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A World Without Walls

by MAÔ, posted in Advice

We live for all intents and purposes in a world where barriers have very nearly disappeared (the digital age), while at the same time many of us feel more need to keep doors locked or build walls for “safety”. 

How can these two disparate realities exist at the same time? What does it say about us that the more information we have access to, the less safe we feel?

Statistically we are living in the safest time ever on this planet. And still, many of us constantly live in fear.

I challenge you to be fearless. Don’t let doubts and fears hold you back from being your true self. Be fearless.

Week’s Highlights

by MAÔ, posted in Social, Writing

Some of the things that caught my interest this week.

  • Stu Larsen’s “I Will Be Happy“. This may be my new travel anthem for a while. I had listened to George Ezra’s Wanted on Voyage, especially on my last trip to Europe. (Barcelona was a particular favorite.)
  • Fountain Pen usage. After listening to Neil Gaiman’s interview on the Tim Ferriss Show, where he talked about Moleskine and Leuchtturm notebooks, and the fountain pens he uses, I decided to look into breaking out some pens that I’ve had stashed away for quite a while. I usually use Uni-Ball Vision Micro, but I’m always willing to try something new.
  • “How Not to be Boring”. This was an interesting video that I think came to me from one of the few newsletters I didn’t unsubscribe to. There’s a lot going on here, and I think it touches on charisma, introversion, honest and truthful exchanges with others, and self-discovery.
  • Godel, Escher, Bach. This is a book I came to through Seth Godin’s blog some years ago, and I started reading it but never finished. While perusing a used book store a couple of weeks ago I found a well-thumbed copy, and I decided to give it a go. It’s been my go-to nonfiction for the past week, and I’m excited to make a dent in this tome.

Revisiting the catalyst

by MAÔ, posted in Mountain, The Artist's Way

There was a moment, some three-and-a-half years ago, that started a chain of events still unravelling even now. I’ve often called Cameron’s The Artist’s Way my commencement down this road of self-discovery and change. To be fair, I’d always been inclined towards researching the spiritual and investigating possibility, but I was stuck. We all get stuck sometime.

Twice I’ve tried to work my way through The Artist’s Way. Once, three years ago, ended when I just didn’t have the will to continue with it. The second time, just under two years ago, I made it through ten weeks of work, but only half-heartedly.

There it sat, this book that I bought used and started investing my time into. I look at it from time to time, and consider revisiting it. Today I pulled it off the shelf, and while I’m not committing to it yet, it holds the possibility of more changes to come.

Why fasting is a spiritual practice

by MAÔ, posted in Biohacking, Writing

I started intermittent fasting a few weeks ago, on a trial basis for health and energy purposes. I noticed something, more of a byproduct than an intentional effect:

Meditation becomes easier in a fast.

We’re accosted by thoughts arising from Monkey Brain (or lizard brain, or whatever you’d like to call it). It tells is to eat, procreate, find shelter, drink fluids. It also sends the irrational fear signals. And the criticisms. It’s insidious, and it’s always going.

Now, with a lack of food it tends to focus more on hunger. I become used to thoughts of “is it time to eat yet?” I can learn to tune those out easier, and it’s mostly sending me those thoughts. I’m then able to filter past them and listen to more higher-level thoughts.

It’s been an interesting endeavor, and I’m enjoying the increased concentration from the intermittent fasting.

Hacked

by MAÔ, posted in Organization

Well, my Netflix was hacked. Not a big deal, and with as little as I’ve been watching tv over the past month, it was a while before I really noticed.

Now Netflix had been sending me email alerts, but the culprit was in Mexico and had changed the language preference to Spanish – and thus each email alert that Netflix sent was non-English and I mistook them for spam.

I’ve recently spoken with my friend and IT cohort, and he scolded me for not utilizing two-level authentication on all of my accounts. Now, I think I’ll have to be more diligent about my security.

Reclamation

by MAÔ, posted in Advice

No matter what you do, who you are, or how carefully you arrange your days, there will be people who will want your time. Emails, phone calls, text messages, to-do lists, etc.

Spouses do them, and kids, and parents. Bosses an coworkers. Companies you purchase from, and companies looking to sell you something. Reclaiming your time is paramount to living a fulfilled life. Because if your time is always going towards other people’s goals – towards their happiness – you’ve no time left to work towards your own.

Fit in by not fitting

by MAÔ, posted in Social

We go through our days trying to be what we think we should. We don’t worry about who we are, because if we did we might drive ourselves crazy. We likely wouldn’t care for what we see in the mirror, or how we feel waking up. So we try to be the best that we can, within certain parameters that we give ourselves.

But we all feel less than, if we compare ourselves to others. Or try and squeeze ourselves into the holes that we think other people fit in.

The thing is, if we just be ourselves – be who we are designed to be – something amazing happens. We find our tribe. Even if we feel that we don’t fit, if people like who you are, they change the size of their holes. We don’t have to try and fit. They open up and let us in.

Pundits

by MAÔ, posted in Social
pun·dit
/ˈpəndət/
noun
plural noun: pundits
  1. an expert in a particular subject or field who is frequently called on to give opinions about it to the public. 
  2. variant spelling of pandit.
I’ve been thinking about this word a lot. You hear it all over the news – radio, television – especially around elections. According to Dictionary.com, the origin of Pundit comes from the Hindi pandit. And pandit was derived from the Sanskrit pandita, which means “a learned man or scholar.”
But an expert generally has a very narrow view. Outside of subject matter, experts may not focus on other fields. I wouldn’t want my surgeon to work on my car’s engine, just as I wouldn’t want my mechanic to operate on my anything.
Yet we routinely take the expert’s advice concerning more than just the subject material without consideration of any other factors. It’s our responsibility to make informed decisions. Not to rely on one person’s opinion.

Week’s Highlights

by MAÔ, posted in Social, Writing

Some of the things that caught my interest this week.

  • Beetlejuice the Musical. Well, I seem to be heading to New York in September. It’s odd how things happen so quickly. But, I’ll be attending this musical while up there, and hopefully seeing a few more.
  • The Magic Flute by W.A. Mozart, with book by Emanuel Schikaneder & Carl Ludwig Giesecke. I was tuning in to the radio station I do my show for, and heard this piece from Die , where the baritone was singing “papagena, papagena, papagena.” I thought that I could sing the whole piece, so I borrowed the music from my friend and accompanist and began working on my German… which is atrocious.
  • Online shopping vs. in-person, with relation to adverse weather conditions. Did you know rainy days can increase online sales?
  • Newly-created interest in video games, as it pertains to my weekly recording sessions, has led me to some previously-unvisited corners of the internet. If you’re looking for free games to play, try this piece from Games Radar.

But wasn’t there a spellcheck

by MAÔ, posted in Writing

Just a quick note/rant. WordPress is a platform that I do enjoy. I have the app on my iOS devices, and have it on my MacBook. Now, I usually type it up on the go – either phone or iPad – or I’ll handwrite thoughts and later migrate them to the MacBook. However, I’d always do a spellcheck on the MacBook before scheduling the post.

Now, it seems spellcheck it gone. I don’t know why. I don’t know how. I’ve not even looked into it. I just went to spellcheck, and the little icon wasn’t there to select.

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.