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#142 | May 19, 2025 | 20:04

Cycle: Follicular – Day 17

Location: Home – desk

Context: Browsing LinkedIn, seeing networking events

🧠 Thought Stream

[FOMO thought]: FOMO in Linkedin. People I know at networking events. While me, I chose not to anymore. Feeling not invited (or just the act of being invited) tells me I’m still significant.

[reframing thought]: You know what, that’s a courage to be uninvited. You know they are also facing realities. But you see them in smiles, enjoying their time, feeling significant. It’s at least a consolation in living this wretched life. Don’t you think?

[agreement thought]: Yes, I supposed so.

[reflecting thought]: Even when I was everywhere, almost significant events (crazy to think and overwhelming to think about it again), I felt those but I have my own battles to fight.

[conflicted thought]: But I missed it.

[probing thought]: Why? Escape something else?

~Feeling: annoyed, uneasy

[acknowledging thought]: Touch point.

[body reaction thought]: Don’t like what you just said. Feeling a jolt of distaste and annoyance typing those words. It feels nauseating.

[redirecting thought]: I got to take a PSW test now. Phew!

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THEORETICAL CONNECTIONS:

This experience connects to concepts such as:

1. Status Anxiety in Digital Spaces Your thoughts about LinkedIn and significance reflect what sociologists call “status anxiety” – the discomfort that arises when our social position feels threatened or uncertain. This anxiety is particularly intense in digital environments that constantly display others’ professional achievements and social connections. To explore diverse perspectives, try searching “status dynamics across cultures” or “collective versus individualist responses to social comparison.”

2. Embodied Truth Recognition The physical reaction (feeling “a jolt of distaste,” “nauseating” sensations, and body tightness) when acknowledging certain insights represents what somatic psychologists call “embodied truth recognition.” This phenomenon occurs when the body reacts to insights before the conscious mind can fully process them, often serving as an internal guidance system. To explore diverse perspectives, try searching “somatic markers in decision-making” or “body-centered wisdom traditions.”

3. Avoidance and Redirection as Protection The quick pivot to “I got to take a PSW test now. Phew!” represents what psychologists call “protective avoidance” – the mind’s tendency to redirect attention when encountering threatening insights. Many wisdom traditions recognize this pattern as a natural aspect of psychological self-protection rather than a failure or weakness. To explore diverse perspectives, try searching “defense mechanisms across cultures” or “incremental exposure in healing traditions.”

These connections were curated with assistance from Claude AI.

EXPLORATION STARTING POINTS:

• Status Anxiety by Alain de Botton – explores how concerns about our place in social hierarchies affect wellbeing (suggested by Claude AI)
• The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk – examines how the body processes emotionally significant information (suggested by Claude AI)
• Focusing by Eugene Gendlin – offers practical approaches to working with bodily sensations as sources of wisdom (suggested by Claude AI)
• Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport – explores healthy relationships with digital environments like LinkedIn (suggested by Claude AI)

STANDARD DISCLAIMER:

WooshBrain connects personal experience with broader psychological concepts. While I aim for accuracy, these connections are starting points for exploration rather than definitive interpretations. I encourage readers to explore these ideas through their own research.