Reading time: Short

Wouldn’t it be nice?

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a personal 7-day emotional forecast? A report matching your moods to surf conditions.

• Monday: 3-6 ft. 14”. Offshore. Especially energetic & cheerful.
• Tuesday: Flat. Existential angst, moody & jumpy.
• Wednesday: 7-10 ft. 5”. Double overhead anxiety.
• For a complete 7-day forecast: Subscribe to the Pro version here.

Unfortunately that app doesn’t exist. No AI will ever be able to predict our future emotional state.

Feelings arise too unpredictably, shaped by an overly complicates process that includes randomness (nature) & human culture (nurture).

Remember the butterfly effect?

Emotional Swells

Swells like emotions are formed by distant storms.

Mostly unnoticed.

Long forgotten.

Their energy is stored in a medium of great depth. You.

And it needs to be released.

Either softly or abruptly.

Look:

e·motion

means that something

e·

ex·terior

to you

stirs you up

creating a

motion

a

movement

Then,

Emotional waves traveling through your soul:

• Some choppy, messy, and almost unbearably unrideable.
• Some others smooth and glassy; a true pleasure to glide over them.

The Seabed of Your Emotions

Some emotions travel fast, like anger.

Whooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooop

But they can also slow down, like compassion.

The same we feel when a lost child finally finds her mom.

When the emotional agitation approaches surface, a refraction process starts.

You become the seabed in which your emotions bend.

Our deep reef makes some break, and others dissipate.

• Sometimes, we’re a sandbed. Calm & smooth as silk. Letting your feelings form a perfect A-shape wave.
• Sometimes, we’re like a trough in the middle of the break. Then the almost-breaking wave transforms back into a swell. The kinetic energy stays undissipated. The backwash is on its way.
• Sometimes, we’re a shallow, pointy, and sharp reef. We may be holding anxiety or other feelings, and combining all these forces create a dangerous shallow, hollowing barrel.

Emotional Banzai Pipeline

>

What shaped the Banzai Pipeline reef of your soul?

Your beliefs!

Creating the most dangerous wave to ride.

Your beliefs can soothe the highest voltage.

They can also empower the tiniest energy into a storm.

And your beliefs lie deep in your subconscious ocean.

• Some crafted by your rational self.
• Some created by your unconscious you.
• Some implanted in you by teachers, parents.

Whenever you feel the swells coming, assess your seabed.

Is this swell going to break over Pipeline reef?

Bear in mind that all seabeds change through time.

Even the hardest, most solid ones.

(Those normally collapse.)

Then, pick the fin setup that will make you glide the smoothest those conditions.

Easier said than done?

Change Beliefs, Improve Emotions

You can’t control the origin of our emotions. The circumstances that surround you. The awe-inspiring chaos of your daily lives.

This is not a fatalistic message. Quite the contrary, it’s an optimistic one. But there’s no optimism without responsibility.

You can be aware of the formation process. How the external energy affects your internal calmness. You can start creating the code for your own personal emotional report app.

You can:

1. Change your habits and beliefs.
2. Enhance your emotional resilience.
3. Examine and improve your inner reef.
4. Flatten some of those rocks.

How?

With Philosophy!

TL;DR

In essence:

Emotions are energy waves, transforming but never dying.

Beliefs refract them like a reef, multiplying some negative emotions.

Use philosophy to pick the best fin setup to ride them and build resilience.

Check my forth-coming course on fin setups & life philosophy (see details below).

Mahalo!

* * * * *

I have created a course on How Philosophy Can Soothe Your Soul in 5 modules:

• Introduction: The power of self-knowledge (Socratic life coaching)
• Module 1: How to deal with anxiety like a Stoic thinker (or a big-wave surfer)
• Module 2: How to manage expectations like a Cynic guru (or a soul surfer)
• Module 3: How to fulfill your purpose like a Peripatetic student (or a pro surfer)
• Module 4: How to be happy like an Epicurean virtuoso (or a stoked kook)
• Module 5: How to live in harmony like a Taoist master (or a smooth longboarder)
• Bonus: How to face death like an Existentialist intellectual (or a solo surfer)

Starts on Sept. 19th.

3 weeks.

Tuesday & Thursday.

90’ sessions.

Only 3 out of 12 seats ava¡lable.

Click here if you’re interested in knowing the details.

Additional recommendations:

1. “Plato, Not Prozac” by Lou Marinoff – In this book, Lou Marinoff combines philosophy and psychotherapy, offering a guide to using philosophical principles to enhance your emotional well-being and personal growth. Drawing on the wisdom of Plato and other philosophers, Marinoff provides practical advice for finding meaning and happiness in your life.
2. “A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy” by William B. Irvine – In this practical guide, William B. Irvine explores the teachings of Stoicism and how they can be applied to modern life. Irvine offers valuable insights on how Stoic philosophy can help individuals find happiness, tranquility, and resilience in the face of life’s challenges.
3. “Philosophy for Life: And Other Dangerous Situations” by Jules Evans – Jules Evans explores how philosophy can be a practical tool for addressing the challenges and dilemmas of everyday life. Drawing on the wisdom of ancient and modern philosophers, Evans provides strategies for living a more meaningful and fulfilling life in today’s complex world.