A self-development podcast with philosophical, psychological and literary flair hosted by Victoria Hutchins, the creator of @thedailyvictorian. Giving your soul...
Your attention is sacred. It’s also for sale.
Maybe the reason you can’t get off your phone or stop wasting your Saturdays streaming a show you’ll forget the moment you finish the last episode or do what you say you will isn’t because you’re lazy. It’s not because you don’t want it badly enough. It’s not because you haven’t locked in. Maybe the reason you can’t focus is bigger than you entirely.
Today’s episode dives into the hidden reason we distract ourselves from our own lives and leaves you with 5 bite-sized ways to reclaim your brain. My fellow doomscrollers, rotters, and TikTok ban mourners: this one’s for you.
EPISODE OUTLINE:
02:18 The spiritual source of distraction
02:29 I. Nietzsche: staring into the abyss
03:43 II. Kierkegaard: sickness unto death
04:46 III. Victor Frankl: the search for meaning
08:04 IV. Kali yuga: the age of distraction
09:16 Enter: the attention economy
10:15 The Dorito theory
14:23 So what do we do about it?
14:31 5 steps to take back your focus
14:42 Break - with a surprise for you!
18:14 Step 1: the art of unitasking
23:05 Step 2: giving attention vs having it taken
25:14 Step 3: Dorito vs dinner list
26:48 Step 4: Dorito ritual
29:18 Step 5: Focus ritual
31:24 Lightning round recap
MY LINKS:
Preorder my poetry book MAKE BELIEVE from Blue Willow to get a free poem print and a personalized signed copy
Preorder MAKE BELIEVE from Amazon, Target, Barnes & Noble, and more
Get the Believe Again yoga flow, guided meditation and mini-journal bundle free when you preorder MAKE BELIEVE!
Join me in Bali June 1-7!
Find me @thedailyvictorian on Instagram
Find me @thedailyvictorian on TikTok (if it ever gets un-banned...)
SHOW LINKS:
Dorito theory TikTok
Slot machine dopamine study
Study on the cognitive strain of multitasking
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35:32
10 Things about Dating I Wish I Knew in My 20s
This episode should be called ten HARD TO HEAR things about dating I wish I knew in my twenties because... oof. Buckle up. The dating scene in your twenties is the trenches. I wish I could go back in time and tell all this to younger me. It would save her so many hours and tears and good outfits on bad dates with people who don't like her. Instead, I'll tell you. I learned each of these lessons the hard way, but you don't have to! I present to you: 10 things I wish I knew about dating in my twenties.
EPISODE OUTLINE
00:00 Intro
01:20 Break
04:09 If they treat you like they don’t care, they don’t
06:41 Someone not liking you doesn't make them a catch
10:06 Running at the first sign of conflict isn’t a flex
13:21 If you’re attracted to games, you’re the problem
16:36 Stop seeking closure from your exes
19:05 Don’t date their potential
20:14 Being single rocks
23:05 Love is not all you need
23:36 You can’t make them stay if they want to go
30:58 You can’t scare away the right person
33:39 Lightning round recap
LINKS:
Preorder my poetry book MAKE BELIEVE from Blue Willow to get a free poem print and a personalized signed copy
Preorder MAKE BELIEVE from Amazon, Target, Barnes & Noble, and more!
Join me in Bali June 1-7!
Find me @thedailyvictorian on Instagram
Find me @thedailyvictorian on TikTok
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35:54
8 Clues to Your Purpose
Feel like you’re meant for something more but can’t put your finger on what that “more” is? This episode is here to help. The bad news is: finding your purpose in a world full of distractions and expectations is hard. Like, super hard. The good news is: we’ve been struggling with this since the dawn of humanity, so lots of extremely smart people have piped up about it.Clues to your purpose are hiding in unexpected places. Today, we’ll explore 8 of those clues, as proposed by some of humanity’s greatest minds. Consider this episode a field guide out of your existential crisis. Brought to you by me: your friendly neighborhood lawyer-turned-creative, fresh out of the trenches of living someone else’s life. SHOW OUTLINE: 00:00 Intro 03:14 If you're looking for your purpose, look for... 03:42 1. What you loved as a kid (Nietzsche)06:31 2. What makes you jealous (Nietzsche)10:15 3. What puts you into flow state (Csikszentmihalyi)13:00 Break 15:56 4. What you see everywhere16:32 The Invisible Gorilla Experiment17:30 The Cocktail Party Effect 18:34 Attention as Devotion (Mary Oliver and Simone Weil)19:00 5. What makes you uncomfortable (Carl Jung) 20:56 6. What connects you to the world (Bhagavad Gita)23:30 7. What you want your purpose to be (Albert Camus) 26:36 8. Here and now (Alan Watts)30:07 Lightning Round SummaryMY LINKS:Preorder my poetry book MAKE BELIEVE from Blue Willow to get a free poem print and a personalized signed copyPreorder MAKE BELIEVE from Amazon, Target, Barnes & Noble, and more! Join me in Bali June 1-7! Find me @thedailyvictorian on InstagramFind me @thedailyvictorian on TikTok
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31:39
10 Things Your New Life Will Cost You
So you have a dream, huh? You're in the right place. You've probably heard this quote from the brilliant Brianna Wiest: Your new life will cost you your old one. Today we're diving into it. As someone who walked away from an old life for a new one this year, let me tell you - there are costs. In the past year, I have completely flipped my life on its head. I walked away from my job as an attorney to dive into the murky waters of creative work. This episode will discuss 10 things your new life will cost you.
SHOW LINKS:
Your Dreams Are For People Like You - listen to the episode of Shawna Krueger's podcast, Leadership and Yoga
Mind Magic: The Neuroscience of Manifestation, by James Doty, M.D.
Visual representation of Plato's Cave Allegory
MY LINKS:
Preorder my poetry book MAKE BELIEVE from Blue Willow to get a free poem print and a personalized signed copy
Preorder MAKE BELIEVE from Amazon, Target, Barnes & Noble, and more!
Join me in Bali June 1-7!
Find me @thedailyvictorian on Instagram
Find me @thedailyvictorian on TikTok
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48:00
"We're on a Floating Rock:" The Rise, Pros and Cons of Optimistic Nihilism
The floating rock mentality—nihilism with rose-colored glasses—is quickly becoming the zeitgeist of spiritually deconstructed young people. What is it? How did we get here? Cosmologically speaking, are we really just insignificant creatures on an insignificant floating rock? Is life meaningless? What are the pros and cons of believing that it is? Is optimistic nihilism going to turn you into Tyler Durden or Jobu Tupaki? What can we learn from Nietzsche, Albert Camus and Sisyphus? How do we find value in a potentially meaningless universe? Are spirituality and rationality mutually exclusive on this floating rock in space?
JUMP AROUND
I. intro
II. disclaimers (2:37)
III. floating rock mentality (6:48)
a. what is it? (6:48)
b. how did we get here? (9:37)
c. is it true, literally & cosmologically speaking? (11:41)
(ad break)
IV. nietzsche and nihilist philosophy (21:24)
a. sad early life (22:19)
b. sad love life (23:58)
c. nietzsche’s philosophical model (24:47)
V. the pros of purposelessness (29:45)
VI. the cons (35:27)
a. will you turn into tyler durden/jobu tupaki? (36:57)
b. volatile valuation of your own life (40:50)
(ad break)
V. finding value in a (possibly) meaningless universe (43:06)
a. sisyphus (44:13)
b. albert camus on sisyphus (absurdism) (44:47)
VI. how does god fit into all of this? (50:25)
a. pascal’s wager (51:22)
b. choosing between purposelessness & spirituality (58:09)
c. redefining spirituality (1:00:06)
SOURCES & REFERENCES
re: rise in disaffiliation from organized religion among Gen-Z and millennials: https://tinyurl.com/2p9d5474
re: size of the universe, super habitable planets, SETI Luyten B communications: https://tinyurl.com/3kmyy5av; https://tinyurl.com/3hdc8u8m; https://www.seti.org
“Important” by Ian McConnell: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRGqbRHa/
Rhett McLoughlin spiritual deconstruction podcast episode: https://tinyurl.com/yytywu4c
Re: biographical info about Nietzsche: https://tinyurl.com/ye28xbxe; https://tinyurl.com/2za4nsc4
Nietzsche referenced works: Human, All-too-Human (1878), The Gay Science (1882, second expanded edition 1887), On the Genealogy of Morality (1887)
re: Lou Salome, Nietzsche’s love interest: https://tinyurl.com/5bvdymd7; https://tinyurl.com/5598dycu
Fight Club (1999) directed by David Fincher; starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter
Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert; starring Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu
The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus
Pascal’s Wager: https://tinyurl.com/ftrrssth; https://tinyurl.com/7nkhw79b
A self-development podcast with philosophical, psychological and literary flair hosted by Victoria Hutchins, the creator of @thedailyvictorian. Giving your soul something to chew on every Sunday.