Lately, I’ve been obsessed with learning Latin expressions.
Perhaps, it’s in due part to spending some time in Latin classes. And wondering what’s the point of learning Latin? Ancient Greek? Etc..?
It’s this idea that there’s wisdom from the past. And it’s best not to ignore it.
“Mens Sana In Corpore Sano” is arguably my favorite expression right now. It roughly translates to “a sound mind in a sound body”.
The place in which I discovered this from was Michael Murphy’s book “The Future of The Body” where he magically interweaves thoughts from ancient greek, sports psychology, mysticism, and the initial wellness craze of the 1960s at the campus of growth he created: The Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California.
HEALTH INSURANCE REVISITED
This year is off to a rather interesting start, as I’ve essentially hit REFRESH, on my commitments as far as it relates to DJING, Teaching, Learning Commitments and most importantly of all: tending to my Health.
Deciphering what exactly the pursuit of Health means to me… This is a topic that I have much interest in, as marked evident by my creation of the project: HEALTH INSURANCE, a musical endeavor, yet overtime I’m realizing embedded within this project was a lifestyle hypothesis. Feel free to read the initial HEALTH INSURANCE MANIFESTO here. Also check out the album here if you haven’t listened to it yet.
For reference, take a look at the album cover to see what I’m thinking about.
This idea of creating our own HEALTH INSURANCE - conceptualizing what exact habits, practices, etc… make up the pursuit of our “health” is something I have been thinking long and hard about.
I’m here to say, that I’m acting more towards the reality of creating an open, honest dialogue about my pursuit of health, both psychically, as well as bodily. Interestingly enough, overtime I am realizing the role that your SPIRITUAL health plays in bringing health to us in both of these aspects.
To read, to write, to meditate, to exercise, to create and to manifest. This is still my prescription to this day, and I would be wrong to dictate otherwise. Something that has been pressing me as of late, is how exactly to share the love for improvement to others? As fundamentally, the more one dedicates themselves to the practice of being themselves, as mediated through their habits, thoughts, patterns, etc…. the more they will be able to qualitatively feel this feeling. The feeling of I’M GETTING BETTER. The feeling of I CAN DO THIS.
What is your health insurance? What is your prescription? A prescription that you write yourself, and that no one else can write for you. Growth that comes from tending to your practices over a lifetime are those in which no $$$ can buy.
Why don’t health insurance providers incentivize these integral practices? Why aren’t you able to get a workout in & see a therapist/life coach/etc.. at the same place? Wouldn’t something like this drive down the costs of curative medicine? Making medicine more preventive? Something that we do everyday, instead of merely once a year for a checkup?
28 YEARS. 2024 THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY AND INVENTION.
I turned 28 years old last month, and I am psyched about it.
I got into grad school, and I’ll be earning my MA in Clinical Psychology starting this Fall. With the intention and plan of going on from there to earn my doctorate.
From there, I’m planning on starting a Growth Center. One where we tend to the mind & body, because without the integration of the two, life can be confusing.
If we can’t find the home that is ourselves to be pleasant, it’s going to be hard to make the world more pleasant. It’s going to be harder to cheer up our brokenhearted friend, our melancholy family member, our disjointed co-worker.
This year, I am dedicating myself to truly getting HEALTHY. And discovering what exactly that term means to me.
I found another really fascinating quote as it relates to the ancient greeks and their perception of “aging”.
"The Greeks believed that the whole body was renewed every seven years."
This quote was something I found quite exciting. As I did the simple equation of seven years multiplied by foue and realized myself turning 28 this year, was I set to be “renewed”??
What if I choose to believe this? What do I have to lose?
Fate has a funny work of working itself out. Immediately, as we began the new year, a week after breaking in my 28th year on Earth.. I came down with COVID.
Naturally, it took about a full week to recover. Leading to lots of time for reading, resting & reflecting.
Isn’t it strange how at times when we get “sick” we suddenly feel like the world presents itself in an entirely different manner? Almost euphoric in a way?
There’s magic to healing. There’s magic to taking things slow. Recovery from an illness induces a slowness to us, that we often forget to tend to.
It is my intention and plan to take the rest of this year slowly. And really meditating on what exactly being “healthy” entails.
I have just begun reading “Mindset: The Psychology of Success” to learn more about the very basic concepts of Growth Psychology. So the question I’m asking myself is why not be a pioneer in this type of psychology? What other resources are there out there on this topic? How can I help share & create a psychology of optimism instead of a psychology of pessimism (one that we are sadly, all to familiar with)?
I genuinely just want to help others find their way in life. Because if there’s a WILL there’s a WAY to overcome anything that life presents us.
Let’s create a better world, by manifesting and presenting our best selves. Knowing that everyday we are being the best we can be. And more beautifully, we are happy of the person that we are becoming at this very moment.
So I hope you join me on this journey of self-discovery. I would love to hear your stories of growth.
Cheers to lifelong learning,
Adam Bartley