Joseph Legaspi's Blog - Posts Tagged "free-book"
The Basics of Instinct
In this blog, I talk about one of the key foundations of A Three-Year Minute: Instinct.
How can one know the difference between imagined fear and justifiable fear? In my book, the main character Ibon senses a dangerous man following him from his past (Arko), who may be responsible for his beating early in the book. But he may also be imagining him, as it has been 20 years since he last saw him. In one scene, a priest comes to him while he lays recovering in the hospital and tells him not to think, but allow his feelings to guide him.
The important characteristic of instinct is that it is so subtle that we often don't notice it. There is too much going on inside and around us that drowns out that whisper in our ear or little nudge in our gut. Our thoughts can be the most distracting factor because it diverts all our attention from it. When we use our brains, we perceive the world according to our thoughts, which blocks out the other critical organ that drives our lives - our hearts.
Meditation is a great way to focus our attention and makes us aware of patterns in our thoughts. Left unchecked, these patterns govern our lives as if we are machines. But it is the heart that, in the end, gives us the satisfaction that we spent our valuable time in areas that needed our attention and made decisions for outcomes that will mean the most to us. It is also in the heart where we feel that instinct the most - our best guide when it comes to tough choices like whom we should marry, what career we really want, or like in my book, when to let go of our past and when to hold on to it.
Please note, I'm not advocating we should ignore logic or reason, but in life we face many moments when we don't have all the time or information we need to make a decision. There are also moments when we are told by some authority figure to blindly follow orders when our instinct tells us otherwise. Instinct is crucial for times when our reasoning (or someone else's) is questionable or blocked out due to someone's power or influence. Just think of the atrocities committed by followers of manipulative leaders throughout history. I wonder what would've happened instead if people listened more to their gut than to someone else's false reasoning. This is true, I think, not just on a macro-level for society at large, but on an individual basis in abusive relationships.
If you want to read a good book on letting go of your negative thoughts, I recommend The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
If you want to read books on instinct, I also recommend books by Laura Day.
As music is also a big theme in my book, I want to sum up my blog on instinct with a relevant quote from Samuel Butler: "Life is like music, it must be composed by ear, feeling and instinct, not by rule."
Fyi, for anyone who doesn't have the book, A Three-Year Minute is available to download for FREE on Amazon from Dec. 1 - Dec. 5, 2018. An early holiday gift! If you already have it, please spread the word. Thanks!
Season's Greeting! Happy Holidays!!
How can one know the difference between imagined fear and justifiable fear? In my book, the main character Ibon senses a dangerous man following him from his past (Arko), who may be responsible for his beating early in the book. But he may also be imagining him, as it has been 20 years since he last saw him. In one scene, a priest comes to him while he lays recovering in the hospital and tells him not to think, but allow his feelings to guide him.
The important characteristic of instinct is that it is so subtle that we often don't notice it. There is too much going on inside and around us that drowns out that whisper in our ear or little nudge in our gut. Our thoughts can be the most distracting factor because it diverts all our attention from it. When we use our brains, we perceive the world according to our thoughts, which blocks out the other critical organ that drives our lives - our hearts.
Meditation is a great way to focus our attention and makes us aware of patterns in our thoughts. Left unchecked, these patterns govern our lives as if we are machines. But it is the heart that, in the end, gives us the satisfaction that we spent our valuable time in areas that needed our attention and made decisions for outcomes that will mean the most to us. It is also in the heart where we feel that instinct the most - our best guide when it comes to tough choices like whom we should marry, what career we really want, or like in my book, when to let go of our past and when to hold on to it.
Please note, I'm not advocating we should ignore logic or reason, but in life we face many moments when we don't have all the time or information we need to make a decision. There are also moments when we are told by some authority figure to blindly follow orders when our instinct tells us otherwise. Instinct is crucial for times when our reasoning (or someone else's) is questionable or blocked out due to someone's power or influence. Just think of the atrocities committed by followers of manipulative leaders throughout history. I wonder what would've happened instead if people listened more to their gut than to someone else's false reasoning. This is true, I think, not just on a macro-level for society at large, but on an individual basis in abusive relationships.
If you want to read a good book on letting go of your negative thoughts, I recommend The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
If you want to read books on instinct, I also recommend books by Laura Day.
As music is also a big theme in my book, I want to sum up my blog on instinct with a relevant quote from Samuel Butler: "Life is like music, it must be composed by ear, feeling and instinct, not by rule."
Fyi, for anyone who doesn't have the book, A Three-Year Minute is available to download for FREE on Amazon from Dec. 1 - Dec. 5, 2018. An early holiday gift! If you already have it, please spread the word. Thanks!
Season's Greeting! Happy Holidays!!
