The Beginner's Mind and Finding Clarity

Howdy friends! 👋🏻A quick update from behind the scenes: It's been far easier posting daily since my summer vacation as a teacher kicked in two weeks ago. As a result, I've just reached 3K Followers on Twitter! 🤯Now, Instagram is picking up steam. I've seen visuals online about consistency like the one below from Janis...and it's 100% accurate.

I've been posting every day on IG since June 22nd and below is my actual metrics.

Thank you all for joining me on this journey. Thank you for caring about my I.D.E.A.'s! Hope you enjoy this issue!💙💙💙,PJ

INTERESTING

The secret sauce to solving difficult problems is combining the efficiency of the expert with the openness of a beginners mind.There’s tremendous value in specialization and expertise.But there's also a hidden trap.To become an expert, you have to zoom in and learn deeply about a singular domain. The more you do something, the more efficient you get. But as you specialize and your efficiency improves, your attention gets narrower and you lose the ability to think laterally.Said another way, when you become an expert you sacrifice creativity for efficiency. The visual above celebrates the beginner's mind, or shoshin (初心) as its known in Japanese Zen Buddhism. In the context of Zen, a beginner’s mind is like when you eat something for the very first time. Imagine that first bite. Its taste. Its texture. Its aroma...fully immersed in each moment of that experience. Having a beginner's mind is about: • snapping yourself out of auto-pilot mode• sustaining curiosity• and checking your assumptions about what's possible.

DIVE DEEPER: My favorite real world example of this is the the case of the scientist who discovered H. Pylori.

DRAWING

This is one of my favorite visuals because it's deeply emotional, representing my relationship with my kids and my parents. When we had our first kid, the nights were brutal. Sleep deprived and grumpy, it felt as if life would never be the same again. And it wasn't. But in the most beautiful way possible (though it wasn't until we finally got a peaceful night's rest we realized this).Looking back, the one thing I regret is not smiling more and appreciating the little delightful moments.Now, I try to remind myself every day there's a finite number of shared hugs and kisses with my kids and parents. And each one grows more and more precious. Savor each one.

ENCHANTING

Had so much fun drawing this, especially figuring out how to create the illusion of shaking up the globe.

When it’s manageable, anxiety and tension can help motivate you towards dreams and aspirations.But if you feel a paralyzing chaos welling up daily, I’d invite you to start a journaling practice to calm the mind and settle the soul.Journaling can be more than an inventory of the events of the day. It can be a method to reflect on what's going on internally and become more consciously aware of what you're feeling.Any kind of reflection is helpful, but I’m a proponent of journaling by hand because it helps you slow down and take note of what you're experiencing.

ANALOGY

As a teacher, an analogy is the most effective way to communicate foreign concepts. I came up with this one as I backed out of the driveway thinking about how to explain why my students should write to clarify their thinking about what they wanted to achieve for the year. I'm flattered to have been DM'd several times over the last couple months asking about my process of coming up with visuals. It may sound weird, but writing is an essential component of visualization. Without the clarity found through exploring an idea, a visual has no soul. That said, I still feel a deep anxiety with every visual before posting, wondering "Is This Anything?"[affiliate link] much like Jerry Seinfeld thinks before a joke.

Thanks for Reading! 💙

If this resonates, or you found the insights in here helpful, please consider sharing this issue with your audience by clicking on one of the icons at the top of this email.Better yet, share a link to subscribe to this newsletter! 😊Until next time! Stay Curious! 👋🏻-PJ Milani