IDEAS & ESSAYS / THE STUCK POINT

Change the question.
See more of yourself.

Writing on the needs beneath our patterns, the work of change, and the life we want that work to serve.

01

PRECISION & THE MATCH

What if the help never reached the place you were stuck?

You have tried to change. Before making another judgment about your effort, ask what each attempt was trying to change.

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02

NEEDS & SHAME

The need you feel ashamed of still needs somewhere to go

Wanting connection, security, recognition, choice, or meaning is something to understand and respond to.

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03

THE SECOND LOOP

Are you meeting the need, or managing the feeling of its absence?

The response which makes a feeling quieter deserves a second question: what does it make possible afterward?

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04

FULFILLMENT & GIVING

A life beyond the loop needs something to move toward

The work reaches beyond making an uncomfortable feeling smaller. It asks what you want your attention, time, and energy to serve.

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05

INSIGHT INTO PRACTICE

Why understanding your pattern hasn’t changed it

Knowing why a pattern began does not always change what happens the next time it appears.

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06

THOUGHT & OVERTHINKING

Why you keep replaying conversations

There is a useful difference between working on a problem and returning to it without learning anything new.

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07

COPING & CHOICE

Why checking helps for a moment, then pulls you back

A useful question about coping is what the response makes possible after the immediate feeling settles.

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08

ATTENTION & PERSPECTIVE

A fuller picture, one observation at a time

Widening attention means adding actual information. You do not have to turn an uncomfortable moment into a positive story.

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LOOKING FOR A FAMILIAR EXPERIENCE?

Other ways into the work.

The practice collection