Howdy Family,

I'm on a bus to Albany today where I am joining other Planned Parenthood (click link to donate or help) volunteers from all around New York. We are lobbying in the Capitol for pro-choice rights, women’s health coverage, and sex education. 

I'm more of the "collaborative discourse" type than arguing type, and no newsletter, no matter how many hilarious Waldo references, will shift concrete opinions. But I believe in Ghandi's "Be the change you wish to see in the world." So to state clearly for the record I am pro-choice, appalled by the lack of access to reproductive healthcare (women can’t just "turn your head to the side and cough, Mr. Johnson"), and am confident that with proper and early sex education alongside available contraceptives for women and men we won't have nearly as many unplanned pregnancies. People have sex, and they always will. We want to cultivate a society that promotes safe, consensual, informed sex so all parties involved can have a grand ol’ time!

Just like I’m having a grand ol’ time keeping in contact with all of you! Well... a little different. But both are very pleasurable experiences! And pleasure gets me thinking about selfishness and how it’s the strongest path to helping others. 

What?? Yes! Great segue! Pleasure seeking and selfishness are actually some of the most important components to giving back to the world. Would it surprise any of you to hear I consider every action I take to be first and foremost self serving? It’s true. Everything I do is for self growth and self care before all else. And whether you know it (or are willing to accept it) so do you. 

We are creatures of survival and that means we take care of ourselves and the things we love. Anything you do, you ultimately want and choose to do. Many of these choices we make every day are unconscious. We weigh out the pros and cons in an instant. You don’t have to go to work, you choose to because you know the consequences of losing your job are worse than the job itself. You don't need to take your dog outside, but you hate cleaning doodoo off the carpet. You don’t even need to eat, you are choosing to eat to LIVE! 

This is the first step of realizing our inherent (and healthy) selfishness. Understand that everything you do is a choice of balancing the pros and cons out the outcome. Get sleep or get swoll.

Once you realize this, you can see that you have so much more control over your own life. You choose every action you take, and because we want to survive, you choose actions that bring you pleasure and longevity. 

You can now be consciously aware you are in control of your life, which means you are also responsible for your life. Responsible for your time. For your actions. For your collection of Nickelback memorabilia. This is where the giving comes in. 

Selfishness is inherent. Trying to reject it is like trying to swim upstream. And that's just exhausting. So if all of your choices are already going to serve you (or else you wouldn’t choose them) we can shift our focus to choosing actions that also help other people. It’s important to cultivate an abundance mentality. You have so many more resources than you will ever realize, so what you give away in kindness, your time, your love, your money, your possessions, will return to you. Somehow. Sometimes with a free 7-11 slushy, sometimes with genuine love from a friend.

The secret to living well is giving well.

Until next time, your loving son and brother, 

tell me what you're up to too: teppersaffren@gmail.com

P.S. If you know anyone who you think would appreciate this kind of fortnight feed, please share my newsletter and ask them to join the family.

Journal Thoughts

10/12/14
"Who needs coffee when you're kicked into drive using the fear of disappointing others. Java is only one form of fuel. I am hungry. Like, literally. I'll get a snack after this. The adrenaline I've put into my tank is stretching the savory last drops like a child sipping his favorite cola."

Featured Fortnight Artist: Keenah Armitage

Keenah’s artistry has evolved through several mediums: a Broadway veteran, college professor, director, choreographer, mother and wife. She wears these labels of her life with the pride of a scout touting their badges. But it's her current growth spurt that reveals her true calling. Keenah has begun a Performing Artists Success Coaching program called Project Thrive Academy. She coaches open and available performers who want more fulfillment from their careers and lives. She works to cultivate an abundance mindset with her clients and eradicate the romance of a “starving artist” to give her students #permissiontoprosper. I’ve worked with Keenah and give her my full endorsement. If you’re a performer who feels like something has been missing, Keenah is the perfect person to help you find it. Visit her website to learn more about her and the program she’s creating. 
#nomorestarvingartist #permissiontoprosper

Tepper's Two-Cents

1¢ — Asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness. It's vulnerable, and vulnerability takes courage. We all have a desire to help, but often don't know how. We're not mind readers. We're not psychics (except Deborah and her lizard, Scott). By communicating how you're feeling and what you need you're giving a gift to someone else in the form of a clear way they can help. It's mutually beneficial to open up and ask for help. 

2¢ — Try to eliminate "good" and "bad" from your vocabulary. Those words are totally subjective to societal pressure and self experience. Try instead using "pleasant" and "unpleasant" to describe something. And when something unpleasant comes your way, be glad, it's an "AFGO" in your day. "Another F**king Growth Opportunity" as my therapist calls it.