26 British-Australian Writer by way of USA-Argentina-Peru-Bolivia-Spain-Mexico here to share perspective-shifting ideas

What's up Steemit!?

Who am I?

My name is Ben, I’m a 26-year-old writer born in Liverpool, England and raised in Brisbane, Australia.

Over the last 6 years I’ve lived in
Irvine, United States
Cordoba, Argentina
Sucre, Bolivia
Cusco & Puerto Maldonado, Peru
Merida & Mexico City, Mexico
Barcelona, Spain

Right now I call Mexico City home.

My motivation as a writer is to spark a dialogue around spirituality, psychology, philosophy, mental illness, and the future.

I’m an avid reader and meditator and love to share ideas with other like-minded people.

Other things that keep me going

A good craft beer or coffee
Advaita/ neo-Advaita philosophy and zen Buddhism
Existentialism
Evolutionary psychology
Latin American culture
Most any sub-genre of hip-hop music
Football (soccer) and mixed martial arts

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(Classic post coffee headshot - you won't catch yours truly looking like this before 9am)

Here are some of the more honest and heartfelt articles I’ve written

How to Explain Depression to Someone Who Doesn’t Have it at Project Monkey Mind (personal blog)

The Secret Religion of the Dollar: How Much is Money Really Impacting Your Life at High Existence

The Art of Rebellion in the 21st Century at This is Morpheus

Stop Chasing Happiness: 17 Alternative Ways to Live Your Best Possible Life at Tiny Buddha

Why do I want to contribute to Steemit?

I’ve been a freelance writer for over six years, and have dabbled in creative writing pretty much my whole life.

Unsurprisingly, writing for companies, or even for bigger blogs, stifles creativity and doesn’t truly allow you to give people what you have to offer. Steemit is, therefore, an incredible opportunity for creatives, and something I can wholeheartedly get behind.

I’ve written over a thousand cookie-cutter bullshit articles to earn a living, and to be honest I would much rather pay my rent by sharing my truth with all you good people.

If it helps you get through a tough time or sparks an interesting conversation, and it’s enjoyable and somewhat cathartic for me, why the hell not!

My knowledge and understanding of crypto and blockchain is limited, but anything that promotes free speech and democratizes opportunities is fucking cool with me.

(The Air BnB on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala where I spent last week - shout out to Klaus the owner, he was an absolute legend!)

What do I want to give you?

Value, obviously. It's what makes this platform go round. And while I hope to offer a lot of it over the coming months, right now I want to leave you with a list of books that have changed my life (and hopefully could do yours).

(Note to the inherently skeptical among you, these are NOT affiliate links haha)

If you want to know more about Psychology and Human Behaviour

Thinking, Fast and Slow - Daniel Kahneman
Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind (You can find an older PDF version with a quick Google search)
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Stumbling on Happiness - Daniel Todd Gilbert
The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientists Quest For What Makes Us Human - V.S. Ramachandran

If you want to know more about Humanity and History

The Lessons of History - Will and Ariel Durant
Man’s Search for Meaning - Viktor Frankl
A Brief History of Everything - Ken Wilber
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
The War of Art - Steven Pressfield

If you want to know more about Secular Meditation and Spirituality

Buddhism Without Beliefs - Stephen Batchelor
Integral Meditation - Ken Wilber
The Wisdom of Insecurity - Alan Watts
Mindsight - Daniel J. Siegel
The Power of Now - Eckhart Tolle

If you want to know more about the Future of Culture & Business

Disrupt You! - Jay Samit
BOLD: How to Go Big, Create Wealth & Impact the World - Peter Diamandis & Steven Kotler
The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces that will Shape our Future - Kevin Kelly
Sacred Economics - Charles Einstein
Exponential Organizations - Salim Ismail

And here’s a cool ass video from Dr. Jordan Peterson about identifying with your potential for change.

Much love and I look forward to getting to know you all!

Ben aka @monkeymind

P.S. If you wanna help me get kickstarted on my Steemit journey, click the ol' resteem button por favor!