The Ten Crutches Podcast

Just what the title says: I describe what happens when I think of the universe this way.
Visit the podcast website at tencrutches.link to download the free ebook Ten Crutches For Walking In The Present.
Show notes are here.

If you are really dedicated to becoming more and more present in your life, one thing becomes very clear: birth and death happen all the time. How can we be more gracious and accepting of this truth?
Visit the podcast website at tencrutches.link to download the free ebook Ten Crutches For Walking In The Present.
Show notes are here.

This episode is potentially NSFW, as I also refer to poop with a common-enough word your co-workers may not want to hear.
We easily accept saying a prayer or express our gratitude when we eat. But putting food into one end of our tube is only the beginning.
We all know what comes out the other end. Is it pleasant to talk about? No. Is it important to think about? Yes. What could be more important than for people to deal, literally, with their poop?
It’s essential we do not turn away from reality, even if it is unpleasant. We can all offer a prayer for our poop.
Visit the podcast website at tencrutches.link to download the free ebook Ten Crutches For Walking In The Present.
Show notes are here.

How is our existence different from our “life?”
So many people are disdainful and/or dismissive of their own existence, as if the only reason they exist is to “have a life.”
Why do so many people focus only on making "a success" of their life? Why do so many ignore the miracle of their simple existence (which is beyond success & failure)?
Visit the podcast website at tencrutches.link to download the free ebook Ten Crutches For Walking In The Present.
Show notes are here.

This episode is an affirmation of our amazing story-telling abilities. I love a good story! With regards to the story of our own life, we are both the storyteller and the audience. Hats off to Atul Gawande for the quote from Being Mortal that inspired this episode.
We are all individuals living a life. We are all “somebody.” Even if the story we tell ourselves about our life is constructed, it’s a very important construction. To help us become even better storytellers, I include a few limitations we face while creating stories about our lives.
The story of each life needs to be told well and not taken lightly.
Visit the podcast website at tencrutches.link to download the free ebook Ten Crutches For Walking In The Present.
Show notes are here.

Werner Heisenberg was deeply involved with the beginning of quantum mechanics. He focused on what he could observe about electrons, rather than use old pictures of electrons “orbiting” the nucleus of an atom. When he was only 23, he developed matrix mechanics.
What is Heisenberg’s Uncertainly Principle? It essentially states there are pairs of properties, (for example position and momentum,) that cannot both be known with certainty at the same time. Knowing more about one property means you know less about the other.
At one time, people thought, “Hey! If we knew the position and momentum of every particle in the universe, we could make accurate predictions about exactly how the universe will unfold. It would be just like predicting where a billiard ball would go.” You can see this very human desire to predict take on new force as AI develops.
I don’t think the Uncertainty Principle has really sunk into our culture at large. Most people don’t feel comfortable recognizing the depth of uncertainty in life. But uncertainty is a property of reality itself.
Since uncertainty is what we are made of, let’s fall in love with it.
Visit the podcast website at tencrutches.link to download the free ebook Ten Crutches For Walking In The Present.
Show notes are here.

A riff based on the following:
1) My subjectivity appears separated from the unity of the universe. This can feel like a prison or a trap or comfortable cocoon or anything in between. Any effort I make to “merge with the universe” is simply more “me” being “me.” No idea or plan can work, since ideas and plans only reinforce the separated subjectivity I wish to leave. One simple fact to accept: there is nothing I can do.
2) I can and must make every effort to escape the trap of being separate.
Either thought, on it’s own, leads to feeling helpless and hopeless. You either give up or bang your head against a wall. This episode attempts to place the two statements together in a larger picture.
Visit the podcast website at tencrutches.link to download the free ebook Ten Crutches For Walking In The Present.
Show notes are here.

The Copernican Revolution uprooted the idea that a non-moving Earth was at the center of the universe. Instead, it placed a non-moving Sun at the center of the universe. But even our galaxy isn’t at the center of anything. It’s zipping along thru space just like countless other galaxies.
And just like humans considered the Earth to be at the center, most of us think and feel and act as if we are at the center.
At the center of what? Of life itself? Of what’s important?
We can each undergo a Copernican Revolution of the self. We can realize it does not make sense to think of ourselves at the center of anything, except our current frame of reference.
The Copernican Revolution must continue! Support the Copernican Revolution!
Visit the podcast website at tencrutches.link to download the free ebook Ten Crutches For Walking In The Present.
Show notes are here.

Many people keep up with the news automatically. It’s just an accepted part of our culture that you will know “what’s going on.” And, of course, there are good reasons to be aware of important current events.
But there is also a harm involved in “keeping up with the news” mindlessly. It’s just not good for a human nervous system to take on that much stress. I think it is well worth considering getting off the news entirely, or at least taking regular breaks.
Assess what you need (and what you don’t). Then act accordingly.
Visit the podcast website at tencrutches.link to download the free ebook Ten Crutches For Walking In The Present.
Show notes are here.

A riff on, well, just what the title says.
We do not seem to be able to stop ourselves, as a whole species, from ignoring strong evidence of being needlessly destructive. We can’t even stop long enough to genuinely evaluate risk.
We are helpless in the face of our greed and aggression. We have not developed any way to work together, as a species, with all of us caring for all of us.
But somehow we must.
Visit the podcast website at tencrutches.link to download the free ebook Ten Crutches For Walking In The Present.
Show notes are here.