Why for the love of language would I put "mantras" and "pinball machine" in the same title?
Yes, it's weird, but I promise there's a plan behind the mayhem of language I'm inciting.
I might be dating myself when I say the pinball machine is a game I fell in love with one family trip when I discovered a Lord of the Rings themed-pinball machine. For those who know me, I'm a huge fan of Tolkien. I spent a lot of quarters on the game during that trip.
Then, on a combined birthday of me and my brother (we're Irish twins with a month between our birthdays), our dad unpackaged our very own Lord of the Rings pinball machine. I invested many hours playing the game with the all time high score, last I checked.
Okay, so why are you committing the mayhem of language? How does a pinball machine relate to mantras?
This bizarre mashup idea came when I decided I wanted to rework my "A Matter of Mantra" blog series.
As I set about butchering one of the past posts to create more value to readers, the pinball machine image popped into my brain. The image felt right for my subject...but why?
After I did my due diligence research, I realized why the image appealed.
The word "mantra" gets pinged around like those balls in a pinball machine.
Why do We Humans Put "Mantra" Back into Play by Pulling the Plunger?
In our daily lives, we often apply ourselves to our work and our loved ones. We do, say, and write what other needs.
Do you know who else could benefit from all that care, effort, and devotion? Yourself.
I'm guilty as the halo on my head is balanced by stubby horns hidden beneath my mane of hair.
To circle back, at its basic core, a mantra is a repeated phrase used to solidify a belief.
Our minds are skittish horses. Others can tell us we're awesome or we're doing a great job. But for some reason, we're hardwired not to believe what others tell us.
That's when mantra comes in.
Sometimes, it's given to us as an assignment from a life coach, a therapist, a psychologist, or another mental health professional.
Other times, we stumble across it by something we see or think about that resonates.
What's nice about mantras is that it's personal in how you can embrace them into your life. You're the ultimate person to receive what vibes with you and reject what doesn't align with your values.
As a writer, I embraced mine by writing them down 5 times in my journal every day.
As I've leveled up in life professional and personally, many of my mantras graduated to beliefs I value and use as my guiding star when I get lost.
If you're curious, I've compiled my mantras into an evolving listicle.
Yes, I've created a list that's everything but the kitchen sink, but for those looking for something in particular, I've included some categories that contain special meaning to me that might resonate with you.
I'm not seeking to be a genie to make all the problems go away. What I'm seeking is to share my inspirations and motivations to those who are looking for it.
My hope is these mantras inspire you to be a better version of yourself as they inspired me.
Until next time, have a wonderful life. <3