Refine The Mind

Your Grown-Up Mind is Blinding You to Beauty

Photo Credit: paul bica (Creative Commons)

Think back with me for a moment.

Remember when you were child, playing outdoors? Remember how you would run, jump, and gallivant around without a care in the world?

You might have to strain your memory to think back to those days, but most of us spent a good deal of time outside as youngsters.

The world seemed magical then. Everything was big, bright, expansive, colorful. The world was your jungle, and every day could be a safari.

At some point, everything changed. You barely noticed it, but suddenly, outside was just outside. Eventually, the scenery that was once captivating and wondrous became drab and commonplace.

But, it wasn’t the world that changed. It was your perspective.

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The Dangerous Mistake of Organized Religions

by Jordan Bates | Leave a Comment

Photo Credit: Fady Habib (Creative Commons)

A few weeks ago, my sixteen year-old cousin asked her Confirmation advisor whether people who don’t believe in Catholicism go to Heaven.

“No,” he replied. “They go to Hell.”

My cousin was deeply troubled. She went home and told my aunt, “I don’t know if I can believe in a God who would send friends of mine to Hell for not believing what I believe.”

Her reaction makes me happy. Who would want to believe in such a God?

Who would celebrate a supposedly all-knowing, infinitely benevolent Creator who casts the majority of His beloved children into an abyss of eternal fire and brimstone?

I would hope that no one would, but it seems that this isn’t the case. It seems that a man who purports to be a mentor for my impressionable cousin is happy to do so.

And there’s something very wrong with this.

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Magic in the Mind: A Straightforward, Fun Guide to Meditation

by Jordan Bates | Leave a Comment

Photo Credit: Cornelia Kopp (Creative Commons)

Meditation is like a radiant, technicolor, winged steed soaring gloriously through the cosmos.

Basically, it’s awesome-miraculous.

Although my opening metaphor may be a bit grandiose, I used it to emphasize the most important point in this article: Meditation is a practice of extraordinary value that is literally accessible to everyone on the planet.

Most people don’t meditate, though. Some try it once or twice and throw in the towel. What a shame. The majority of people don’t understand the many benefits of a meditation practice.

In our chaotic, fast-paced world, meditation and mindfulness are more useful and necessary than ever before.

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The Essential Ingredient to Finding a Sense of Purpose in Life

by Jordan Bates | Leave a Comment

Most people drift through days robotically, feeling vaguely lost and dissatisfied.

They filter through the system, doing what they’ve been told to do, living out cookie-cutter lives, and distracting themselves whenever possible.

This may sound like a cynical viewpoint, but I’m afraid it isn’t.

I’ve definitely been one of those people for periods of time. Some days, I still feel like a confused automaton trapped in a cold and unforgiving matrix.

I ask myself, “What am I doing here? What makes this life worth it?”

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An Impassioned Plea: Why Traveling Abroad Will Be the Best Decision of Your Life

by Jordan Bates | 2 Comments

Studying abroad was the greatest experience of my life.

Last summer, I hopped on a plane and flew to Europe, where I lived with a host family for a month and studied at the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Toledo, Spain.

I was nervous about leaving my beloved American comfort zone, but I was also extraordinarily excited to discover the people and memories that were waiting for me on the other side of the world.

When I arrived, it was a bit overwhelming. The language was different. The food seemed unusual. The social norms were foreign.

Being a rather open-minded and adventurous person, I dove headfirst into all of it.

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The Impossibility of Traditional “Happiness” (And How We Must Re-Define It)

by Jordan Bates | Leave a Comment

Photo Credit: Ethan Hickerson (Creative Commons)

Happiness. What a slippery concept.

It’s what we’re all after, right? (At least that’s what I’m told.) But what is it? What do you imagine when you think of happiness?

Perhaps you conjure up notions of a distant beach-side setting, endless relaxation, a gourmet meal, and fine wine flowing like the Thames.

At the very least, if you are invested in traditional notions of happiness, some form of leisure probably comes to mind — some comfortable scenario devoid of all bad feeling.

In this post, I’m going to propose that we must disband ourselves from this ideal of happiness. We must recognize it as a lackluster, mind-dulling destination that cannot truly exist.

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The Gorgeous Reality of Not Being Well-Liked by Everyone

by Jordan Bates | 4 Comments

Photo Credit: Francisco Osorio (Creative Commons)

We want everyone to like us, but we shouldn’t.

As social creatures, we are concerned, often to a fault, with whether or not we are enjoyed, appreciated, and respected by those around us. We pander to the whims of others, hoping to please everyone (or at least find few enemies).

We try to behave affably, make the correct remark, and laugh at the appropriate times, all for the sake of winning the fancy of our company. The approval of others becomes a top social priority and dictates many of our actions.

At some point or another, most of us succumb to this tendency to butter the rest of mankind’s bread, which is fine. It’s natural to do so. But, we must exercise caution.

You see, investing ourselves too fully into how others perceive us can have terrible consequences.

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35 Profound, Crowbar-esque Quotations to Pry Your Mind Open and Inspire You

by Jordan Bates | Leave a Comment

I don’t know about you, but I love reading quotations. I recognize that often times quotes can become over-used and platitudinous, but that’s why I’m constantly looking for fresh ones.

A great quotation, for me, can be a bite-size chunk of wisdom, the breeze of an unknown wind, a glimpse into a mind of genius, or an idea-seed that will prompt me to grow and re-invent myself and my view of the world.

Sometimes, reading quotations becomes almost therapeutic for me. I can lose myself in them — each one a miniature story — and alleviate the worries and stress that tend to accumulate in my mind.

And that’s why I want to share a few quotations with you. Here are 35 quotes that really speak to me in one way or another. Maybe they’ll speak to you as well.

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3 Status Quo Mentalities That Lead to Widespread Discontent

by Jordan Bates | 3 Comments

Photo Credit: Yogendra Joshi (Creative Commons)

Since the day you were born, you’ve been conditioned to think in certain ways.

It might seem like you’ve been free to choose your own attitudes and ideas, but for most people, this isn’t really the case.

You see, in any society, there is a status quo — a current standard of the most popular ways of doing, thinking, and living.

The status quo begins working on you from an early age, molding the way you see the world. Even if your parents understand this and are anti-status quo, they still can’t protect you from its far-reaching influence.

This leads to the vast majority of people walking around with similar mentalities. Often times, these mentalities are antiquated, limiting, and downright absurd.

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Harness the Power of Reddit: 37 Mind-Expanding Subreddits

by Jordan Bates | 6 Comments

Photo Credit: Eva Blue (Creative Commons)

If you don’t use Reddit, you should.

Reddit.com is a magical place — a place to laugh, to gaze, to learn, to share, and to converse.

For those who are unaware, Reddit is a social news and entertainment website where users (known as Redditors) submit content in the form of a link or text. Other Redditors then “upvote” or “downvote” content that has been submitted.

Upvoted content (articles, discussions, images, etc.) rises to the top of various “subreddits” (niche-centered sub-communities), making it more easily found and widely read.

The awesomeness of Reddit lies in this simple system. Communities of actual users decide, via popular vote, which submissions are worthwhile and which are not.

This setup has proved extraordinarily effective.

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