Mike Slavin • • 4 min read
Embrace Inevitable Loss
“We need, in love, to practice only this: letting each other go. For holding on comes easily; we do not need to learn it.” -Rainer Maria Rilke
Embracing Inevitable Loss
The morning the first Down The Rabbit Hole newsletter was dispatched, I received word that my grandmother had passed away.
She was 40 days shy of 103 years old. She lived a long, rich life and was loved by many. I have anticipated her loss for some time but that does not armor me against the bolts of grief that I feel now that she is truly gone.
Loss is one of the things that binds us all. We cannot escape the gravity of grief. We will all have to eventually say goodbye to those who mean the world to us. If you have lost someone, you have my sympathy. Cherish the time you had and live on in a way that honors their memory.
I made a video on “How To Navigate Loss” a few months back. It’s a good time to be reminded of my own advice. Perhaps it will help you as well.
🌎 Meaningful Happenings
⚔️ Our friends at Rebel Wisdom released War on Sensemaking 5. This is an intellectually stimulating exploration on the weaponization of social media, the dynamics behind viewpoint polarization, and the various forms of information warfare. The other videos in this series are worth watching but not necessary to grasp what is discussed here.
📚Ryan Holiday released a new book called Lives of The Stoics. This is a book of mini-biographies exploring the virtues of this ancient philosophy through the stories of famous and lesser-known Stoics.
🎇 Image of The Week
🍄 The Psychedelic Renaissance
Emerging scientific and therapeutic breakthroughs happening in the world of psychedelics and plant medicine.
1/ The city of Ann Arbor, Michigan voted unanimously to decriminalize psychedelic plants and fungi on September 21st. This includes ayahuasca, peyote, mescaline, and psilocybin.
Ann Abor is the third city to pass a resolution of this kind following Denver and Oakland in 2019. Learn more here.
2/ The Synthesis Institute is offering a free training on October 14th at 9am PT / 12pm ET entitled Guiding the Unbound Mind: What Every Practitioner Must Know About Working with Psychedelics.
Dr. Rosalind Watts and Daan Keiman explore the impact of psychedelics from the unique vantage point of professionals who have legally done this work in volume. They will debunk common myths, reveal little-known truths and unpack often-overlooked fundamentals about working with psychedelics. You can register here.
📜 Ancient Wisdom Refresh
Sage advice for today’s world.
Roman Emperor and Philosopher King Marcus Aurelius ruled through a pandemic called the Antoinne Plague. He wrote down advice to himself that we can still apply today. Read The Stoic Guide To Pandemic Survival to discover more.
🤯 Stimulate Your Senses
Our mindblowing picks for you to see/hear/feel
🎧 Listen to Weightless. MindLab International claims that this song reduces anxiety up to 65%. I’ve searched around to find the original study and can’t seem to find it so it’s hard to gauge the accuracy of this claim. It’s definitely worth a listen to see if it helps you. It’s a great track to create a calm vibe and there’s even a 10-hour version if you really love it.
👁 Watch Slomo. This weird and heartwarming mini-documentary tells the story of a neurologist who trades in his life as a doctor to live out his days rollerblading in slow motion on Pacific Beach.
🤲 Feel The Apollo Neuro This futuristic wearable delivers gentle waves of vibration designed to retrain your nervous system over time so that you become more resilient in the face of stress.
💎 The Wall of Wonders
Astonishing gems submitted by readers like you
💡“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.” -Isaac Asimov
[Share something with us. It could be a story, an app, a movie, a quote, a book. Something wonderful that you want more people to know about. Reply to this email with a link. We’ll pick a handful and feature them here next week.]
⏳From The Archives
A hand-picked classic HighExistence article
It felt appropriate to share an article this week that explores 8 gifts we can gain from a loss:The Paradox of Grief
💥 1 Powerful Action
Create a tribute for something or someone that you have lost. It could be a song, a poem, a painting. It can be anything that allows you to express the meaningfulness of what was lost.
We hope you enjoyed this issue of Down The Rabbit Hole. Feel free to reply and tell us what you think.
With Wonder,
Mike & The HighExistence Team
P.S. If you struggling with stress & overwhelm, our 7-day stoic anxiety course is currently 87% off. Learn more here.
P.P.S. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign-up to receive future issues here: https://highexistence.com/rabbithole
Mike Slavin
Mike is a magician and poet telling tales from the intersection of attention, deception, and wonder.
