"The Willingness of the Mind"
- devabritow
- Jun 16
- 8 min read
"The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled." (Plutarch)
This week's post is most definitely about Dr. Jeff Karp's LIT: Life Ignition Tools, but I wanted to write briefly on this rapturous rabbit hole I find myself in. Unlike Alice, I'm not wondering how I'm going to get out. I'll happily immerse myself in the vast literary world of self-help, mindfulness and philosophy. The Stoics, notably, have featured in some of the books and podcasts I've covered in this blog, and I look forward to delving deeper into the writings of some of the philosophers, Stoic or otherwise. Here's the thing, though, in the final semester of my degree, I took a philosophy paper as one of my last electives, and I had a rocky start. If memory serves, I only got 39% on my first philosophy paper. I hadn't cottoned on to the intricacies of deconstructing philosophy and writing about it. Thankfully, I made up for it on my final essay and managed to pass, but that first paper was certainly an exercise in humility. Thankfully, it didn't dampen my interest in the subject. I recently purchased Gregory Hays' translation of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, and have been working through Ryan Holiday's The Daily Stoic, which comprises 366 quotes for each day of the year (plus an extra quote from Seneca for good measure). If you haven't read it, I highly recommend The Daily Stoic as it offers bite-sized pearls of wisdom to either begin or end your day. It's not just the quote; it also includes Holiday's summary of each of the texts, which is also great to read and provides terrific insight if you're unfamiliar with the Stoics or philosophy on the whole. As for Meditations, whether I cover it in this blog remains to be seen.
Early on in LIT Life Ignition Tools (page 18 to be exact), Dr. Jeff Karp mentions the quote that I decided to use as my blog title this week. It's by botanist and author, Robyn Wall Kimmerer and I love it. A member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Kimmerer's work weaves indigenous philosophy with academic science, and she has published several books that bridge indigenous wisdom with Western scientific knowledge.
In her book Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses, she writes that "Our acuity at this middle scale seems diminished... by the willingness of the mind." Citing technology and modern tools as a hindrance to our natural attention span, the author argues that our sight does not limit us. Instead, it's the reluctance of the mind and a deficiency in attentiveness that prevents us from appreciating nature. She suggests that through conscious openness and patience, by restoring the "willingness of the mind", we can begin to recognise and value nature. The quote sets the tone for a significant part of Dr. Karp's LIT Life Ignition Tools, and it gave me a lot of food for thought.
Dr. Jeff Karp is another author I came to know through The Mel Robbins Podcast. He appeared on episode 238, Unlock Your Brain's Hidden Power: 6 Tools to Boost Focus, Confidence and Creativity. I love a 'triumph over adversity' story that is rooted in truth and a lived experience. It's inspirational and life-affirming, offering reassurance that I, too, can triumph over my deemed adversities. It's the kind of theme I believe should be a bigger focus in early education - something taught as a matter of course. That said, just as with my first foray into European philosophy, I may have missed a thing or two. Cinderella, The Ugly Duckling and Jack and the Beanstalk (amongst others) are triumph over adversity stories after all.
So, what is it about Dr. Karp's story that inspires me? It's pretty simple, really. Per his website, Karp "was written off by his school because of his learning differences" but despite that, he achieved a PhD, becoming "a passionate mentor and biomedical engineering professor at Harvard Medical School and MIT". He is also a Chair at Brigham Women's Hospital, and a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (amongst several other [very impressive] accolades). His book, LIT Life Ignition Tools provides a practical toolkit on how to break automatic thought patterns, trigger creativity and adopt purposeful action.
I love the Plutarch quote that immediately follows the title of this week's blog post. His "a fire to be kindled" could be a reference to "life ignition tools" if he and Dr. Karp didn't live 1,906 years apart. While Plutarch isn't considered a Stoic, his work was influenced by Stoicism, particularly in terms of ethics and morality. Irrespective of whether Plutarch was a Stoic or not, I'm always struck by how much modern self-help and mindfulness texts resemble the work of ancient philosophers. In fact, many of the authors I've covered over the last nine and a half months take inspiration from philosophers.
"The answers are there. You just have to know where to look." (Dana Scully, 'The X Files')
Dr. Karp's book consists of twelve 'Life Ignition Tools'. Without listing them individually, the tools range from breaking old thought patterns to consistency, focus, and repetition, as well as the importance of nature. The twelve tools are described in great detail, providing a practical approach to achieving clarity of purpose. What I liked best about the book was its focus on nature and its encouragement to question everything - to replace caution with curiosity, asking yourself deeper questions to create new mental pathways that can lead to both personal and professional growth.
"When you're a student, you're judged by how well you answer questions... But in life, you're judged by how good your questions are. You want... to transition from giving good answers to asking good questions." (Robert Langer)
That I have been in a slump is surely evident by now. While I spent a long time trying to claw my way out of that place, I'm shifting my perception and approach to self-help and mindfulness. A key component of that is asking more questions about how I view my life's journey and how I will approach the future. I'm starting to question some of the untruths that have unwittingly (or wittingly) become part of my narrative. My life's experiences are not something I need to claw myself out of - they're something I have to navigate strategically. There's less chastisement and more compassionate self-talk. Less assumptions and more introspection. Is my mind becoming more willing?
"With every interaction, we transfer energy - we set energy in motion. The process of energy transfer is intrinsic in nature, which includes us... When we say we feel "energized" to do something, whether to work toward a goal or see a friend, it's not just a feeling or mood; it's a physiological fact. So when I talk about lit as an energized brain state igniting fresh potential, the energy transfer is as real as photosynthesis or kicking a ball."
Dr. Karp's Life Ignition Tools are inspired by nature and, from a scientific perspective, they draw on patterns in the natural world to open cognitive energy and creativity. As I read the book, I appreciated the scientific thread that runs through LIT, but I leaned more toward Robyn Wall Kimmerer's simple point about appreciating our natural world. I believe that increased time in nature will stand me in good stead.
During the summer months, I love to commune with nature and any opportunity I get to spend at the beach, I'll take. There's a feeling of absolute euphoria when I'm at the ocean, especially my favourite one north of Auckland, and pictured above. Some of my happiest childhood memories are from the frequent family trips to the beach, where my parents, siblings, and I sunbathed, swam, surfed and snorkelled until the sun began to set. My visits to the beach now invoke both nostalgia and present-day appreciation. The beach is a tactile experience. It's about the heat of the sun on your skin, the feel of the sand between your toes, the absolute bliss of being submerged in the beautiful ocean or riding a wave, and the taste of summer fruit at lunchtime. The next question I will ask is how best to harness those same experiences and feelings in the often brutal Auckland winter. Baby steps. "Lightly child, lightly."
"We often get carried away with fast timescales, the on-demand part of our lives, the urgency of now, and it keeps us from seeing the slow changes that are shaping us and our path."
With regard to the adversity I mentioned before, this journey has also brought gratitude to the forefront, which is why I referred to the struggles I've experienced as "deemed". I understand with a deep sense of humility that, as far as struggle goes, I'm amongst the more fortunate. I have so many tools at my disposal which many others, in worse situations, cannot access. Throughout this blog, I have come to understand the common theme of a sense of awe, which is often associated with mental clarity, personal transformation, and emotional healing. Triggered by something vast and beautiful - especially in nature, awe takes one's attention away from the self and places us in the present moment. When admiring something like the beauty of a sunrise, the rolling thunder of storm clouds, watching the hypnotic ebb and flow of the ocean, or even listening to music or reading poetry, one is overtaken by a sense of awe that reminds us that there are things so much greater than our problems.
"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed." (Albert Einstein)
I wrote a considerable amount of notes on LIT Life Ignition Tools, focusing on points centred around epigenetics, atomic habits, overthinking and motivation. However, in the end, this week's blog took on a life of its own, and I'm happy with that. I do want to say one more thing about the rabbit hole, though. Reading Dr. Jeff Karp's book and then starting this post led me to five other books, all of which I purchased as I came across them. In the coming weeks I'll be covering Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryū Suzuki, Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life, by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles, How To Change by Katy Milkman, The Joy of Movement by Kelly McGonigal and Healthy Brain, Happy Life by Wendy Suzuki and Billie Fitzpatrick. I also look forward to reading Robyn Wall Kimmerer's work at some point.
This self-help journey has certainly taken me down a rabbit hole, but boy, is it a wonderland.
Coming Up Next Week
I'll get stuck into Martha Beck's The Way of Integrity. I can't wait.
#anxiety #depression #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #mindfulness #LIT #youarenotalone #thereisnostigma #selfhelp #selfcare
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