How Much Is Enough?

Posted on July 4, 2019 by admin

Ever since I started reading Walden, I’ve been thinking a lot about independence and self-sufficiency. The book covers the two years that Henry David Thoreau spent living in a cabin that he built himself near Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. Although I’m not very far into the book yet, I’m still enjoying reading it and learning about Thoreau’s thoughts on society, humanity, and simple living. I’ve done a lot to simplify my life, including gradually moving away from materialism, so I wanted to read about Thoreau’s experiences with a simpler lifestyle. As I expected, it’s put a lot of things in perspective for me and made me think differently about a number of subjects.

Thoreau mentions that he was able to build his cabin for about the same price it would have cost him to rent a house or an apartment for a year. Given that the book was first published in 1854, I suspect that indoor plumbing, electricity, air conditioning, heating, and other things that now make housing quite expensive would make it much cheaper to live simply in the woods than to rent an inexpensive apartment for a year. Besides the reduced cost of living, you’d also gain a lot of independence from not being connected to a grid or under the control of a homeowner’s association or a landlord. Being as self-sufficient and independent as possible would allow you to live incredibly freely and make it much harder for other people to control you. The longing for more freedom and independence are what motivate some people to move into a secluded area and start an off-grid homestead so that they can live as they see fit.

Modern societies depend on a lot of incredibly complicated, vulnerable systems. If one of those systems collapsed for an extended period of time, then things would quickly start unraveling. Imagine, for example, how people would react if they went to the grocery store and saw empty shelves in every aisle. How much food does the average person keep in their house, and how good are they at growing, hunting, or finding food? Most people nowadays have little to no survival skills because, quite simply, they don’t need them when things are going well. Personally, I’d be in big trouble if I had to acquire my own food, water, and shelter for more than a few days. Someone who is an expert at surviving long-term without depending on modern technology or on other people to do anything for them stands a much better chance than I do of getting through a societal collapse.

This brings me to the question I posed in the title: how much is enough? For survival purposes, a lot of knowledge and a decent amount of resources will suffice. The more resources you add, the more comfortable and luxurious your life will be, and the less you’ll have to depend on survival knowledge or skills. I can see the value in being able to live off the land with hardly any man-made resources for extended periods of time. That’s a necessity in simpler societies and can still prove useful when emergencies occur in more complex societies. On the other hand, I can also see value in specialization and division of labor; I’m glad that I don’t have to rely on my own skills for food, clean water, or shelter, which gives me more time to pursue my interests in a way that might otherwise be extremely difficult. I think it would be beneficial for me to continue simplifying my life while simultaneously learning more basic survival skills. That way I can still enjoy some of the benefits of modern society alongside more personal freedom and the ability to survive if things start going downhill and modern conveniences fail. I think that would let me live in a way that I’d find satisfying and fulfilling while also still fairly comfortable and convenient. Whatever your thoughts on these subjects, I hope you’ve found this post interesting and thought-provoking and I will see you next time.

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A Better Way to Drive

Posted on July 3, 2019 by admin

There is a great YouTube channel called CGP Grey. The creator makes entertainingly informative videos on a wide range of subjects and one of those videos changed the way I think about driving in heavy traffic. I’d like to talk about it in this post since I think it has the potential to do a lot of good if more people learned about and adopted this strategy.

In short, the idea is to keep the same amount of space between the vehicle ahead of you and the vehicle behind you. This will give you enough time to react as needed and prevent you or the car behind you from having to brake suddenly. I try to keep this in mind whenever I’m on the road, especially during congested periods. When I’m in stop-and-go traffic, I’d rather slowly move forward at a steady pace than continually alternate between speeding up and slowing down. This means resisting the urge to mimic the other drivers around me and instead follow a better approach.

This strategy is also effective at red lights. Giving the car ahead of you some space will allow you to accelerate sooner and more quickly once the light turns green, making you more likely to get through the intersection before the next red light. Just as with heavy traffic on normal roads, this means that I have to be more patient and refrain from getting as close as possible to the car that’s in front of me. This was difficult for a while but it’s become almost second nature at this point since I’ve practiced it so much.

At the very least, this strategy makes me feel calmer when I’m in heavy traffic. It helps me to keep in mind that driving quickly and staying close to the car ahead of me will just keep me stuck there longer, so why intentionally frustrate and detain myself? In times of heavy traffic, as in many other times in life, doing the opposite of what is common and intuitive works much better and gets me closer to where I want to be. I hope that this has been useful and reduces the time you spend in heavy traffic if you decide to test this strategy for yourself.

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Meditating Through the Simple Tasks

Posted on July 2, 2019 by admin

Contrary to how it’s often portrayed, meditation doesn’t necessarily involve sitting in a specific position with your eyes closed. You can meditate almost anytime during the day, especially when you’re doing something that requires little to no thought. Since I started meditating regularly last year, I’ve gradually found ways to turn simple tasks into meditative experiences. I really started thinking about this yesterday while I was folding laundry and listening to this Alan Watts guided meditation. The simple, repetitive nature of the task freed up a lot of mental space and allowed me to think about whatever I liked or, as I did a few times, avoid thinking altogether. During that time, I could observe my thoughts without getting overwhelmed by them, which is the entire purpose of mindfulness meditation.

Doing simple tasks while letting my mind wander can be a powerful practice. I find it easier when I listen to something since a bit of sound helps me focus my thoughts and it can also bring me back to the present moment if I start getting lost in my stream of consciousness. If I’m not listening to anything in particular, then I’ll often talk or think through something that’s on my mind. That’s where I’ve gotten a lot of realizations about things I should do differently my life as well as a lot of ideas for blog posts. It’s also given me a lot of quiet, peaceful moments to practice centering and calming myself, which comes in handy during more turbulent moments.

If you’d like to try this for yourself, then I recommend picking a song or sound that’ll give you some pleasant background noise. Try to use something that you can almost tune out; it should be something that you can use as an occasional anchor for your thoughts if necessary but also light enough and simple enough that you’re not devoting your full attention to it. Once you’ve got the sound in place, breathe slowly and deeply and get lost in whatever activity you’re doing. Your mind may wander or it may settle on a particular thought; either one is fine as both afford you an opportunity to observe your thoughts from a distance. I think you’ll find this to be a pleasant experience and you might even get some cool ideas or insights out of it. If you do try this, I’d love to hear about your experience and if you plan on making it a regular practice.

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Lights in the World

Posted on July 1, 2019 by admin

Here’s to everyone who looks at the state of the world and does their best to improve it. They could have shrugged their shoulders and walked away to live simple, easy lives. But they didn’t. They chose to stick it out, pay it forward, and make a difference. This is often difficult and sometimes results in a life of hardship for those working to leave the world better than they found it, with no guarantee that they’ll get any recognition for their efforts in life or in death. And still, they keep going.

Much of their work involves sharing the life lessons they’ve learned with whoever is willing to listen to them. Some of these lessons appeared during times of quiet solitude in peaceful places. The lack of external distractions allowed them to notice things they would ordinarily miss, so there is a great deal of value in the occasional retreat. Some people have gone on permanent retreats, choosing to live far away from the madness, violence, and unconsciousness. But others have come back refreshed and ready to pick things up right where they left them.

The people who’ve done this for a long time understand that self-improvement is an individual decision and one that can’t be forced on anyone. This inclines them to focus most strongly on the people who are open to their message while hoping that those who aren’t interested will come around eventually. That’s always a possibility, as some people need to see everyone around them living happily, freely, and effectively before they can commit to doing the same.

Through their example, these people inspire others to do small acts of random kindness. This is how their influence spreads and touches the lives of countless people that they will never personally meet but will still benefit from their work. The effects of their actions appear slowly at first but then manifest increasingly faster as more people learn about their ideas, put them into practice, and share them with their loved ones. Although the end results are much bigger and more intricate than anything they could do alone, they still deserve credit for getting the ball rolling and showing others a better way to live. Because without their light, the world would be a much darker place.

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Ichetucknee Springs Day 2019

Posted on June 30, 2019 by admin

Yesterday, I went to Ichetucknee Springs State Park with a group of my swing dancing friends for some swimming, tubing, and dancing. This was the third time I’ve been to that park and was by far my most enjoyable time there. Here are some of the highlights from that amazing day.

We had a good-sized group going, so most of us split up into smaller groups and carpooled. My group listened to a podcast and some nice music on our way there. Once everyone arrived and we all had our tubes, we hopped on the shuttle and rode down to the river entrance. There are a few different entrances but we chose the one that would give us a shorter float so we’d have time to get in everything we wanted to do. Apart from popping a few tubes, the float went smoothly: we sang songs, took pictures, and had fun meandering down the river. We sat down at the picnic tables after the float to enjoy our lunch and rest a bit before continuing our adventures. After lunch, we headed over to the springs portion of the park and enjoyed hanging out in the cold water. I particularly enjoyed this part since the water felt incredibly refreshing in the hot weather; I took one last quick dip in the second spring right before we left. We spent some time in both of the springs and then danced a bit on a wooden walkway, being careful to avoid getting splinters in our feet. Fortunately, we managed to get out of there ahead of the rain and headed back to Jacksonville.

Right before we left the park, we decided to try out a local taco restaurant in Jacksonville called Murray’s Taco Bodega. This was my first time there and I enjoyed my order, including the Mexican Coca-Cola that they had. I rarely drink soda and don’t like most sodas that I’ve tried, including regular Coca-Cola. The Mexican Coca-Cola tasted about the same to me although it did feel smoother and less harsh than regular Coca-Cola. Plus it was served in a nice glass bottle that I got to rinse out and keep afterward. I probably wouldn’t get it again but I liked it well enough and I’m glad I tried it. We spent some time visiting and letting our food settle until we were ready to go. For dessert, we walked down to Dreamette, which is a local ice cream place that’s been in operation since 1948. We all enjoyed some of their amazing soft serve ice cream and visited some more. By that point, I was well spent and knew I still had a lot of stuff to do before bed, so I said my goodbyes, rode back to my car, made sure I had all my stuff, and headed for home.

The first time I went to Ichetucknee Springs as a kid, I got overwhelmed by the cold water in one of the springs and threw up in the bathroom. I did much better last year by getting into both springs and submerging myself up to my neck in one of them. This year, I did even better. I got all the way up to my neck in one of them and stayed there for a few minutes, focusing on my breath and treating it like a meditative experience. When I got to the other one, I went completely under the water and stayed in that spring for a good while even though it was much colder than the other one. Whenever I was in the water, I focused a lot on the breathing techniques that Wim Hof uses to stay warm in extremely cold environments. This, as well as all the cold showers I’ve taken since last year, helped me feel comfortable in the river and the first spring and find the courage to get into the second spring and stay there until I had been shivering for a few minutes. I’m glad that I’ve gotten steadily more comfortable in cold water and can enjoy Ichetucknee Springs more than I ever could before.

I’m also glad that most of us had little to no cell phone reception for the bulk of the day. I’ve been making more of an effort to ignore my phone and be present during my in-person interactions, and I think it’s made a huge positive difference. Given how much everyone seemed to enjoy interacting while our phones were useless, I think yesterday is further evidence for the value in unplugging from technology and fully focusing on the people around you. More than anything else, that’s what made yesterday so wonderful from beginning to end and I’m so thankful I could be a part of it.

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A Relaxation Routine

Posted on June 29, 2019 by admin

Sometimes when I’m floating or going to sleep, I’ll go through a relaxation routine that helps me settle in and release the tension from my body. Although floating regularly has been the best thing I’ve found for getting quality sleep, relaxing my body at night still helped me long before I started floating. I thought I’d write out a similar routine and share it with you in case you find it helpful.

Let’s start by getting into a comfortable position, either sitting or lying down. If you choose to sit, find a position that doesn’t require supporting yourself with your legs. That will make it easier to relax your whole body. Try to watch your breath throughout this routine, making sure that you’re breathing deeply through your diaphragm. Allow your stomach to expand like a balloon on each inhalation and then deflate on every exhalation. If you like, you can focus on an area of your when you inhale and then release the tension from it when you inhale; if that proves troublesome, then just move at your own pace. You may discover that some areas require several deep breaths before they can be fully relaxed. You may also find it helpful to imagine that you’re sinking into the surface that’s supporting you, or that every area of your body is being pulled down by chains attached to heavy anchors.

When you’re ready, focus on the lower section of your body, starting with your toes. Release all tension from them and make them as relaxed as you can. Do that for your feet, your lower legs, and your knees as you slowly work your way up your body. If you get to your upper legs and notice that an area you’ve passed has gotten tense again, that’s fine. Just go back, focus on relaxing it once more, and then continue from where you left off when you’re ready.

Next, the middle section of your body. Focus first on your waist and hips. It’s easy to hold a lot of tension in this region, so really focus on letting go completely to give those muscles a break. When you get to your lower torso, check in with your breath. Make sure you’re still breathing in a slow, controlled fashion from your diaphragm. That’ll help relax the muscles in your stomach and lower back. After that, you can focus on your upper torso. If you’re breathing shallowly, you’ll probably notice a feeling of tightness and perhaps even a bit of pain in your chest. This should go away after a few minutes of deep breathing.

The shoulders are another favorite area for tension to hide. If your shoulders feel tense, you can relax them by bringing them up, pulling them back, and then dropping them down. Repeat as many times as you like, reversing the direction of the movement if you feel inclined. Once you’re satisfied, shake them out and then feel them settle into a relaxed position. That’ll also help you relax your arms. When you get down to your hands, you may notice that they’re tightly clenched. To remedy this, open your hands and make them as big as you can, spreading out each finger as much and as far back as possible. Going from a closed position to an open position will make it easier to settle them into a comfortable, relaxed position somewhere in between the two extremes.

Lastly, there is the upper section of your body. As with your shoulders, it’s easy to hold a great deal of tension in your neck. You can loosen up your neck by lowering your head until your chin is on your chest, or at least close to it. Then roll it toward your right shoulder, up so that you’re looking at the ceiling, down toward your left shoulder, and finally back to the starting position. Repeat this as many times as you like, going in the other direction as well if you feel inclined. When you’re ready, allow your neck to settle into a relaxed position. Finally, focus on your face. Loosen your jaw, relax the muscles around your eyes, and feel any tension in your forehead melt away as your eyebrows relax into a neutral position.

Now that you’ve relaxed your whole body, observe your mental state as well as your physical state. How do you feel, and do you feel differently than you did when you started? I hope this works as well for you as it does for me, and, if it does, you’ll probably feel amazing by the time you’re finished.

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Lessons from Unicycling

Posted on June 28, 2019 by admin

I got a unicycle for Christmas last year and I’ve practiced at it every day since. As a result, I’ve gradually gotten better at it, though I have had to make some occasional adjustments. For starters, it took me a long time to find a good height for the seat. Once I had that figured out, I discovered that the seat sometimes turns to one side; I always stop and fix that it when I notice it’s gone askew. Earlier this month, I realized that the seat had come loose, so I tightened the bolts that hold it in place. And most recently, I added some air to the tire when I suspected that it might be a bit low. Every time I’ve made these adjustments, my unicycle practice has become easier, better, and more comfortable. I recently started thinking about how this applies to life as well.

Every so often, I’ll think about my habits and routines and see if anything needs an adjustment. It’s easy for me to forget some things that I’m trying to incorporate into my life, so an occasional check-in shows me where I should direct my attention. Whenever I find something worth changing, I try to go easy on myself as I go about making adjustments. This makes the whole process easier and makes me more likely to succeed at implementing those positive changes.

I don’t get upset at my unicycle for needing an occasional tune-up, so why should I get upset at myself for that reason? That’s just part of life and self-improvement. However, it took me a long time to accept this. I used to beat myself up whenever I did slipped up. In addition to making me feel bad, that also made it harder for me to do better next time since my self-talk was so negative. Improving my self-talk and finding ways to encourage myself to stick to my values has made all the difference for me. And, just like with unicycling, practicing this stuff a bit every day has taken me further than I ever could have imagined.

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Review of The King’s Speech

Posted on June 27, 2019 by admin

Yesterday, I watched The King’s Speech for the second time. The movie chronicles Prince Albert’s efforts to overcome his stammer as he ascends to the throne and becomes King George VI. This becomes particularly important once World War II begins and he feels compelled to give encouraging speeches during a frightening and uncertain time. As usual, there are spoiler alerts in this review, so proceed with caution if you haven’t seen the movie.

Prince Albert (played by Colin Firth) has tried one speech therapist after another and still struggles with a stammer. Eventually, he meets Lionel Logue (played by Geoffrey Rush) and finds that Logue’s ideas actually help him. They spend a great deal of time working on a variety of exercises designed to help Albert speak more fluently, including breath work, tongue twisters, singing, swearing, and speaking without being able to hear his voice. Many of these techniques involve getting Albert out of his own way and proving to himself that he is capable of speaking clearly and confidently.

As a result of his sessions with Logue, Albert’s speeches improve tremendously. However, he is still lacking in confidence, especially around his father and brother. His anxiety makes his stammer worse and makes him feel like he’s back to square one. The death of his father and his brother’s ascension to the throne compound these feelings and cause him to lash out in anger at Logue, thus ending their sessions. After some time passes, his brother abdicates the throne, making Prince Albert the next king. As George VI, he visits Logue and apologizes for his outburst.

Things start going smoothly for a while after their reconciliation until George discovers that Logue isn’t actually a doctor. Despite never claiming to be a doctor, Logue also never explicitly denied being one. When he learns this, George has a crisis of confidence and begins to fall apart shortly before his coronation. Once again, Logue makes him get out of his own way and restores his confidence. This proves critical when the time comes for George to make his first wartime speech. Logue makes notes in the speech so George knows when to add certain inflections or pauses, both to help with his stammer and to add dramatic weight to the speech. This preparation, along with some silent coaching from Logue, allows George to smoothly deliver the speech, much to his relief.

The King’s Speech is wonderfully made. It contains solid performances from the entire cast, music that perfectly matches the mood of each scene, and cinematography fit for a king. What puts it over the top for me is the central message of hope for anyone who has trouble speaking. I’ve had a lot of trouble with this in my life. At various times, I have stuttered, interrupted myself mid-sentence, spoken too quickly or too quietly, and slurred my words. Sometimes I still do these things. However, by using a variety of techniques, including writing out a lot of my ideas before discussing them, speaking to a wide variety of people in social settings, slowing down when I talk, giving a few short speeches, speaking a lot at my current job, and learning how to calm myself down, I’ve become a lot more more comfortable speaking to other people and I’ve also gotten a lot better at it. I’d say I can now speak more fluently and clearly than ever before. Just like George VI, getting out of my own way allows the words to flow without issue. That’s why I loved seeing this movie and its inspiring message again. If this sounds like something you’d enjoy, then I highly recommend checking it out.

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Review of Island

Posted on June 26, 2019 by admin

Island is a wonderful book by Aldous Huxley. The story takes place on a Polynesian island called Pala whose inhabitants have figured out how to live peacefully, happily, and effectively. The book starts when Will Farnaby, an English journalist, wrecks his boat on the shores of Pala. After being severely injured and nearly dying, he is saved by several inhabitants who begin to teach him (and, by extension, those reading the book) about their society.

People in Pala are taught about mindfulness, presence, and managing their emotions from a young age. They learn a lot of this in school, where they play games that teach them these concepts in a fun way that also shows them how to apply these lessons to their lives. However, their education isn’t limited to the classroom as they have plenty of opportunities to learn and grow through interacting with their friends, family members, and neighbors. They have even trained myna birds to say “Attention”, “Karuṇā” (meaning compassion), and “Here and now, boys” as constant reminders for them to stay present. All of this helps them navigate life and handle the deaths of their loved ones as well as their own death much better than they could without it. Additionally, they have things called Mutual Adoption Clubs (which they often call “MACs”) that consist of 15-22 healthy, stable adults who serve as caregivers for neighboring children whenever necessary. This gives every child a safe place to go at any time and prevents many of the problems that originate from more traditional family arrangements.

Due to their upbringing, the Palanese people almost never turn to violence, emotional manipulation, or any other sort of destructive behavior. Everything they learn about managing their emotions is supplemented by the fact that children with emotional difficulties are given extra opportunities to work through negative emotions in a positive way. They also make use of a psychedelic called moksha-medicine that reveals more to them than they could learn through traditional means and makes them feel at one with everything. As a result, hardly anyone ends up on a path to violence, and, when that does happen, it’s usually resolved in a peaceful way without involving the courts.

Despite their heavy focus on spirituality and peaceful living, the Palanese people still have modern technology. They make use of electricity, cars, hospitals, phones, freezers, and other things they find useful. If they can’t produce something they need on the island, they import it, but they always prioritize what is practical and beneficial over what is amusing or distracting. As such, they avoid the heavy industry, commercialism, and consumerism that plague most other societies; this means they also avoid the many problems caused by each of those things. This is part of the balance they’ve found between nature and science, East and West, and progress and simple living. Since they’ve been working on this for so long, they can do it better than any other society, although some of them hope that they can inspire people in other societies to follow a similar path.

I learned about Island when Eckhart Tolle mentioned it and piqued my interest while I was listening to The Power of Now. I happened to see the book one day at the bookstore and decided to get it. About a year later, I’ve finally read it and I loved it. It has so much good stuff in it that makes sense to me because of my journey over the last few years and the experiences that I’ve had, the most notable of which have been meditation and floating. It was also wonderful to read about a possible way to organize society that benefits everyone while still allowing everyone to retain their individuality and pursue self-actualization. Most of the book is dedicated to explaining how the Palanese people approach life rather than focusing on a strong story. Since I love exploring and thinking about interesting concepts, I enjoyed every minute I spent reading this book.

This is the second of Aldous Huxley’s books that I’ve read. The other one is Brave New World, which I read in 2014. As many other people have pointed out, these two books are essentially polar opposites. Brave New World describes a dystopian society where nobody is interested in anything meaningful and Island is all about a utopian society where everybody pursues meaning in all areas of life. I think most modern societies are pretty close to Brave New World, but I also think that there is always the potential to move toward a more Island-like society. One of my big life goals is to do what I can to make that happen and I’ve already seen some promising steps in that direction. If any of this sounds interesting to you or you’d like to learn more about my vision for the future of society, then I highly recommend you give Island a read. And if you do, I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.

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A Neat Framing Trick

Posted on June 25, 2019 by admin

I’ve learned a lot of great life hacks from How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams. One of them, a framing trick, involves focusing on positive things to do instead of negative things to avoid. Adams uses food as an example. If you’re trying to eat healthier, focus on eating healthy foods that you enjoy and find ways to make food you don’t enjoy taste better. This greatly improves your chances of succeeding and works much better than making yourself feel deprived by trying to avoid certain foods.

Another example I’ve heard Adams mention outside of the book pertains to phrasing. If you regularly buy things with a credit or debit card, you’re probably used to inserting the card into a machine and waiting. Shortly thereafter you’ll see a message on the screen that says “Do not remove card”. Some people, myself included, occasionally misread that as “Remove card” and mess up the transaction by taking the card out too early. Adams suggests changing the message to “Keep card inserted”, which I’ve actually seen at least once during a shopping trip. That makes it easier for me to know what to do and reduces my chances of making a mistake. This approach also works well when I’m talking to other people. For instance, instead of telling someone what I don’t want to do, I’ll tell them something that I would like to do. That’s much clearer and, after some practice, easier to do than framing things in terms of what I don’t want.

I like that this framing trick works equally well when I’m doing something by myself or interacting with other people. In addition to improving my communication skills, I think this has also made it easier for me to successfully navigate a variety of situations. Maintaining an optimistic outlook while staying present and looking for positive things to do has gradually trained me to see possibilities that I’d otherwise miss. If this sounds interesting to you, give it a try and see how it works for you. I think you’ll enjoy it and find it does you a lot of good.

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