My daily practice and training is to be more focused, more present, more mindful. When I wash dishes, I wash dishes only. When I read, I read only. When I do household chores, I do household chores only. It seems like the most boring practice in the world to many people but to me it is a most exciting one. I don’t know of a better way to live. I’m tired of being distracted, mindless, unfocused. When I’m focused, I’m happier and more productive and simply more “there”. The ordinary aspects of my life seem less ordinary. The quality of my immediate experience is elevated somehow into something, if not more interesting, then at least much more enjoyable.
Category: blog
Random thoughts
1. The moment you think of doing something, if circumstances allow, do it. Otherwise it’s just gonna become another item on your Procrastination List.
2. Even though my brain likes to convince me that having more choices is better than having fewer choices, the truth is that any choice is probably good enough.
3. There is an inexplicable joy in being utterly focused on doing one thing at a time. #flow
4. There is no right way to blog, but a wrong way to blog would be to be dishonest and to work very hard to boost your own self image. Leave that behind on the social networks.
5. Heaven is here. Hell is not wanting to be here.
Quote of the day:
“Give yourself time to learn something new and good, and cease to be whirled around.”
— Marcus Aurelius
Anxiety no more
I used to suffer from panic attacks and an anxiety disorder. I don’t anymore. 80% of the credit goes to this website and the guy who created it, Paul David. I recommend this website to everyone I know who’s suffering from anxiety. I hope it helps you too.
Life apprenticeship
I failed almost every time I got tested this week. I got annoyed when someone spoke to me rudely, almost burst into tears when I thought I’d lose something important, spoke without thinking, got defensive.
When it came down to it, my emotions always got the better of me.
Of course there were moments when I was aware enough to remind myself to practise, but they were often the exceptions rather than the rule.
That’s why I must continue to practise.
Plainness
“Manifest plainness,
Embrace simplicity,
Reduce selfishness,
Have few desires.”
– Lao Tzu
Unpretentious
I really love this guy’s design / life philosophy.
Be true
In writing, choosing a hobby, interior decorating, being with others, making art, etc.
Be truly yourself rather than the person you think you’d rather be.
In case you forget who you truly are, take some time to sit or walk in silence.
Take as much time as you need.
The silence will bring you home.
Nerdy things
I have just discovered Roam and it’s leading me down a crazy rabbit hole of all things nerdy.
Roam > “How to take smart notes” > Less Wrong > Zettelkasten > “How to Write a Thesis” by Umberto Eco.
Excited, inspired, etc!
Today
On day 7 of 30 days of yoga with Adriene.
Season 3 of Grace and Frankie.
And halfway through Thich Nhat Hanh’s “Silence”.
“Don’t agonize over the past, because the past is gone. Don’t worry about the future, because the future is not yet here. There is only one moment for you to be alive, and that is the present moment. Come back to the present moment and live this moment deeply, and you’ll be free.”
The thing about writing
is that it always seems impossible when you’re not doing it. The finishing line always looks too far away, and the process always too tedious, difficult. But that’s because to write is to struggle — that’s the very essence of writing.
I have sometimes gone back to read what I’ve written and been amazed that I was able to string my thoughts together at all, and to sometimes be impressed by the flow, structure and clarity (according to my own low standards of course). Then I recall that the process leading to that was always painful, always filled with doubt, and always required a lot more pacing in the room and talking to myself and editing than writing.
I’m talking about even those moments when inspiration strikes. You have a “brilliant” thought and you sit down to write but what comes out is banality. Your sentences don’t flow and your words can hardly express what’s really in your head. It all feels like a farce.
But when you trudge on despite the pain and put your head down to organise the words on your screen, to pull this sentence out and put it somewhere else instead, and delete entire sentences that add nothing to what you’re trying to say, and work hard to hack away at the weeds and the overgrown brush in your head, you eventually come to a clearing in the woods…
That’s when you click “Publish”.