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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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24 — Wales →
Spent the afternoon perambulating and exploring with a friend.
August 13, 2023 — #45 →
Reading time: About 5 minutes, 900 words
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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
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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
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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
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