Everybody wants privacy for themselves. 

For other people, not so much. 

We have to keep something to ourselves, or else anyone can get to us. They'll see the stuff we don't show anyone. 

So we build the walls high and wide, and we lock the gates.

 There's this family in Italy, who never slept. 

They suffered from a genetic disease that kept them awake, for months. Until their bodies just shut down. 

Even after all these years, scientists still don't really know why we sleep. We just know we have to sleep, because without it, we make poor decisions, we say things we shouldn't, and sometimes, we see things that aren't there. 

We've all hit that point of exhaustion. The point where nothing makes sense anymore. Your body hurts, your brain becomes foggy, and you feel like you're trapped in a tunnel. When all you want is your bed. 

So, how do you keep going? How do you not just sit down and give up?

 Sometimes it's easy. Sometimes you play games in your head. You make up someone. Someone good. 

Whatever you need. 

To keep you going.

 We cover up injuries with tape and gauze to protect the injury, to prevent infection, to prevent  further suffering. 

The hard part comes when you have to rip the bandage off, because that can hurt like hell. 

It hurts to tear that bandage off. We don't wanna see what's underneath. 

But maybe it's not the fear of the pain that holds us back. 

Maybe, we're really afraid to see if the wound underneath is still open, or if it might actually be healing.

 When babies are born, they usually come out crying like there's no tomorrow. 

It's loud, it's jarring, and it's completely unfair. That adorable tiny baby was forced out of its mother's womb, and forced to breathe outside air into its brand new little lungs. 

It's human nature. No one wants to be left out in the cold, rejected and alone.

 Affection, acceptance, and unconditional love. We all want it. We all look for it.

 But when we find it, it's flat-out terrifying. Because just as quickly as we may have found it, it can disappear. 

And we're back out there in the cold,

 alone.

 

When you take the stage and all eyes are on you, you don't want the audience to see you sweat, you only want them to see the magic.

 There's a reason we like to keep things to ourselves.

 When you have an audience, even the smallest moments end up feeling huge.

 It makes the big moments seem positively earth-shattering.

 The trick is, not letting the pressure keep you from taking big chances. 

You just get out there, naked and afraid, and pretend no one's looking.

  

 We can't boil every injury down to one single blow. 

What hurts us is cumulative. It happens over time. We absorb blow after blow, shock after shock, painful hit after hit. 

But even then, even if we know exactly how we got here, it doesn't mean we can fix it.

 You can't heal every wound and that's okay. 

 even if something seems like it cannot be fixed, it doesn't mean it's broken.

 

In group settings, men are 75% more likely to speak up than women. And when a woman does speak up, it's statistically probable her male counterparts will either interrupt her, or speak over her. It's not because they're rude, it's science. The female voice is scientifically proven to be more difficult for a male brain to register. What does this mean? It means, in this world, where men are bigger, stronger, faster, if you're not ready to fight, the silence will kill you. Don't let fear keep you quiet. You have a voice. So use it. Speak up. Raise your hands. Shout your answers. Make yourself heard. Whatever it takes.  Just find your voice and when you do, fill the damn silence.

  That’s what they used to call it when your parents got divorced, even though getting divorced was the least broken they ever did. 

 I wondered if broken homes were where broken people lived.

to this day I still wonder. 

You can build a house out of anything, make it as strong as you want, but a home, a home is more fragile than that. A home is made of the people you fill it with and people can be broken,

what's broken can be mended, what's hurt can be healed, that no matter how dark it gets, the sun's gonna rise again.

 when you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras.

It means that the most obvious answer is usually right.

 It helps us stick to the truth. 

. When I hear hoofbeats, horses. I always think horses. Even when I shouldn't.

Things are not always what they appear to be. 

They're often an indicator of something bigger going on, deep underneath.

 Symptoms. Red flags. Warning signs. Things we should pay attention to. Things we shouldn't ever ignore. Things that are bad. Things that could really hurt us. 

Things that it might be just too late to fix.

 Your kids. Your keys. Your family photo album. 

It's the list you repeat in your head before you fall asleep. It's the short list of things you'd grab in case of disaster. 

The list makes you feel in control. Your kids. Your keys. Your family photo album. 

When the fire starts, when the tsunami hits, when the earth literally quakes, do you remember your list? 

Or do you just duck and cover? 

 hiding won't work for long. 

There's really only one way to win. You have to fight back. 

And if you're lucky enough to get out alive, take just a moment to celebrate before you put your guard back up, 

ready to fight the next one.

 Failure is an inevitability. 

Every scientist was told no, over and over. 

The ones we remember, the ones who changed our lives: the Curies, the Salks, the Barnards. They're the ones who wouldn't take no for an answer.

 Failure is inevitable. Unavoidable. But failure should never get the last word. 

You have to never take no for an answer and take what's coming to you. 

Never give in. Never give up. Stand up. 

Stand up and take it.

 Sometimes, the key to progress is to recognize how to take that very first step. 

Then you start your journey. You hope for the best, and you stick with it. Day in, day out. Even if you're tired, even if you wanna walk away, you don't, because you are a pioneer.

 But nobody ever said it'd be easy.

 It's not like we want to hurt anyone, but sometimes we do. 

Sometimes we make mistakes and when we blow it, we're sorry. 

Not that being sorry really matters anymore. No apology in the world matters now. We've all done things we aren't proud of. 

nobody's perfect, but how do you live with it? How do you get up every morning and face the world, knowing you could've done better? That you should've done better? 

Is being sorry enough? Can an apology actually heal our wounds? Ease our pain? 

Can it undo the hurt that we've caused?

  The old saying goes, "Fake it till you make it." 

Because sometimes, pretending you have confidence helps you find the real thing. 

When it doesn't work, when life doesn't give us second chances or dress rehearsals, you can walk away or you can go all in. 

We tell ourselves we don't care.

 We can try to hide our doubts and fears. 

Or we can accept the unknown and dive in. 

The real thing is better anyway.

 Despite its complexity, the human brain can only focus on about one thing at a time.

 Monotasking reduces distraction, sharpens attention, and allows us to operate at peak performance. 

But a brain can adapt and thrive in just about anything. 

Even chaos. 

Scientists call the conscious thought needed to complete everyday tasks working memory. That memory is always there, always there, getting you through the chaos of life, one task at a time.

 In some ways, that's all life really is, all the things we do strung together. 

 this day, this night, this moment. 

This connection, this family, this friendship. 

And somewhere, in all of that, sleep and wake up. 

Sleep and wake up. 

Sleep. 

And wake up.

 In 1986, Congress passed the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, which prohibits emergency rooms from denying patients care. If you don't have a dollar to your name, it doesn't matter. You can go to any emergency room at any time and they have to treat you. 

Some people think this law has contributed to overcrowding and hospital closures. But I don't know a single ER doctor who would turn a patient away even if they could. Sometimes all that means is treating an ear infection. Other times, you see a patient on the table and your heart stops. The rarest of diseases. Hopeless co-morbidities. Cases that you've never seen that you're not trained to handle. All you can do is close your eyes and say a prayer. Because once a patient enters the emergency room, they're yours. 

When you're met with the impossible, the only place to turn is toward each other. 

When you lose, you have someone to cry with. 

When you walk into the unknown, you have someone to hold your hand. 

And when you win, there's someone by your side to celebrate.

 And suddenly, the impossible feels possible. 

But sometimes, there's no one to turn to. Sometimes, you're all alone. 

In those times, you have to keep the faith. 

Remember that even if you can't see them or feel them or hear them, your people are out there, waiting for you. 

Even after you're gone.

 The Greek myths loved to talk about the perils of hubris, the dangers of believing you can outrun the will of the gods. 

we need hubris just to get through the day. 

We have to believe,  even with the odds stacked against us.

 Humility makes you good, but ego makes you great. 

If that means flying a little too close to the sun, well, that's a risk we're willing to take. 

 But inevitably, our hubris catches up with us. 

In those awful moments, we're left with nothing but the wreckage of our shattered egos. 

And we're in total free fall.

 Infections are like sleeping monsters. 

You can't see them. You can't feel them, but you must do everything in your power to contain them. 

Because when the monsters wake up, they are out of control.

 All that time you spent convincing yourself the sleeping monster wasn't real, it was gathering strength. The infection was spreading. 

The monster's awake now and there's nothing you can do about it.

 No passion is stronger in the breast of a man than the desire to make others believe as he believes. 

Nothing so cuts at the root of his happiness and fills him with rage as the sense that another rates low what he prizes high

 The essence of independence has been to think and act according to standards from within, not without: 

to follow one's own path, not that of the crowd

 A philosopher knows that in reality he knows very little. 

That is why he constantly strives to achieve true insight. 

Socrates was one of these rare people. 

He knew that he knew nothing about life and about the world. 

And now comes the important part: 

it troubled him that he knew so little

  

If you don't behave as you believe, 

you will end by believing as you behave

  

Joy is the goal of existence, 

and joy is not to be stumbled upon, but to be achieved, 

and the act of treason is to let its vision drown in the swamp of the moment's torture

 Remember, it is not enough to be hit or insulted to be harmed, you must believe that you are being harmed. 

If someone succeeds in provoking you, realize that your mind is complicit in the provocation. 

Which is why it is essential that we not respond impulsively to impressions; 

take a moment before reacting, and you will find it easier to maintain control 

  

The pre-Socratic Greek philosopher Parmenides taught 

that the only things that are real are things which never change... 

 the pre-Socratic Greek philosopher Heraclitus taught

 that everything changes.

 If you superimpose their two views, you get this result:

 Nothing is real

 This place is a dream. 

Only a sleeper considers it real. 

Then death comes like dawn, 

and you wake up laughing at what you thought was your grief

  

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world

 The unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself.

 Therefore 

all progress depends on the unreasonable man

  

Happiness can be found, 

even in the darkest of times, 

if one only remembers to turn on the light

 A paranoid is someone who knows a little of what's going on

 A concept is a brick. 

It can be used to build a courthouse of reason. 

Or it can be thrown through the window

 

Life is really simple, 

but we insist on making it complicated

 It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old, 

they grow old because they stop pursuing dreams

  

A serious and good philosophical work could be written consisting entirely of jokes

 We have come from God, and inevitably the myths woven by us, though they contain error, will also reflect a splintered fragment of the true light, the eternal truth that is with God. 

Indeed only by myth-making, only by becoming 'sub-creator' and inventing stories, can Man aspire to the state of perfection that he knew before the Fall.

 Our myths may be misguided, but they steer however shakily towards the true harbour, 

while materialistic 'progress' leads only to a yawning abyss and the Iron Crown of the power of evil.

 

 Never die for your beliefs 

because you might be wrong

 The cosmos is within us. 

We are made of star-stuff.

 We are a way for the universe to know itself

 If you understand others you are smart.

If you understand yourself you are illuminated.
If you overcome others you are powerful.
If you overcome yourself you have strength.
If you know how to be satisfied you are rich.
If you can act with vigor, you have a will.
If you don't lose your objectives you can be long-lasting.
If you die without loss, you are eternal.

  pain is the most important thing in the universes. 

Greater than survival, greater than love, greater even than the beauty it brings about. 

For without pain, there can be no pleasure. 

Without sadness, there can be no happiness. 

Without misery there can be no beauty. 

And without these, life is endless, hopeless, doomed and damned.

 Don't just say you have read books. 

Show that through them you have learned to think better, to be a more discriminating and reflective person.

 Books are the training weights of the mind.

 They are very helpful, 

but it would be a bad mistake to suppose that one has made progress simply by having internalized their contents.

  

Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding... 

And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, 

your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy

  

When another blames you or hates you, or people voice similar criticisms, go to their souls, penetrate inside and see what sort of people they are. 

You will realize that there is no need to be racked with anxiety that they should hold any particular opinion about you.

 The seed of suffering in you may be strong, 

but don't wait until you have no more suffering before allowing yourself to be happy

 

Devotion to the truth is the hallmark of morality; 

there is no greater, nobler, more heroic form of devotion 

than the act of a man who assumes the responsibility of thinking

 I think it's much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong. 

I have approximate answers and possible beliefs and different degrees of uncertainty about different things, but I am not absolutely sure of anything and there are many things I don't know anything about, such as whether it means anything to ask why we're here. 

I don't have to know an answer. 

I don't feel frightened not knowing things, by being lost in a mysterious universe without any purpose, which is the way it really is as far as I can tell

 Don’t only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets, 

for it and knowledge can raise men to the divine

 that nations were the most foolish of mortal inventions

No man is worth more than another, wherever he is from

the stranger is someone else’s friend and brother. 

So which life is more important

Taking steps is easy

Standing still is hard

 The animals, the animals

Trap, trap, trap 'til the cage is full
The cage is full, stay awake
In the dark, count mistakes
The light was off but now it's on
Searching underground for a bit of sun
The sun is out, the day is new
And everyone is waiting, waiting on you

Think of all the roads
Think of all their crossings
Taking steps is easy
Standing still is hard
Remember all their faces
Remember all their voices
Everything is different
The second time around

 He doesn't know that. He's an idiot. For all he knows, it could be the worst day of his life. 

You know how people say, 'Who knows? I could get hit by a bus tomorrow.' That seems pretty farfetched. 

Until you have a friend who got hit by a bus. 

The point is you never know what kind of day is coming. 

Whenever we think we know the future, even for a second, it changes. Sometimes the future changes quickly and completely. And we're left only with the choice of what to do next.

 We can choose to be afraid of it, to stand there, trembling, not moving, assuming the worst that can happen. 

Or we step forward, into the unknown, and assume it will be brilliant.

 Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

 Emergency rooms are kept in business by people who have learned that lesson in the hard way. Skydivers, bullriders. People whose bold ideas can often result in broken bones and smushed spleens. 

The thing about the bold moves is they're terrifying, could end in nothing but tears and broken bones. 

And that's exactly what makes them so damned exciting.

 

Do you know who you are? 

Do you know what's happened to you? 

Do you want to live this way? 

All it takes is one person, one moment to change your life forever. It can change your perspective, colour your thinking. One moment that forces you to re-evaluate everything you think you know. 

Do you know who you are? 

Do you know what's happened to you? 

Do you want to live this way? 

 There's a stage you go through during child birth and it's the toughest part. It's called the transition stage. 

You've been pushing so hard and so long that you're exhausted, spent and there's nothing to show for your effort. 

During this transition stage, it feels like you can't go on, but it's only because you're very nearly there. 

Transition is movement from one part of life to a whole new one. And it can feel like one long, scary, dark tunnel. 

But you have to come out the other side because what's been waiting there might be glorious.

 You know your tailbone? It used to be a tail.

That pink part in the corner of your eye? It used to be a third eyelid.

The appendix used to help us digest tough foods. Now, it does nothing.

The story of our evolution, is the story of what we leave behind, what we've discarded. Our bodies only hang on to the things we absolutely need. The things we have no longer use for, we give up. We let go.

Why does it feel so good to get rid of things? To unload? To let go?

 Maybe because when we see how little we need to make us survive, it makes us realize how powerful we actually are. To strip down to only what we really need. To hang on to only what we can't do without, what we need.

Not just to survive but to thrive.

  

Sometimes you just need to get out of town. 

Get a new perspective. 

But you can't always see that you need a new perspective, because you, well, need a new perspective to be able to see that. It's complicated.

 Open your eyes. What do you see? More possibilities? Does your new view give you more hope? That's the goal. 

Although it doesn't always work out that way. 

Sometimes a shift in perspective just makes you see what you've lost.

Adam Three Wives

 

According to the Midrash Genesis Rabba, Adam had three wives:

• Lilith: Lilith was Adam's first wife, created from the earth like Adam. She demanded to be treated as Adam's equal, but he refused, so she left.
• Another wife: After Lilith left, God created another wife for Adam. This woman was assembled in Adam's presence, giving him insight into her body parts.
• Eve: Eventually, Adam was presented with Eve. 

Lilith is not mentioned directly in the Bible, but her story is used to explain the two contradictory versions of Creation in Genesis

• The nameless one is the Maiden, she is described as "the virgin"
• Lilith is the Mother, she "gave birth to the Lilim"
• Eve is the Crone, as she "lived to be older than any woman"

In the Bible, Eve is Adam's only wife. There are ancient texts that say that Adam had another wife first, whose name was Lilith, but God sent her away because for many reasons she was an unsuitable mate for Adam. These texts were not included in the Bible.

According to Jewish lore, Lilith was the first wife of Adam. Although not mentioned directly in the Bible, Lilith has been used to explain the two contradictory versions of Creation within the book of Genesis. Like Adam, Lilith was created from the dust and the earth, making them equal to one another.

In ancient Jewish folklore, Lilith is said to be the name of Lucifer's wife. In the earliest recorded references, dating back to the third century, she was originally conceived as the first wife of Adam, before Eve.

Lilith, and especially Eve, are imbedded in traditions of ancient Israel and the later Judaism. Rabbinic scholars artificially incorporated Lilith, in essence a pre-biblical figure, into the biblical narrative of Adam and Eve

The Bible mentions the Lilith only once, as a dweller in waste places (Isaiah 34:14), but the characterization of the Lilith or the lili (in the singular or plural) as a seducer or slayer of children has a long pre-history in ancient Babylonian religion.

One story tells that Lilith refused to lay beneath Adam during sex. She believed they were created equal, both from the dust of the earth, thus she should not have to lay beneath him. After Adam disagreed, Lilith fled the Garden of Eden to gain her independence.

Just like Pandora in ancient Greece, Eve was known as the first woman on earth in Hebrew history. Even the creation of the two women is similar: Pandora was made of earth and water and Eve was from the rib of Adam, the first man on earth, who was in his turn made of clay.

Those who believe the Lilith narrative suggest the story of Lilith was removed from the Bible to support the patriarchy and to keep women in a place of submission. If women found out about Lilith, they would know they were originally designed to be equals with men, which would disrupt the whole social order.

Lilith is from the book of jewish kabbalah known as the zohar. She was not “banished from heaven”, but the garden of eden. Jews believe that God made Lilith from the dust like Adam, instead of from Adam's rib like Eve. She refused to submit to him and was banished for it.

November Beaver Moon