substack.com/pub/devanrohrich/p/readyaim?r=24w2bx&utm_medium=ios

You'll also find:

- an outline of the Hero's Journey
- The Greek roots of Psychology
- other tools to help you set your aim.

Remember to subscribe so you don't have to depend on an algorithm to deliver these crucial lessons to you each week, it'll be in your inbox every Monday!

Discussing the cost of aimlessness last week made me remember a very famous line by one of my favorite thinkers:

18/12/2024

"To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as to live according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity, and trust."

“Walden” — Henry David Thoreau

13/12/2024

“Look at the archer, he has the strength to pull the string back to it’s greatest possible resting spot—the point to where he risks breaking the string could he tension it farther yet resisting the bows instinct to loose the arrow forward and find it’s mark—he holds it with perfection.

Now, should he have gone through this great exercise of might with no object to aim, no target to strike, his craft bears no meaning… there is no impact.”

That was a brief excerpt from this week's newsletter.

It's painful for everything you do, every effort made and dream planned, to be pointless.

The most important thing we could do is find a worthy aim for our lives.

Want to learn how to aim?

First, finish reading about the cost of living an aimless life over on my Substack.

Then, sub for free because I'll be discussing "How to Aim" next week, so you won't want to miss it. (plus you get my essential book recommendations)

https://devanrohrich.substack.com/p/fragility-and-aimlessness?r=24w2bx

11/12/2024

If integrity is how we are to live life well, fragility encompasses anything to the contrary.

To know not only what to aim at but also what not to aim at is crucial.

Let's take a closer look at the cost of fragility...

What are some causes of fragility?

Here are a few:

- Hyper-sentimentality
- Physical/Mental Illness
- Nihilism
- Deficient Education
- Decadence
- Procrastination
- Indecision
- Expediency

As you might notice, many of these overlap in some way shape or form.

The overarching theme of fragility is and most simply put—aimlessness.

A simple truth about aimlessness?

It's pain.

Pain that's built upon the back of your wasted efforts.

Grand effort with no intention, or no effort with grand intention makes no difference.

Without an aim, any effort lacks an impact and, therefore, lacks any real meaning.

So, logically, defining an aim should help us bolster, return, or for once discover meaning, purpose, and vitality in our lives.

To have an aim is to have a "why".

Want to learn how to aim?

First, finish reading about the cost of living an aimless life over on my Substack.

Then, sub for free because I'll be discussing "How to Aim" next week, so you won't want to miss it. (plus you get a list of book reccomendations)

10/12/2024

Fragility is purely antithetical to our mission of Integrity. So, naturally, we should explore it.

Last week’s discussion was on the importance of integrity in living well, and is, in fact, the seat of our endeavor.

03/12/2024

How do you develop integrity?

A "good" life is less about having some adherence to a dogmatic, moralistic creed as it is to simply act with integrity every day.

To weather the blast of tragedy well, you need integrity.

Integrity is the ability to function well under stress.

One of the best analogies for integrity is a bridge.

Think about it...

the most important thing about a bridge is whether or not it can withstand the pressure of the cars, people, trains, etc., going across it.

Not whether it looks good while doing it.

Sure, we like things to look good but as long as it doesn't buckle underneath our feet, it's a good bridge.

If it's necessary to the "good life" that we fortify ourselves, then what does it really take?

Similar to bridge building... it depends.

Our circumstances naturally vary the distance from one side to the other.

Not everyone needs to build a Golden Gate Bridge—the size (and effort) depends on how far our perception of the "good" is from what’s actually good.

To span this gap, we need to understand the true magnitude of our project.

Naturally then, building our bridge on the path to a good life requires education on determining the value not just of our actions, but also the ends toward which we are acting in the first place (i.e., our desires)

Would you ever build a bridge that didn't take you somewhere you wanted?

No—so why set a life course that didn't take you where you wanted to go?

If what we desire really isn't to our benefit, then we should go back to the drafting table and set it right.

Becoming someone of integrity is to become someone who has the gall to admit they were wrong and must set a new course.

If you want to learn more about how to bridge this gap, what it takes to succeed and live a life you truly love, join Reaching for More for free and check out my latest newsletter where I discuss this more in depth!

https://devanrohrich.substack.com/p/what-exactly-are-we-reaching-for?r=24w2bx

See you next week!

13/11/2023

I decided to record an article I wrote a while ago on adventure and its vital role in reducing anxiety. You can find the article on my substack.

devanrohrich.substack.com

Anxiety affects us all. It is a rare man who does not feel its weight and pulse. However, the way we treat anxiety is, it seems, doing more harm than good. There seems to be a misunderstanding when we try to think about anxiety; a misunderstanding that has gone on too long. After this episode, it should be clear: you need adventure to conquer your anxiety. In our "Safety-First" age, adventure is shunned and people are left to sit idly by and garner that third party via video games.

Without adventure, we are left defenseless against it. So, it is crucial to step out of our comfort zone, pursue some good, and venture into the unknown for the sake of becoming as human as we can manage.

Let me know what you think!

24/10/2023

"...mature love is union under the condition of preserving one's integrity, one's individuality. Love is an active power in man; a power which breaks through walls which separate man from his fellow men, which unites him with others; love makes him overcome the sense of isolation and separateness, yet it permits him to be himself, to retain his integrity. In love the paradox occurs that two beings become one and yet remain two."

Erich Fromm~The Art of Loving

This beautiful statement is exactly what one would try to failingly explain when asked what a perfect marriage looks like.

https://devanrohrich.substack.com?utm_source=navbar&utm_medium=web&r=24w2bx