Quotes from Ethan Nichtern

Inhabiting a human nervous system is kind of like living in a house where the doorbell and the burglar alarm make exactly the same sound. Because

True friendship and intimacy take shape only when we are present enough to experience more than just one narrative, as well as to participate in our shared human experiences. Suddenly

If we are going to conquer materialism, we have to make the heartmind into a place in which the full range of human emotions can feel at home.

Fear is not to be dismissed. A moment of fear is actually a message that we are in a new and unfamiliar place within the network of interdependence. Fear is the awkwardness of stepping into a new neighborhood of our mind. Dismissing it actually keeps us comfortable for even less time than a poorly made pair of expensive sneakers. But if we let it in, something new and unexpected is bound to happen.

Even if it's just a tiny flicker of awkwardness, there will always be fear, every moment, as long as there are beings who live in a network of change and interdependence. To be a being inherently implies change and interdependence ; these are the true brands of our existence. Getting connected necessarily means experiencing fear.

We're a society of entertainment junkies, hooked from birth, individually and collectively, fed the sugar-high dazzle of entertainment through an intravenous cable tube. And the cruelest joke of any bad habit is that when you're hooked, you don't really even enjoy the fix anymore.