The other day I did something I shouldn’t have.
Before going to bed, my wife Michelle and I made the mistake of reading some mainstream news headlines, which — as you know — are fear-based with only small bits of level headed truth.
Not a smart way to end the day!
“If it bleeds, it leads!” This saying was true when it was first spoken a few decades ago, but is probably truer now than ever.
The tricky thing about fear is that it can be contagious, like a wild fire. It doesn’t tend to stay contained within the words of the worrisome news story you’re reading. The tension might spark there, but it often spreads into other realms of our awareness, tinting the lens that we’re viewing our world and our selves through.
Off to sleep I went.
A few hours later, I woke up with my brain awash in a blizzard of thought. These eye-grabbing news snippets had been working overtime in my subconscious while I was in dreamland.
I lay there, staring up at the ceiling in the darkness, thinking about my son, about my wife, my family, my neighbors, my Earth. Try as I might, I couldn’t get it to quiet down. I tried meditating, tried using EFT Tapping, tried mantras… but the frenzy still prevailed.
After about twenty minutes, my mind quieted down for a few breaths, but then a subtle thought got its foot in the door, and allowed a flood of monkey mind static to enter in behind it.
As the storm began to rage again, something inside me spoke, giving my body a clear order to get up and grab a pen and paper.
“You need to drain your brain of all this.”
Next thing I knew, I was getting out of bed and walking up the stairs to our kitchen. I fumbled through our junk drawer and grabbed a pen, walked over to my backpack, and pulled out a pad.
What do I write? “Exactly what you are thinking.” Oh.
I hesitated at first, not wanting to give these slightly embarrassing admissions of fear any formal acknowledgement in my physical reality – on paper.
“Let’s just start with one,” I told myself. I took a deep breath and began to write one of the limiting thoughts that was running through my mind. One of my own negative internal “headlines” that was keeping me awake at 3:00 in the morning.
The act of writing it felt like a confession.
But as I wrote down each word of this deeply personal notion of worry and self-criticism, a bit of tension released and…
So I wrote more.
Each line I wrote revealed another eager thought that begged to make my list.
I sat there at my kitchen table, beginning to feel my ship right itself in the water. The sensation you feel when you finally get the care or mentorship that you’ve needed for a long time.
I scribbled until I couldn’t think of any other negative or worrisome thing to write. And then the best thing in the world happened.
I yawned. So I went to sleep.
Sometimes, just getting these thoughts, whether real or completely made up, out of your head and onto paper is all you need to do to get some perspective and relief. Most of them are just there to be seen and acted upon in some way, and as strange as it sounds, simply writing them down can send them on their way.
As I was drifting off to sleep, one of the negative headlines began to creep into my awareness again, and I witnessed my brain do the oddest thing in response. It gently re-assured itself, “Don’t worry, we already have that one written down. He won’t forget it if it’s important.” And with that, the thought vanished.
Zzzzzzzzzz…
Our world holds immense beauty and opportunity for wisdom, but does face very real problems that we humans must come together around. If we are to do the sacred work of steering this planet in the direction of compassion and peace, we need to keep a clear head and let our hearts lead.
Yes, we all have a responsibility to know what is happening on a national and global scale — whether it’s a pandemic that has stretched across the globe, political riots and protests, or a devastating bush fire in Australia. But our duty to our selves is to be clear channels and let our higher guidance shine through, sorting out the truth from the over-sensationalized hubbub.
The writing exercise above helped me to that end and I hope it does the same for you.
We’re all in this thing together,
Nick Polizzi
“….we need to keep a clear head and let our hearts lead.”
Hi Nick,
I copied the snippet above because I understand this is the ultimate goal, but in your experience how does know truly know when their heart is leading the way? What are the signs? How do we tell the difference between ego and soul thoughts/feelings?
Anything helps.
Best,
Kellen
You are a beautiful soul Nick.
Thank you for sharing your heart.
Thank you Nick!
This is the best narrative of a technique I used almost 30 years ago on my way to find the absence of fear.
Coupled with surrendering my life into God’s Hands, to write your fears produces a very long lasting relief.
You are a great writer and a magnificent healer.
To heal is to renounce fear because it prompts you into a sacred realm.
Thank You God!
Thanks for the excellent advice of getting up and writing!
Best wishes,
Jane Knox
Thank you for this, Nick. It is exactly what I needed today. So helpful!
We’ve been on an RV trip from Va to Fl to visit my 91-yr-old dad. We camped in Everglades National Park, with no cellular or WiFi available. After a few days of being off the news cycle, I slept better than I had in a week. Now back in civilization, I’ll be taking your sage advice and begin journaling all my fears.
Writing down thoughts is such an important thing to do for me. I find it very therapeutic. It’s also a great way to release high emotional charge to get it out (half the time it isn’t even legible.) I toss it all into the fire. Then I can come back to the upset and address it without feeling intense about it.
Hi Nick and friends,
I sometimes draw or paint my dreams, which for me works at even a deeper level to bring up what I am trying to clear and understand. Keeping this dreamart in an art journal really is fun for art ideas and for getting a quick snap shot of how my dreams are progressing. Plus the art experience is a great way to start my day. Thank you for what you do and share! Blessings, Jeree
Thank you. I enjoyed reading your articles. I am a firm believer in journaling. It has helped me overcome quite a a lot in life. Tell me I’m struggling with giving up artificial sugar. I’m down to 7packs a day from 12. I have ibs due to the bad sugar. Any suggestions? Trust me I’ve read atomic habits etc etc
I had a difficult childhood. After watching Ann Frank on television, I kept a diary. It helped a lot.
To Nalini, Try Bright Line Eating website, take the susceptibility test. You may have an addiction to
sugar. Some do not, I do. Anatomy of a Food Addiction by Anne Katherine describes this addiction.
book Bright line eating by Susan Peirce Thompson, she is a neuroscientist, brain doctor will show
you a way out. search Natural alternatives to artificial sweetners only the problem is not solved.
I use real food for sugar, a banana, real jam, small orange. My body does not like oranges.
Ask your body and she will tell you. I hope this helps.
Excellent writing! I like your writing style and I agree with the content.
Double excellent! Considering you zombied out of bed in the middle of the night without having your cup of coffee first.
To Nalini,
Try withdrawing 1 packet of sugar every 3 days.
I have a MSc in ecology and have worked this field for several decades. Thanks to Nick and the Sacred Science, I am, rather late in my life endeavor, becoming aware of the importance of my internal ecosystem. Better late than never!
THANK YOU. This could not have been more timely for me, as I’ve just gotten up from what was supposed to be a nap after spending a good portion of the night in the ER with my brother. I too tried a few things that you mentioned to get all those thoughts calmed and sleep, but I didn’t try writing my worries out. I know what I’m doing before bed tonight.
Thank you for reminder…love it
I think we need to bring back the Free Presses, owned not by Rupert Murdock or any other money-grubbing sensationalist, but by people who are concerned with truth and with EVERY side of an issue. Until that happens, stop reading the news after dinner; it’s bad for the digestion.
nice. thanks for always finding your truth.
Nice. Thanks for sharing this
Good one, Nick, that’s the spirit. You write down them emotions out on paper, or better yet, use your keyboard. This is exactly what I do, and have been doing since day 1. I find all my emotional healing just by simply writing about it. Often my mind may suddenly get flooded with thoughts and feelings of anger due to media intrusion into my consciousness. Because I’m sick and tired of being poisoned left, right and centre by these fearstream media lying scumbags, and murder intensive gov-mental psychopaths, it may play on my mind, and keep me awake at night, and in order to empty my mind from the pain it creates, it leaves me with no other choice but to write about it by transforming my anger into funny stories ready for website censorship no doubt. Once my stories are complete, that’s what gives me my peace of heart, mind, body and soul. Once it’s out of my head, and all typed out to the best of my ability, it can no longer affect me. It no longer has a hold over me because I can now read it whenever I want, over and over, again and again and again, until it loses its effect, and I grow bored. Thus, once that happens, I automatically heal myself from whatever the emotional conflict, whether it be a government or family issue, it doesn’t matter, I don’t care, it’s all coming out one way or another in a most brutally open and honest way. Writing is the only thing that relieves me from all my pain and suffering. I truly believe there’s nothing more powerful at healing the human spirit than writing out your emotions. Because I’ve always considered myself a master of emotional understanding, all these emotional healing, and trauma summits don’t really interest me as much, when I innately understand it on a more intuitive level. I may have problems speaking fluent verbal communication, and I may not have the best memory for facts and figures, or have a mathematical or scientific mind, but I sure as hell would like to think that I make up for it in emotional intelligence. If I was brought into this world with a special gift, then this is it. My ability of being able to dissolve inner emotional conflict through writing, may very well be the thing that’s keeping me extremely young looking and beautiful, I wonder? Hihi. 🙂
“Keep a clear head, let our hearts lead.”
This statement is disconcerting to me. I have been taught to “let our minds DWELL on good things, anything that is pure, lovely, praise worthy, anything of excellence” as we as humans are prone to dwell on the negative.
“The heart is deceitful above all things, who can know it?” Don’t trust your heart.
Trust in the one who would rather die than live without us. JESUS whom they call the Christ = anointed one.
Psalm 22 Isaiah 53.
I love you Nick.
–ML
so Nick a very knowledgeable blog you wrote. A Russian fairytale has a saying “ just go to sleep the morning knows more than the evening. Well that helped me in such It’s nice to be part of the world With this Corona the world became smaller and that makes us all responsible for the good being of this world. Right now ice is coming where water was and childeren and adults are skating and playing heartily that is so nice
It warms me up in my heart
Thank you for sharing this. Last November, a devastating flood hit our part of the capital and it was recorded to be a bit higher than the calamity we experienced in 2009. The floodwaters entered our home and destroyed most of the first-floor furniture and appliances. I decided to look for another home to transfer to and we succeeded in transferring just a little more than a month later. But I was in a lot of stress and had little sleep. We transferred to a condo unit which is much smaller than the 2-story house we came from. I decided to write down all what we needed to do and followed through with each item. It was tough because I only had 3 to 4 hrs of sleep daily. But I managed a to-do list, not only for myself, but also for my helper. Now, as I have been viewing your Longevity and Trauma videos, I have my daily “Joy” journal, finding mundane things that I can turn into positive things. I pray daily that instead of praying just about the negative things I see, that I also praise Him for the the more positive things around me. Like, seeing more of the plants and flowers and not just which weeds to uproot. 🙂
Thank you Nick. It’s a reminder worthwhile..
You really do have such an authentic and empathic approach to everyone’s ordinary but utmost determining life’s business…
And to come from my heart, guts, instinct and love will steer me through for the better…
Merci!
I just practice today and it did work.
Thank you for the article Nick. I used to write a lot about my life but it made me very negative as I was always “beating myself up”. So I’m now trying EFT with some good response in my subconscious. So thanks once again take care and keep well.
Totally agree with everything you said.
I keep a pen and paper in my bathroom and right things down before going to sleep.
I have learned to tell myself negative thoughts are for tomorrow.
I do a short tapping before bed and a short tai chi. That also helps me with sleep.
Thanks for everything you write!!!