Category: Thoughts

On Becoming

by MAÔ, posted in Work

When we’re born, the whole world is open to us. Every new day brings new discovery. What changes?

School. Rather that look to the world, we are conditioned to look to our educators – our supervisors – for instruction. That’s where new things are to be found – in the wisdom of those leading us.

I’m quite fond of teachers, and most do the best that they can, within a broken system. But education now is set up with industrial processes in mind. All cogs must perform equal tasks. Outliers will not be tolerated.

There is an outcry against teaching to the test for this very reason.

The environment today resembles more the environment of learning in the 15th century – the period directly following the creation of the printing press. Knowledge is democratized, and the industrial complex is no longer guaranteed work.

Improving

by MAÔ, posted in Advice

It’s no fun working to get better at some things. Most of us aren’t inherently wired to find joy in the difficult tasks.

Maybe that’s going to the gym. Or cleaning house. Separating transactions into individual accounts.

For a select few, that is a place of extreme joy. Some people love going to the gym and pushing themselves to their very limits. Some people love organizing, cleaning, and meticulously managing a household. And some people love numbers in such a way that accounting becomes both game and reward.

Us others are left looking in with amazement. However, we can cultivate that joy. We can improve. It’s just a matter of sticking with it.

We may be limited in ways that will prevent us from being top performers. We may not be. We won’t know until we try.

But no matter what it is, we can get better by doing.

ED vs. ING

by MAÔ, posted in Work

I was working a job last night, until after 11, and I started thinking about what I wanted to do when I got home. Did I want to turn on the tv, and watch some more Grimm? Did I want to continue listening to Something Wicked This Way Comes? Did I want to write, or clean, or some other variation?

And in my notebook as I stood there waiting, I wrote “ED vs. ING”. ED is passive. You are entertained. You are fed. You are pleased. You are relaxed (verb relaxed, not adjective).

ING is active. Creating. Thinking. Hell, even eating. (Oddly, I did a quick Google search and found this article in the LA Times, from 2014.)

And I believe much of our time we waste in passivity. We are entertained by the television. Rather than thinking about what we’re doing, we become the object of someone else’s sentence.

And so I decided to be creating, rather than merely be entertained.

Pulling the trigger

by MAÔ, posted in Advice, Writing

Nonviolently. I believe we’re all blessed with the ability to create ideas. Seth Godin, in his interview with Tim Ferris, said that the way to have good ideas is to have bad ideas. “If you put enough bad ideas into the world, sooner or later your brain will wake up, and good ideas will come.”

So, the thing to do is to put your ideas into action.

I’ve sat on ideas. I’ve seen some come to market from other people. I’ve seen some never materialize. And I’ve even put a few into the world myself – this blog for instance.

This blog isn’t anything revolutionary. It’s just my ideas, flowing out into the world. The way to get the good ideas out is to get all the ideas out. Eventually, the one that is revolutionary will make its way to its audience. And that’s when the change can happen.

Friday lists

by MAÔ, posted in Social

What I’m reading: Letting Go. David Hawkins writes about freedom from attachment, and what that might look like in the modern age. “The mind, with its thoughts, is driven by feelings. Each feeling is the cumulative derivative of many thousands of thoughts. Because most people throughout their lives repress, suppress, and try to escape from their feelings, the suppressed energy accumulates and seeks expression through psychosomatic distress, bodily disorders, emotional illnesses, and disordered behavior in interpersonal relationships.”

What I’m watching: A lot of nothing. I’ve flitted from Lost Girl to a few other supernatural tv shows. A bit of NHK network, the Japanese news channel with travel and language programming. I’m gearing up for the Halloween season, and I want to do some research on horror and mythos.

What I’m listening to: Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury, narrated by Christian Rummel. I’d not read much by Bradbury. Fahrenheit 451 is really the only one I remember. I know I owned two short story collections, but I don’t recall what I had read from it. But I had a dream a few nights back – partially induced by sleep aids and Benadryl. It involved a traveling circus, and I was reminded of Something Wicked, so I figured I’d give it a go.

Other things that caught my eye:

 

Combating moments of inertia

by MAÔ, posted in Advice

When I’m under the weather I tend to retreat into myself. I like solitude and privacy for my recovery. Currently I am under the weather which is why this is coming up.

There are moments when we are addled with inertia. When we cannot seem to find the drive to do anything remotely productive.

First, it’s okay. We can easily become overwhelmed. Don’t beat yourself up.

Then realize that it’s just a matter falling back on routines. The routine you’ve established will be what gets you through. If you developed a routine of writing every day, even in an inert moment you’ll make time to write.

It’s then most important to develop routines when you’re feeling capable, so that in times of doubt you’ll have an easier time maintaining those routines.

More

by MAÔ, posted in Organization, Writing

It seems that we’re constantly in search for more. More money, more time, more freedom, more happiness.

I’m actually looking for my space on my computer, prompting this post.

And I started thinking about all that I already have. And it’s a lot. I think we accumulate a lot of stuff. Would I like more time? Sure, but I could be using the time I have a little better.

More money. Absolutely! But I don’t need to be spending the money I do have on things that aren’t enriching my life.

We often focus so much on the more, we neglect the why. And if you’re not appreciating what you currently have, then do you really need more of it?

Another Friday

by MAÔ, posted in Social

Well, it’s been a while since I listed things I was looking at or getting into. So, here it goes:

Book I’ve been reading: The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. I’d seen the Sean Connery film years ago, then devoted some time to its early chapters sitting in a Barnes & Noble circa 2003-2004. I didn’t buy the book, and at the time didn’t seem to fully grasp it. Now I’m giving it another chance.

What I’ve been listening to: Evita, the revival featuring Elena Roger and Ricky Martin. I’m a swing for a production of Evita right now (opening night is tonight) and I’ve been brushing up on my Argentinian.

What I’ve been watching: Lost Girl. It’s on Netflix, and had been sitting in the queue for some time (years? Hard to tell.). I do remember seeing ads for it on SyFy at some point. It’s good. A little formulaic, but I had actually been looking at differences in seelie/unseelie over the past two weeks, so starting this kind of came at a perfect time. (It’s a show about a bisexual succubus learning that there are courts of Fae in the world, and she must navigate the unique environments of faerie life.) Stars Anna Silk as Bo and Ksenia Solo as Kenzi (who was also on Turn: Washington’s Spies).

Other things of note:
Dorian almost came across Florida. Everyone knows that, but here’s a little bit of why forecasting hurricanes is hard.
Seth Godin writes an interesting post about what we own.
How to cook in a Donabe – the Japanese ceramic wonder pot.

Acknowledgements

by MAÔ, posted in Writing

There’s a page in the front of a book, where the author gives some form of credit or respect to those who have in some way aided or shaped the author’s life – giving way to writing this book, or just working in general. I’ve not published the book I set out to write ten years ago, but that one, when finished, will have acknowledgments of friends I’ve lost to premature deaths. Having just lost another, and not working on the book, I thought I’d post them here.

For Ryan, Martha, Jay, Julia, Steven & Sheila, Carl, Ian, Mindy, and Andy. Each was a light in my life, and I can’t think them enough.

 

Kondo

by MAÔ, posted in Organization

In my realm of time-suckery, I’ve been decluttering a house ala Kondo. It’s exhausting. When I’m not working, I’m decluttering. There’s quite literally stuff piled on every possible service in this house, because I’m emptying boxes, cabinets, drawers, and doors that had been closed off for years. Jimmy Hoffa may still be in one. I haven’t checked them all.

While doing the task, I’ve noticed I’ve had little energy for reading or writing. My mental capacities have been used up in decision making – Does this item bring me joy?

If the answer is no, it’s gone. But then it gets separated into donate, sell, or trash/recycle/shred. It seems as though I’ve spent 16 hours a day on this project, though I know that’s not possible. Not because I’m sleeping 8 hours a night, but because I know I can’t concentrate on any one thing for that long. And I’m tempted to just leave everything outside and let Dorian take it when it comes by.

However, the light is starting to appear at the end of the tunnel, and it is a joy-filled light free of unnecessary things.