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Sloww Sunday Newsletter 063 (May 30, 2021) — Purposeful Living, Discovering Your “Why,” Hero’s Journey 101, & More
Hi friends,
Sloww Sunday is a free newsletter delivering the latest from Sloww along with the most interesting modern knowledge and timeless wisdom I discovered last week.
To respect your time and attention, every newsletter can be read in under 5 minutes. Enjoy!
New News
🏕️ My wife and I spent the week camping in Big Sur, CA with no wifi or phone service. Here are some photos (believe it or not, with no filters).
📧 Wonder what’s included in my info diet? I recently tweeted a thread with 15 of my favorite email newsletters that I actually read each week.
Sloww Stuff
In Case You Missed It:
🤔 What is Your Purpose in Life? 10 Deep Thoughts to Guide Your Hero’s Journey to Finding Life Purpose
Have you asked yourself any of these ultimate questions: What is my purpose in life? How do I find my life purpose? Do I even have a life purpose? Maybe you’re actively asking yourself these questions at this very moment. Join the club! I’ve been asking myself the same ones for the last 5+ years on this journey. This post is a great place to start.
🔒 Life Purpose Search Synthesis: I Googled “Life Purpose” & Read 100+ Articles (Literally)
I googled “life purpose” and read through all the links on 10 pages of search results. Literally. 139 links to be exact. Knowing there’s a lot of regurgitated content out there about life purpose, I wanted to create a go-to cheat sheet. This Premium post gives you all the highlights without any of the fluff (and in a fraction of the time).
Modern Knowledge
🧭 How to Discover Your “Why” in Difficult Times
(15 mins | YouTube)
In this video, Simon Sinek gives an overview of what he calls the “friends exercise” (video below starts at the 10:58 mark). Instead of finding your purpose on your own, you pair up with a best friend.
The Friends Exercise:
- Ask them, “Why are we friends?” Odds are they will say, “I don’t know” because it’s difficult to put feelings into words.
- Paradoxically, you then stop asking “Why” and start asking “What”: “What is it about me that I know you will be there for me no matter what?” Odds are they will start describing qualities of a friend (e.g. funny, trustworthy, loyal, etc.).
- You then ask, “What specifically is it about me that I know you’d be there for me no matter what?” Odds are they will start describing qualities of a best friend, but it may still be vague. Keep asking.
- Eventually your friend will give up trying to describe you, and they’ll start describing themselves. They will articulate the value that you have in their life, and you will have some sort of emotional response (e.g. goosebumps, tears, etc.). What they are telling you is your “why”—the thing you give to the world.
Pair with:
Timeless Wisdom
🌀 What is the Hero’s Journey?
(4 mins | YouTube)
This is a nice intro to Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey in under five minutes. It includes multiple segments from Campbell’s 1988 interview series with Bill Moyers called The Power of Myth.
- The basic motif of the hero’s journey: Leaving one condition and finding the source of life to bring you forth in a richer or more mature or other condition.
- The principle initiation of all heroic stories: Life is always on the edge of death, and one should lack fear and have the courage of life.
- Who are heroes? Humans who have given their lives to something bigger than themselves or other than themselves.
“The landscape and the conditions of the environment match the readiness of the hero. The adventure that he’s ready for is the one that he gets.” — Joseph Campbell
🤯 Mind Expanding
Mind-blowing, jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring content has the power to shift your perspective in an instant.
94% of the galaxies we can see today have already passed (the cosmological horizon) and are lost to us forever. If we were to colonize our cosmic backyard, it accounts for 0.00000000001% of the observable universe.
💭 Deep Quote
“The only Zen you find on tops of mountains is the Zen you bring there.” — Robert M. Pirsig
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Support: Sloww is a one-human labor of love. If you’re interested in supporting my work, there are several financial and non-financial ways to support.
Feedback: Have something you want to say, or just want to say hi? It’s always much appreciated. Just send me an email or reach out socially.
Have a zen week!
Kyle Kowalski
Solopreneur & Synthesizer, Sloww
