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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Stepping Stones to Greatness

Posted on June 24, 2019 by admin

If you’re on a self-improvement journey, you’ll soon reach a point that is noticeably better than anything else you’ve had before and it’ll feel great to be there. Some people stop at this point and stay there for the rest of their lives, but you can keep improving if you want. If you do, then this point takes on a whole new meaning. Rather than being the pinnacle of your life and the end of your progress, it’ll be just one of many milestones and stepping stones to something greater. Continuing to improve your life will eventually get you to a milestone so amazing and so different from everything before it that it’ll make your first big milestone seem like nothing.

I think that a lot of people stop at their first big milestone because they think that they’ve reached their full potential. This doesn’t have to be the case, but they often convince themselves that they’ll never climb any higher in life than they already have. If you think that you can’t make any more progress, then you probably won’t. That defeatist mindset will prevent you from looking for and finding other ways to improve. You may make some small progress in the things you’re already doing as long as you keep doing them, but you probably won’t make any major progress like you once did.

To get out of this limiting mindset and into an empowering mindset, think about how far you’ve come and how much you’ve done that you never imagined yourself doing until you did it. After that, focus on a goal that you haven’t yet accomplished, find a lot of people who have accomplished what you want to do (or something similar to it), and then study their methods. If you can, get in touch with them and ask for guidance. In addition to getting lots of great advice and practical plans, you’ll probably also discover that they’re just like you. They experienced fear, doubt, indecision, and a whole range of negative emotions on their journey, and they probably still experience those things from time to time. That’ll show you that they’re not forces of nature who easily overcame every obstacle that crossed their path. They’re people just like you, and they found a way to make the life of their dreams a reality. What’s stopping you from doing the same? Asking myself that question and then giving myself space to ponder it has shown me the stumbling blocks and allowed me to figure out how to remove them. It’s often been difficult but it’s always been worth it, and I hope this post gives you what you need to discover that for yourself so you can make every year the best year of your life.

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Tuning Out

Posted on June 23, 2019 by admin

I spent most of my free time glued to the TV screen until I stopped watching TV altogether around 2013. At this point, I rarely ever think about it or miss it. On the rare occasions that I watch TV, it seems so strange to me and makes me glad that I gave it up. A lot of what happens on TV is incredibly forced and unrealistic, even when it’s supposed to showcase reality. Since I’ve been away from it for so long now, I think I can better communicate and interact with other people; my expectations are based on the way people actually behave in real life instead of how actors perform on the air.

In addition to refraining from watching TV, I also don’t watch the news. However, I never consistently watched the news even when I was a TV addict, so it’s almost always felt awkward and manipulative to me when I see a clip from a news show. Because I’m not getting sound bites, overly-simplified arguments, one-sided perspectives, or anything else that’s common in the news, I feel like I can better understand how the world really is and see other people in a positive light.

This has got me thinking about how much things would change if more people also did this. If you’d like to find out how your life would change, then you can try this experiment: avoid watching TV or the news for a week. That should give you enough time to get used to life without those things that you’ll notice how their absence affects you. If you don’t think you can go a week without turning on the TV, here are some things that might help. First, make a list of things you enjoy and do one thing on that list whenever you get the urge to watch TV or check the news. If you still have the urge to tune in, continue doing things on that list until the urge is gone. Second, whenever you succeed in avoiding TV, give yourself a small reward. These two tactics will make you more likely to stick to your goal over the course of the week since they will keep you focused on positive actions to pursue instead of negative actions to avoid and give you a feeling of happiness instead of pain each time you succeed.

Consider keeping track of how you feel during that week and noting any changes you observe in your mood, your use of time, your relationships, and anything else. Once that week is up, turn the TV back on if you like and see how you respond. Don’t try to make yourself respond in any certain way; just relax and respond however feels naturally to you. However you react, I think you’ll find this experiment interesting and, perhaps, insightful, especially if it causes you to permanently change some of your habits. I’d like to hear about your experience if you try this experiment. If enough people did this, I think it could do a lot to increase civility, unity, and understanding while simultaneously decreasing hostility, division, and disinterest. And I hope to see that happen.

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A Good Strategy for Dealing with Life (And Thanos)

Posted on June 22, 2019 by admin

In Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos proves to be a formidable foe. He easily fends off most of the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy when they fight him one-on-one or in pairs. However, he couldn’t handle them when they combined their efforts. By restraining Thanos’s arms, forcing him onto one knee, and making him go to sleep, they overpowered him and nearly succeeded in removing the Infinity Gauntlet. This is a great example of how it’s much better to tackle a big problem from many different angles instead of just one.

Most big problems are composed of several smaller problems. With this in mind, rather than get overwhelmed by looking at the entire situation at once, find a small element of it that you can solve; once you’ve solved that part, find another easy thing to work on and then repeat the process. Doing that repeatedly will give you something simple to do and will gradually reduce the problem until it’s gone. And, usually, you can find a few key things that will make everything else fall into place once you’ve gotten them in order. Approaching any problem as a series of small victories to be won is a much better strategy than trying to tackle the whole thing at once or going in without any plan at all.

My life has improved tremendously by following this approach. I’ve done my best to cultivate good habits and eliminate bad ones in every area. Among other things, I’ve focused on improving my mental health, managing my finances more carefully, and having better relationships. This has put me in a much better position than I’d be in had I focused on just one of those areas. So if you’re trying to improve your life, solve a problem at work, or fight a big purple alien, your best bet is to keep it simple and work on one thing at a time.

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Some of My Thoughts on Culture

Posted on June 21, 2019 by admin

I’d like to share some of my thoughts on culture. The way I see it, a culture should originate from the ideas, values, and decisions of individuals, and it should adjust to the people living in it. This, as far as I can tell, is the opposite of the way it usually works; cultures are often shaped long before the people currently living in them are ever born and require people to adjust to them, which tends to suppress their individuality and preferences. A culture that is shaped by people inclines them to be proactive, while a culture that shapes people generally ends up making them reactive. Being proactive allows you to avoid the tendency to consume and accumulate resources. I think that this tendency is changing as people are becoming less reactive. I know many people around my age that regularly work on some sort of creative project and have chosen to live simply. Most of them create purely for the joy it gives them, but a few get paid for their creations. Either way, I love seeing their work, especially when I get to watch them in action and can see the passion behind their projects.

An unmistakable sign of being reactive is acting without thinking. So many people automatically follow whatever is popular, commonplace, or traditional without even realizing what they’re doing. It’s always fascinated me to see someone stop what they’re doing, think about it from a fresh perspective, and then decide that it’s not worth continuing. Thinking differently about common activities is the first step on the journey from being reactive to proactive. When you’re proactive, you can walk down a life path of your choosing instead of being pushed around and forced down a path that others choose for you.

There is value in studying and learning from many different cultures. For example, a lot of what I’ve learned about meditation and mindfulness originated in Eastern cultures, so I credit a great deal of my mental peace to the people from those cultures who figured this stuff out long ago and recorded their discoveries for future generations. In addition to learning about useful things, studying different cultures also provides opportunities to learn from the mistakes of others so we can avoid repeating them. It’s possible to do this by studying just one culture, but studying several cultures offers many more examples of some things that worked well and others things that didn’t. The more cultures you study, the better your chances of finding the best way to live and avoiding the many traps that can drag you down.

A lot of the inspiration for this post, including several of the ideas I’ve discussed, came from Island by Aldous Huxley. Huxley talks about so much in that book that makes perfect sense to me. Reading Island has helped me better organize my existing thoughts on this subject and has given me a lot of new things to consider. I’ll do a full review of the book once I’ve finished it, but for now, it’s worth mentioning how it’s shaped my thoughts on culture. I enjoyed thinking about this and putting my thoughts into words, and I hope you found this post interesting and thought-provoking.

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