Exploring Kodawari

2025 Reflections: Musical Flow, Carl Jung, & Being Skeptical of Skepticism (#41)

This episode is another attempt to keep the podcast on life support. Like last year, our busy musician schedules (and lack of proper planning) made it difficult to publish several episodes throughout the year. With a few free days left in 2025 before some traveling, I gathered my thoughts and reflections from the year 2025 and tried to make them into this stream of consciousness style of episode.The first topic I talked about was my musical reflections from the year, with one of the primary ones being my thoughts about how psychological flow works, aka, that "being in the zone" feeling. I reflected on the following quote, which I love:“Flow is found at the intersection of discipline and surrender”On the theme of surrender, I also explored the topic of duende, a concept my wife Yankı read about in the Edward Hirsch book linked below on artistic inspiration. Duende introduces a mischievous, mysterious, and almost demonic force behind artistry. A quote referenced in this book is another one that stuck with me in my performances this past year:“All truly profound art requires its creator to abandon himself to certain powers which he invokes but cannot altogether control.” —ANDRÉ MALRAUX, "GOYA"Carl JungI really want to devote a whole episode series to what we've been reading and thinking about regarding Carl Jung over the past year. Perhaps that will happen. However, for this 2025 reflection episode, I introduced some of my favorite concepts that I've learned from reading Jung or reading about him.I covered what Jungian synchronicity is and a few possible examples that happened to us this past year. I also talked about coincidentia oppositorum, the coincidence of opposites, a mystical and philosophical concept crucial to Jungian psychology and also something I've wrestled with over the past year.I gave several Jung quotes throughout the episode, with this one probably being my favorite:“The meaning of my existence is that life has addressed a question to me. Or, conversely, I myself am a question which is addressed to the world, and I must communicate my answer, for otherwise I am dependent upon the world’s answer.”The Problem With SkepticismLastly, after probably getting a bit too wiggly in my thinking, I closed the episode with some thoughts about skepticism and how it can go too far. Being completely naive is bad, but it is also sad to have your skepticism dial turned up too much and miss out on some of the magic and "wiggles" that make life meaningful. Maybe the point is to find a balance between skepticism and the instinct to believe and to play.Timestamps:[02:55]Musical Lessons & Reflections[10:07]Carl Jung, Symbols, & Syncronicity[25:37]Carl Jung and Coincidence of Opposites[39:13]The Problem with SkepticismLinks:Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Affiliate Link)Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's TED TalkThe Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World by Iain McGilchrist (Affiliate Link)Man and His Symbols by Carl Jung (Affiliate Link)The Demon and the Angel: Searching for the Source of Artistic Inspiration by Edward Hirsch (Affiliate Link)Support Us:You can always support us by leaving a rating or review in your podcasting app. You can also share our episodes with friends on social media.But it does take a lot of time to put together a podcast, maintain a website, and write new content every week. So if you would like to support us in a more substantial way, consider making a donation through the PayPal buttons on our website:https://exploringkodawari.blog/donation/Follow Us:Our Website/BlogNewsletterTwitter: @EKodawariInstagram: @exploringkodawariFacebook: facebook.com/ExploringKodawari

Lessons And Observations in 2024 (#40)

Well, it's been over a year since our last episode! As a COVID-19 pandemic project, sticking to a consistent publishing schedule for this podcast has been tough. But we've always said that even if our focus on it fades and drifts, we'll continue putting out content as long as we have something to say.So, we threw this episode together on New Year's Eve to at least say that we put out one episode in 2024. Enjoy our lessons, observations, and reflections on 2024, which includes topics we hope to cover over a few episodes in 2025.We talk about the value of simplicity, gratitude prayers, learning to surrender, knowledge vs wisdom, and the meaning crisis in our culture and why there are so many zombie movies/TV shows.2024 Quote"It is very simple to be happy, but it is very difficult to be simple." —Rabindranath TagoreTimestamps:[01:48] Gratitude practice/prayer[06:16] Earning your simplicity[08:52] The value of surrender[18:04] What is wisdom?[22:03] Meaning of life vs. meaning in life[39:24] The Greek word tonos and embracing healthy tension[45:19] Thoughts on toxic compassion Links:Overcoming Nihilism (My 2022 article)Zombies in Western Culture A Twenty-First Century Crisis by John Vervaeke, Christopher Mastropietro, and Filip MiscevicSupport Us:You can always support us by leaving a rating or review in your podcasting app. You can also share our episodes with friends on social media.But it does take a lot of time to put together a podcast, maintain a website, and write new content every week. So if you would like to support us in a more substantial way, consider making a donation through the PayPal buttons on our website:https://exploringkodawari.blog/donation/Follow Us:Our Website/BlogNewsletterTwitter: @EKodawariInstagram: @exploringkodawariFacebook: facebook.com/ExploringKodawari

Revisiting Kodawari (#39)

In this episode—especially since it has been so long since our last one—we decided to revisit the concept of kodawari and how it has changed for us over the three years of doing this podcast/blog. Over time we encounter more knowledge and have more life experiences. And as we attempt to integrate those into a coherent life philosophy, our ideas about life change and update. I believe we have a duty to regularly bring a beginner's mind to our ideas so that we can "rediscover" them with novelty. There is something cyclic to the way that we descend into a more chaotic state of confusion and then emerge from it by finding once again our deep truths with freshness in the present moment. This cyclic process can subtly or drastically update our ideas, making them more personal, genuine, valuable, and "true".So since we are very different people than when we started the podcast three years ago, we felt it would be good to revisit the meaning of kodawari with fresh eyes. We especially lean into the uncompromising element of kodawari and why our society needs more "skillful inflexibility" to continue functioning.Timestamps:[04:36] Why are we revisiting the meaning of kodawari?[09:09] How has kodawari changed for us?[12:12] What are we uncompromising about?[20:41] Rethinking how perfection fits into kodawari[23:11] Why humility is crucial[26:32] Limitations of the intellect and Chekhov’s The Seagull [32:59] Our official 2023 definition of kodawariLinks:First podcast episode on kodawariArticle: What is Kodawari?Japanese Ramen’s KodawariThe Japanese philosophy of "Kodawari"Chekhov’s The Seagull A Rabbi, a Priest, and an Atheist Smoke Weed TogetherSupport Us:You can always support us by leaving a rating or review in your podcasting app. You can also share our episodes with friends on social media.But it does take a lot of time to put together a podcast, maintain a website, and write new content every week. So if you would like to support us in a more substantial way, consider making a donation through the PayPal buttons on our website:https://exploringkodawari.blog/donation/Follow Us:Our Website/BlogNewsletterTwitter: @EKodawariInstagram: @exploringkodawariFacebook: facebook.com/ExploringKodawari

The Hedonic Treadmill: Exploring Happiness , Meaning, and Hedonic Adaptation (#38)

“‘I shall take the heart,’ returned the Tin Woodsman; ‘for brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world.’” —L. Frank BaumThe topic of this episode is happiness and hedonic adaptation, otherwise known as the hedonic treadmill. Hedonic adaptation is a phenomenon of our psychology and physiology that keeps us at a stable level of happiness over time. This adaptation is like an immune system that desensitizes us in relation to negative and positive experiences, making us continually find our happiness baseline.The Hedonic TreadmillThe concept of hedonic adaptation dates back to a 1971 paper by Philip Brickman and Donald T. Campbell called "Hedonic Relativism and Planning the Good Society", and it was made even more famous in a 1978 study called "Lottery Winners and Accident Victims: Is Happiness Relative?" The study compared lottery winners and paraplegics with a control group to show that both groups eventually adjusted and returned to a baseline of happiness.The hedonic treadmill, or happiness treadmill, is named as such because no matter how much you chase happiness and increase it in the short term, you end up in the same place continually chasing. The hedonic pathways in our brains become desensitized to pleasurable things that we encounter regularly. So after big life events like winning the lottery, getting a job promotion, getting married, etc, we will tend to settle back to our happiness set point.The Meaning of HappinessAside from the science of hedonic adaptation, we also talked about the philosophy of happiness and whether it is a good goal in life. How is happiness different from words like joy, pleasure, tranquility, peacefulness, excitement, satisfaction, content, cheerful, or well-being?Is happiness something we get from the external world or does it come from within? Do we seek happiness or are we really running away from suffering? And what is the difference between a meaningful life and a happy life?Solutions to the Hedonic Treadmill“Now and then it’s good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.” —Guillaume ApollinaireLastly, we talked about ways to overcome hedonic adaptation so that we do not continually get caught in the same traps throughout life. Routines such as a dopamine detox and spiritual practices like gratitude and Beginner's Mind are all ways to avoid getting stuck on the hedonic treadmill.Timestamps:[06:08] What is happiness?[10:05] What is the difference between happiness and well-being?[15:28] Dopamine [27:57] What is hedonic adaptation?[35:14] Hedonic adaptation towards negative phenomena [39:23] How to combat the hedonic treadmill[50:40] Why negative emotions are necessary Links:A French poet’s beautiful advice on how to be happy (Luke's Medium article)Lottery winners and accident victims: is happiness relative? P Brickman, D Coates, R Janoff-BulmanStepping Off the Hedonic TreadmillBeyond the Hedonic Treadmill: Revising the Adaptation Theory of Well-BeingHow Does Hedonic Adaptation Affect the Pursuit of Happiness? - with Joe GladstoneSupport Us:You can always support us by leaving a rating or review in your podcasting app. You can also share our episodes with friends on social media.But it does take a lot of time to put together a podcast, maintain a website, and write new content every week. So if you would like to support us in a more substantial way, consider making a donation through the PayPal buttons on our website:https://exploringkodawari.blog/donation/Follow Us:Our Website/BlogNewsletterTwitter: @EKodawariInstagram: @exploringkodawariFacebook: facebook.com/ExploringKodawari

Chad Goodman: The Art of Orchestral Conducting (#37)

In this episode, we explore the art of orchestral conducting with guest Chad Goodman. Chad is currently the conducting fellow of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, and he has also had fellowships at Festival Napa Valley and the Atlantic Music Festival. Since 2018, he has served as an assistant conductor to the San Francisco Symphony, and he also founded Elevate Ensemble in the Bay Area.Chad is also a good friend of ours, and so we used this conversation as an opportunity to get a more personal take on how orchestral conducting works and how a conductor thinks about music and prepares for concerts. We talked about music interpretation, the role of a conductor, communication, and how to unify a large group. We also talked about the beauty of constantly learning and improving and how outside knowledge helps unlock the secrets within a musical score.And lastly, aside from the more obvious sign language elements to orchestral conducting, we also tried to touch on abstract elements such as body language, eye contact, and energy. Some musical performances capture magical energy, and we wondered how a conductor thinks about that and how they try to cultivate that energy.Timestamps:[05:17] What exactly is orchestral conducting?[10:22] At what size does an ensemble need a conductor?[15:21] What makes conducting break down /not work?[25:05] How is kodawari relevant to conducting and what is perfection?[32:29] Why is music meaningful?[38:06] How does outside knowledge affect the interpretation/conducting of music?[48:52] On why learning never ends[56:07] Communication and the sign language of conducting[01:02:24] Bonus Questions/Speed RoundLinks:Chad's websiteChad's InstagramHow to enter ‘flow state’ on command | Steven KotlerFlow Profile Test from Flow Genome ProjectWhat is Kodawari?Kodawari and CircumambulationSupport Us:You can always support us by leaving a rating or review in your podcasting app. You can also share our episodes with friends on social media.But it does take a lot of time to put together a podcast, maintain a website, and write new content every week. So if you would like to support us in a more substantial way, consider making a donation through the PayPal buttons on our website:https://exploringkodawari.blog/donation/Follow Us:Our Website/BlogNewsletterTwitter: @EKodawariInstagram: @exploringkodawariFacebook: facebook.com/ExploringKodawari