The premeditation of death is the premeditation of liberty; He who has learnt to die has forgot to serve.
~ Montaigne
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Anxiety and worry
Much of insomnia and trouble sleeping is ultimately caused by worrying. When you worry, you get anxious, and when you’re anxious, your body gets ready for action, which directly inhibits relaxation and sleepiness. And to make matters worse, routinely worrying in bed – either as you’re trying to fall asleep initially or when you’re awake in the middle of the night – eventually teaches your brain to associate your bed with worry (this is the same classical conditioning process Ivan Pavlov discovered in his experiments with dogs who learned to drool at the sound of a bell previously paired with food). This means that, even if you weren’t worried before night-time, simply being in bed can become a trigger for worries and anxiety!
~ Nick Wignall, from How to sleep when you’re a perfectionist | Psyche Guides
I do recall that I had that problem at one point. The way I solved it was to create other opportunities—for me, it was journaling—to empty that stuff out of mind. These days it’s a three-pronged approach: I’m a wizard at organization so I trust myself and my systems. I regularly reflect on what’s in my control and remind myself of the correct perspective about life in general. I regularly dump out my mind’s various, and endless ideas and possibilities into notebooks. I’ve no idea what would work for you… but you really do need to try a bunch of things to figure out what does work for you.
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Insight with Cristina Latici
What makes a great movement coach, and how do they balance structure, intuition, and individual learning styles to help students progress?
Teaching movement is as much about reading people as it is about teaching physical skills.
You have to wait— you just have to wait and see. It’s not always the right time to give feedback.
~ Cristina Latici (15:22)
The conversation explores the nuances of movement coaching, particularly in the context of parkour and dance. The discussion highlights the importance of understanding each student’s background and learning style, emphasizing observation over immediate correction. Cristina describes her approach, which involves assessing a student’s experience, allowing them space to explore, and offering small, precise adjustments when necessary. She reflects on the parallels between her parkour coaching and her past as a dancer, noting how both disciplines require a deep awareness of movement and the ability to convey complex physical concepts to others.
[Yoda and Luke] are having a conversation and Luke’s bitching, as usual. And Yoda says something to the effect of, “we are what they grow beyond.” And the point that’s being made is, if you’re a coach and you don’t make students who are better than you, you’re not a good coach.
~ Craig Constantine (22:04)
Another key theme is the role of community in movement practice. Cristina discusses how the group dynamic influences training, particularly when working with long-term students versus new participants. She also highlights the challenges of coaching adults versus children, explaining how her background in special education informs her patience and adaptability in coaching. The conversation touches on the idea of “touch” as an intuitive sense developed through movement practice, illustrating how familiarity with movement can enhance both safety and creativity.
Takeaways
Reading the student — A good coach observes and learns about each student’s background before offering guidance.
Holding back feedback — Immediate corrections aren’t always beneficial; sometimes students need space to explore movement on their own.
The role of community — A strong training group can create a supportive and engaging environment that extends beyond just learning new skills.
Differences in coaching adults vs. children — Adult students can be given more freedom, while children require more structured guidance.
Intuition in movement — Over time, practitioners develop an unconscious sense of movement that helps them adapt in unexpected situations.
Bringing past experience into coaching — Skills from other disciplines, like dance, can influence and enhance movement coaching.
Frameworks for structuring sessions — Having a strong guiding structure helps coaches tailor sessions to different groups and needs.
Personal growth through coaching — Teaching movement involves constant learning and adaptation, even for experienced coaches.
Adapting to different skill levels — Coaches must balance providing challenges with ensuring students feel comfortable and capable.
Flow and connection between movements — The ability to link movements seamlessly is a key part of high-level physical practice.
Resources
The Movement Creative — The parkour organization where Cristina coaches, offering outdoor movement training in New York City.
Gerlev Parkour Gathering — A well-known parkour event at Gerlev Idrætshøjskole Cristina mentions as a valuable training community.
Yamakasi — The original founders of parkour, mentioned in relation to training approaches.
(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)
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Boring
Somebody’s boring me—I think it’s me.
~ Dylan Thomas
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Notifications make no sense
When I heard Hayes describe how his phone buzzes in his pocket whenever there is breaking news, I was actually shocked. Do people really allow their devices to interrupt them on a random reinforcement schedule? I mean, no wonder the internet makes people go crazy. I’m not a big believer in BF Skinner, but I think it’s well established that any stimulus that occurs at random intervals is impossible to get used to, and shocks you anew every time it recurs.
Rather than letting myself get pocket-buzzed by the news, I have an RSS reader. You should use an RSS reader, seriously:
~ Cory Doctorow, from Pluralistic: Pluralistic is five (19 Feb 2025) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
Doctorow is pretty polarizing in general. And on this topic, I agree with him entirely. And his point about RSS readers is ONLY even about alerts for news. Forget that RSS point… TURN NOTIFICATIONS OFF ENTIRELY.
I challenge you to put your phone in a drawer, buried in clothing—just banish it for 24 hours.
You won’t believe how ridiculously needy your phone is when you get it out of that drawer a day later. And then you’ll start turning off notifications one by one on your way to improving your entire life. And then you’ll want to go learn more about calm technology.
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The creative mind
The creative mind gets poisoned with the idea that your great work will be the result of getting serious. So many of my good ideas come from what looks like goofing off, wasting time. Art is play. There’s no way to tell what’s deep or shallow until you play with the idea.
~ Austin Kleon
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Resistance
This morning I was jotting some thoughts about resistance. I’ve learned (and others have reached these same conclusions) that it’s difficult to try to force myself; That requires a lot of mental energy which I often run short of. What works is when I have a clearly delineated space for the task at hand. I sit here to do the writing. I go to this space to do my painting. I use this notebook and this particular pen to work on my book.
The insight I had, this morning while jotting, was why having a particular set of surroundings, tools, or materials actually works. Resistance exists when I’ve forgotten my reason. Whatever our work is, we originally had some motivation to set out on the undertaking. When we feel resistance it’s because those reasons and motivations are not active in our minds right in that moment.
When we go to that space, or pick up those special materials, we are reminded of our reasons and motivations. Reminded is an interesting word: We often use it flippantly, “remind me to…” But it powerfully shatters resistance by bringing something again (thus the prefix “re”) into our mind: When I sit here in this space, it re‑minds me of my reasons and motivations.
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Who was listening
[…] so the Muse whispered in Beethoven’s ear. Maybe she hummed a few bars into a million other ears. But no one else heard her. Only Beethoven got it.
~ Steven Pressfield
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Misunderstanding why
Exasperated, the therapist finally suggests that she could stop writing. “Stop?” says the writer, blinking in surprise.
~ Mandy Brown, from A battle with the gods
The challenge is to realize that the error I’m making is in thinking the writing part sucks. Of course it’s not easy— that’s what makes it fun. (Is the lesson I need to continue to work to internalize.)
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Sleep
It’s a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it.
~ John Steinbeck
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There’s something to it
Each night as you lay down to sleep, you embark on an extraordinary journey – not through space, but through the shifting terrain of your own consciousness. This transition, known as the sleep-onset period, is not a simple flick of a switch from wakefulness to slumber, but a gradual, nuanced shift that suspends you between two worlds. Long regarded as a mere prelude to sleep, recent studies suggest there is far more to this fascinating twilight period.
~ Célia Lacaux, from The brain’s twilight zone: when you’re neither awake nor asleep
Back in The Interlude I wrote about an experience… pretty sure this was a prolonged dip into that state.
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A bore
A bore is a man who, when you ask him how he is, tells you.
~ Bert Taylor
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Not just fear, but reality
Overwhelm from tasks, messages, and more is completely normal. It’s based on a fear that we can’t handle everything coming our way. That we’re going to fail at juggling all of these balls, and drop them, and be a failure. It’s a fear of inadequacy, that shows up as anxiety.
~ Leo Babauta, from Transforming Overwhelm into a Creative, Productive Energy
It’s not just a “fear” that we can’t handle everything coming our way. It’s the reality for me. I’m ambitious to a fault and I set myself up daily for far too much. As always, Babauta has the keys for pivoting away from the overwhelm, into the possibilities of progress.
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Acceptance
My happiness grows in direct proportion to my acceptance, and in inverse proportion to my expectations.
~ Michael J. Fox
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Dance while we can
Yes, guilty, are happy. Today, lost none of our number. All still here. Will not be here forever. But all here now.
~ George Saunders, from The Moron Factory
This short story is written in a style that feels like text messaging. However, do not let that make you miss reading it.
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Freedom
I think freedom, ideally, is being able to choose your responsibilities. Not not having any responsibilities, but being able to choose which things you want to be responsible for.
~ Toni Morrison
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Perspective
Maybe it’s the nature of the binary times that we’re in that makes it very, very difficult to applaud one thing without condemning another. I think we’re afraid to take a victory lap, and maybe we should be. Maybe that’s just a bit premature or arrogant.
~ Nick Gillespie, from Mike Rowe on Patriotism, Paul Harvey, and American Progress
The same question (can we applaud one thing without condeming other things?) arises with eulogies. I say we can. The key is to know and understand the broader context that we’re—just for a little while—ignoring.
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Professionalism
The essence of professionalism is the focus upon the work and its demands, while we are doing it, to the exclusion of all else. The ancient Spartans schooled themselves to regard the enemy, any enemy, as nameless and faceless. In other words, they believed that if they did their work, no force on Earth could stand against them.
~ Steven Pressfield
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Self-forgiveness
But what about self-forgiveness? Is it morally valuable, or just something we do to make ourselves feel better? And what is self-forgiveness, anyway?
~ Mordechai Gordon, from Self-forgiveness is more than self-comfort − a philosopher explains
This is one of those topics that I thought I understood… until I started reading more about it.
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Review each day
I will keep constant watch over myself and—most usefully—will put each day up for review. For this is what makes life evil—that none of us looks back upon our own lives. We reflect upon only that which we are about to do. And yet our plans for the future descend from the past.
~ Seneca
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