MY Philosophy

Allow me to lay my cards on the table: I loathe the “positive vibes only” mindset that dominates today’s self-help circles and the fronts of t-shirts and hoodies. The hard truth is that things just aren’t always wonderful—I am full of BS, my own frustrations, doubts, and so are you—and that’s okay. When we implore one another to only think positive, we encourage ourselves to repress or ignore the emotions we’re actually feeling. It’s sort of like telling someone who’s having a panic attack to “just get over it”. As someone with a long history of panic attacks, I can assure you that this doesn’t work. And as someone who has gotten much better at working through my own BS, I would like to be your BS navigator.

The philosopher John Locke, speculating about the possibility of innate knowledge, spoke of the human mind as something that starts out as a “tabula rasa”: a blank slate which, over time, becomes filled with beliefs and ideas inscribed by our many experiences. This metaphor seems to suggest that what is written on our “tabula rasa” is etched into our minds for good—that we’re much like old dogs that can’t learn new tricks. But we now know that this just isn’t right: we can learn new tricks. We can change our beliefs, our views, our bad habits and our destructive patterns of thinking.  We can learn how to manage our BS. In fact, there’s an entire area of research—neuroplasticity—dedicated to demonstrating and explaining the brain’s malleability, it’s capacity to change and adapt to new experiences. Our minds and our habits are not set in stone.

Ultimately, my goal is to help my clients attain clarity: in their thinking, in their studies, and in their life. I’ll readily admit that I myself am still on this journey. Have I reached enlightenment? No. Honestly, anyone who tells you they have is probably lying. But I digress. Here’s my point: we can have clarity, or we can have cloudiness and confusion. Over the years, I’ve witnessed countless individuals (myself included!) sway from the former to the latter, losing sight of their core values along the way. And this isn’t our fault: part of the success of our society is due to the fact that it convinces us, with all its pretty colors and its promises of world domination, that we want and need things we don’t really want or need. 

Each of us knows who he or she wants to be: we just tend to lose sight of this person amidst the clouds. With the services I provide, I believe that I can help my clients to whisk away those clouds and obtain some clarity again. I believe that I can help to ignite in my clients that fire of excitement they once felt when they thought about themselves and their future. I believe that I can help you to cut through the noise and the nonsense, allowing you to create a sense of identity that is based on your core values. I believe that I can help you to turn your BS into gold (or chocolate, or a new car—wouldn’t that be nice!). And I believe that, along the way, you can help me to do the same.

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