The Crystal Quiet Podcast

The Vulgarity of a Blush

Is blushing an only human trait? Do animals blush? Can an AI ever express emotion?  The face is the chief seat of expression. In this episode, I discuss the biological and psychological process of blushing, based on The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin. I explore the different things that can trigger a blush, and the connection between blinking and blushing by analyzing In the Blink of an Eye by Walter Murch. I focus on self-awareness and how other people's opinions and the ways they perceive us can affect our self-image, and consequently, direct our behaviors and the decisions we make. What role does blushing play in terms of evolution and the development of consciousness? What is the conscience? I believe shame is not an emotion, but an action. How deep is your connection to yourself?

Unexploited Potential: Imagination

Are you sure you're the one who gets to decide what you allow into your consciousness?  In this episode, I continue to discuss the book Flow, and study the ways to control consciousness, and the way we process information. I take a look at schizophrenia, and the disadvantages of self-consciousness. I focus on concentration, learning disabilities, and attentional disorders and how they can be traced to family dynamics, lack of parental attention, and child abuse. Identity is developed in childhood, and if a child can cultivate unselfconscious individuality, he or she will be able to live according to a strongly directed purpose that is not self-seeking.  Intrinsic vs. extrinsic actions. I talk about daydreaming, dissociating, and the benefits of imagination. Here are some ideas that can give you more autonomy, give meaning to the things you do, and help change your habits.

The Autotelic Life

In this episode, I discuss some points from the book Flow: the psychology of optimal experience, by Mihaly Csikszentmihaly. I focus on the traits of the autotelic personality, my own experience with flow, and the transformation that came from reflecting on the question: Is this all there is? I talk about how we come to create meaning in our lives, my screenplay: The Suicidal Penguin Club, my past experiences with suicidal thoughts, friends who have committed suicide, and how there is always hope and the possibility of changing our attitude, thinking patterns, and beliefs. I discuss one my short films, Fotograma, how I became sober, and how much I've evolved since I made that decision. I believe we are all malleable, and can always improve. I bring up symbols, the ways we place value, the Montessori method, and how important it is to maintain a self-driven attitude throughout your life. Perception alters reality.

Natural Laws - The Serpent in Paradise

In this second episode, I discuss two chapters of the book Yoga and Health, by Selvarajan Yesudian and Elisabeth Haich. I focus on respecting the body and the instincts, and how to bring the mind in harmony with the body in order to become whole and live in a higher plane of existence. I talk about the difference between real hunger and civilized appetite. I explore the great temptation, shame, and what it means to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, what it means to sin against nature, against your body, and the natural order and design. I look at free will, pleasure, the way humans turn instinct into an end of itself, and how we subordinate our intelligence to the service of our instincts. This episode is centered on food, nutrition, keeping your thoughts positive, and how to love your body and develop it to become a vehicle for the manifestation of the spirit so that we can live for the highest good.

The Muse Visits You in the Shower

In this episode, I discuss a quote from the book Antic Hay, by Aldous Huxley, which gave me the inspiration for the name of this podcast: The Crystal Quiet. I have managed to turn this Crystal Quiet into a haven and a home for myself. I also talk about Aristotle's Poetics, as well as the passive and active parts of the mind, and what happens when they coalesce. I mention some strategies I have found to be helpful when it comes to quieting the mind and bringing it to stillness. I bring up Erich Fromm and Herman Hesse in order to discuss fear vs. love, and as a way to study the dualities of life and transcendence. Mainly, I focus on what happens when you pay attention to what you are doing, what it's like to be truly present, and how it feels to do something just for the sake of doing it, without any other intention.