Back home to my usual flat lollipop loop. Little lighter, little faster than last time. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Tomorrow: Bouldering at our local spot.
19 — Running
Growth
You are under no obligation to remain the same person you were a year ago, a month ago, or even a day ago. You are here to create yourself, continuously.
~ Richard Feynman
slip:4a1244.
20 — Travel day
This is what my brain felt like after a long day of traveling. Solid workout in itself. So happy, and so lucky to have gotten this trip in! Tomorrow: Running back at home.
Make a point
I write because it requires me to think. There’s no particular reason why I need to publish what I write. Having targets for what to write, and on what schedule to publish it, simply keeps me accountable. I am certainly better off for having done the writing and the thinking.
Make your point, make it clear, and get out of the reader’s way.
~ Morgan Housel, from Useful Laws of the Land
slip:4ucobo14.
By reading what others have written, I’ve found myself standing on the shoulders of giants.
ɕ
The blast of a trumpet
Make your own bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
slip:4a1243.
21 — Walking in London
Final day before heading home. Found these two neat buildings; note the color of the glass windows on the left one. Tomorrow: A day of traveling.
Direction
A step backward, after making a wrong turn, is a step in the right direction.
~ Kurt Vonnegut
slip:4a1242.
22 — Tree work
This rather large tree (much too heavy for us to lift) had fallen onto the roof of this building. It took two us, and some Quadrupedal on a slippery roof to get it trimmed, properly felled, and then off the roof without any damage. Tomorrow will be more walking in London.
Time for bed
The sensations of physiological sleep-pressure are deeply unsettling. To begin to lose the ability to control one’s body… To begin to lose consciousness… To begin to lose stretches of time…
Lately I’ve been trying to pay attention to the tiniest hints of sleep pressure. The other evening I had a thing to do… and I was struggling. I wanted to do the thing, but I was unable to do it. As soon as I realized I was struggling with sleep pressure I was off to nap knowing sleep pressure is not a thing I can avoid, only post-pone. Better to sleep now then to continue wasting my time struggling.
The idea that getting adequate sleep is a crucial ingredient for good health – as crucial as good nourishment – is one that many societies have been slow to embrace. The pressures and pace of modern lifestyles certainly don’t encourage healthy sleep practices, whether it’s from the pressures of work or the ubiquitous increase of anxiety-induced insomnia.
~ Van Savage and Geoffrey West from, A quantitative theory unlocks the mysteries of why we sleep | Aeon Essays
slip:4uaeea25.
Yikes. I think I’ve gotten anxiety-induced insomnia just reading that. So on the off-chance you’ve not yet realized that sleep is—literally, without exaggeration—the most important thing in your life, I’ll just say: Sleep you should, and perchance to dream.
ɕ
Understanding
When you want to know how things really work, study them when they’re coming apart.
~ William Gibson
slip:4a1241.
23 – Walking
Another day of perambulation visiting Rhossili in glorious weather.
Silence
History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
slip:4a1240.
24 — Wales
Spent the afternoon perambulating and exploring with a friend.
Master of none
The idea of a changeable-bits, screw driver is brilliant. There were dozens of different screw-driving tools that varied only in the shape of their pointy end; their handles and other properties were identical. This was the perfect opportunity to create one tool to perform many functions.
You might wonder whether life is really simpler this way. Wouldn’t it be far more convenient to use a single device to accomplish all of these tasks?
Technically, yes. Psychologically, no.
While there’s an undeniable ease-of-use factor to housing a phone, internet browser, entertainment center, camera, and GPS in a lightweight rectangle that fits inside my pocket, the proximity of each of these tasks to one another leads, inevitably, to constant distraction. If you’ve ever tried to find the perfect angle for a photo while your Instagram post is blowing up, or answer a work email while your mom is calling you, you know what I mean.
~ Talia Barnes from, The Case For Digital Minimalism – by Talia Barnes
slip:4upepe1.
I agree with Barnes, and her point about proximity is one I’d not seen clearly expressed. And there’s a more obvious argument for digital minimalism: It actually works.
The multi-bit screw driver works exactly as well as the dozens of tools it replaces. But my “smart” phone is a less capable phone, a less capable camera, a less capable correspondence tool, etc. Yes, clearly, it’s more convenient. But “the best camera is the one you have with you” is only true if your definition of “best” is: I captured the photo. “The jack of all trades is master of none.” holds true. If instead your definition of “best” is: I did the thing well. Well, then, you need the right tool. And the right tools—the right technology, is calm technology.
ɕ
August 13, 2023 — #45
Reading time: About 5 minutes, 900 words
Get 7 for Sunday in your inbox. → Subscribe here.
This issue is https://7forsunday.com/45
25 – RDV day 3
Burly final challenge from Roberto on day 3.
Balance
I’m prone to thinking I should be helping more.
If you’re prone to thinking you should be helping more, that’s probably a sign that you could afford to direct more energy to your idiosyncratic ambitions and enthusiasms. As the Buddhist teacher Susan Piver observes, it’s radical, at least for some of us, to ask how we’d enjoy spending an hour or day of discretionary time. And the irony is that you don’t actually serve anyone else by suppressing your true passions anyway. More often than not, by doing your thing – as opposed to what you think you ought to be doing – you kindle a fire that helps keep the rest of us warm.
~ Oliver Burkeman from, Oliver Burkeman’s last column: the eight secrets to a (fairly) fulfilled life | Health & wellbeing | The Guardian
slip:4uteli1.
I was thinking, “oh look, a fire metaphor…” and then, with growing uncertainty, “…or, is that a fire simile?” At which point I spun off relearning the difference between metaphor and simile for the gajillionth time. *sigh*
I am certain however, that I do not need to direct more of my energy into my idiosyncrasies. No, what I need to do is to learn how to be comfortable letting things remain unexplored. I need to think, “That’s interesting.” And then let it go past.
ɕ
Silence
If there was a little more silence, if we all kept quiet… maybe we could understand something.
~ Federico Fellini
slip:4a1239.
26 – RDV day 2
Wonder-filled day. Awesome friends old and new, glorious weather.
Automation
The factory of the future will have only two employees, a man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment.
~ Warren Bennis
slip:4a1238.