EP 41 The Cloud of Unknowing

n this episode I talk about two aspects of what I call the cloud of unknowing. The first aspect regards how we are blinded by our beliefs. The second one talks about embracing the unknown. So let's dive in. Our minds and our thoughts are powerful. We might not realise but our beliefs can literally shape our lives, even though our minds have espoused beliefs through experience. It all boils down to how our mind works, particularly the part of our brain called the amygdala and the hippocampus. The hippocampus helps us to make sense of our experiences by clumping memories into clusters that over time create our belief system. It's actually really important because it helps us filter information to both keep us safe but also to avoid us being overwhelmed as we cannot process all the information around us. So our beliefs act as filters, only letting in what is useful to us and what fits with our vision of the world. This is a beautiful and helpful process for as long as we hold beliefs that are helpful. But most of us hold unhelpful beliefs. And the first step to getting rid of those unhelpful beliefs is to understand that the concept of truth is relative and that it does not matter if something is true when it comes to our wellbeing. We have more control over our happiness than we think we do. I share how what happened to me last week illustrates that beautifully in the episode. A belief is only a thought that you think is true. Once you take the truth component out of it, you can actually become an active agent in your own thinking. The more important question is how does this belief make me feel and if it makes me feel bad, how would I like to feel instead? The second part of the episode asks us to embrace the unknown by seeing it as the space holder for infinite possibilities rather than as the driver for anxiety. And I invite the listeners to ask themselves out loud: "what if there was no problem?" or if that's too hard "what is there was a solution?". I end the episode with the first live guided meditation on the podcast that invites you to lean into what I call the Fog. To listen to the episode, click here. To work with me head over to the home page of this website to read about the different options, or book a discovery call with me with this link.