Cecily Mak: Living Undimmed

In this episode I speak with Cecily Mak — author of Undimmed: The Eight Awarenesses for Freedom from Unwanted Habits — about the habits and behaviors we reach for to soften the edges of our lives, and what becomes possible when we loosen their grip.Cecily introduces the concept of "dimmers" — not just substances like alcohol, but anything we use to take the edge off: overworking, scrolling, people-pleasing, even wellness practices. Her argument is that while these habits help us avoid discomfort, they also mute our sense of aliveness, silence our intuition, and keep us in what she calls "the softer middle of human experience."We talk about:What it means to be dimmed and what it means to live undimmedHow the eight awarenesses form a map for living more self-connected and presentHow intuition becomes clearer as we un-dimThe difference between genuine service and dimming through people-pleasingWhat gets revealed when one dimmer loosens and why that layering mattersWhy our dimming behaviors aren't failuresThis is a warm, honest, and surprisingly wide-ranging conversation about clarity, agency, and the return to ourselves.Guest: Cecily Mak is an attorney, investor, advocate, founder and author of Undimmed: The Eight Awarenesses for Freedom from Unwanted Habits, published by Flatiron Books. Find her at cecilymak.com.Resources mentioned:Undimmed: The Eight Awarenesses for Freedom from Unwanted Habits — Cecily MakThe Five Invitations — Frank Ostaseski