Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.
~ Fred Rogers
slip:4a1342.
On this day
December 5thIt’s even better than that
I’ve a few readers who really enjoy the Marcus Aurelius quotes in my collection. A few initial Aurelius quotations I collected through my general reading online, before I eventually read Meditations (English translations thereof, to be fair) and pulled a bunch more quotes myself.
I’ve just spent a few hours cleaning up my Aurelius quotes. Mostly this was adding the section number from Meditations to my blog posts. It’s now easy to find the original material. Note that Wikisource has several versions of Meditations available online. But at the risk of sounding snobbish, I really like Gregory Hays’s translation which will go out of copyright (maybe) in 2102. I digress.
During my cleanup, I realized that one of my quotes, “Death smiles at us all. All a man can do is smile back.” is not something Aurelius wrote. It’s something the character Marcus Aurelius said in the Movie Gladiator. But it really sounds like him; It’s a great line of dialog for a movie.
It turns out that there are two spots in Meditations which echo the often misattributed quote. In the middle of section 2.17 he writes, “[…] it accepts death in a cheerful spirit, as nothing but the dissolution of the elements from which each living thing is composed.” which is the sentiment without the cinema flourish. It also doesn’t make perfect sense when you pull it out from its context.
Eventually, you reach the final line of section 12.36 and find, “So make your exit with grace — the same grace shown to you.” That’s literally the final line he wrote as a meditation to himself. Can you imagine that being the last line you wrote to yourself? And thus my title.
ɕ
Courage
It takes courage to let go of what’s not working. Rather than focus on what you’re losing, hone in on what giving up goals affords you, like more time and energy. Remember no decision is permanent. You can continue to make adjustments until you find the balance of goals that works for you.
~ Melody Wilding
slip:4a679.
I’m still playing Myst
I always liked those weird exploration games from the 1980s and 90s, like Zork and Myst, where you wake up in a strange environment, with no idea where you are or even who you are. You have to gather the context from the inside out, by wandering around, pushing buttons, peering behind wall paintings, and reading notes left by strangers who were here before you.
~ David Cain from, https://www.raptitude.com/2021/08/nothing-really-has-a-name/
slip:4urano1.
I don’t think I can really explain it. You either know what Myst is, (and it ate months of your waking hours,) and so know what he means; Or you don’t. “I like those games because that’s exactly what it’s to be a human being, if you think about it.” I hadn’t until I read it. But, zoinks, he’s right. The feeling I have in the middle of a great conversation is the same feeling I had exploring Myst, and while exploring all those other things Cain mentions learning about.
ɕ
Needs and wants
You can’t be generous to others if you’re not in a good place. Adams argues that once your needs are met, you can focus on the needs of others.
~ Shane Parrish from, https://fs.blog/2013/12/scott-adams-fail-at-everything/
slip:4ufoso3.
This is patently obvious, right? Food, shelter, stability, … good old Maslow.
slip:2te1.
For me at least, there was a transition period— I might even call it a period of listlessness. Certainly there was frenetic outward activity; this was after all my period of biking, (the second love affair with a bicycle,) and the rise of my interest in Art du Déplacement. But it was definitely a period of inward listlessness.
It took years of reading and rumination before I realized what was missing. At which point I set off on a quest. Only to succeed, and set off on a new quest, and again. And again. Not existential-meaning-of-life quests, but simply, “that seems interesting and maybe I’ll try it,” quests.
In the end it was clear that I have—and maybe you do too—an inherent curiosity that, if I’m lucky, will never be satisfied.
ɕ
Goals versus aspirations
A distinction I’ve been making in recent years:
A goal is something specific. It will be clear when the goal is achieved. For me, goals should always be the classic specific, measurable, actionable, relevant, and time dependent, sort of SMART goals.
An aspiration is something directional. It will be clear when progress is made in the direction dictated by the aspiration.
The more goals I set, the worse my life becomes. I set great goals… big challenging, self-stretching goals. They pile on like dead weight and drag me down. Lose 10 pounds. Read an hour a day. …and so on.
Aspirations, being open-ended, don’t feel so daunting. Provided the aspirations lead to actual action, then I don’t need to worry about tomorrow. I can simply do the things—today, now—which are guided by my aspirations. Be someone who moves. Be exposed to lots of fresh ideas. Be someone who helps others. Be someone who creates value. Be someone whose mind works well.
What aspirations do you have?
ɕ
Sleep, part ga-zillion
Ample and quality sleep is one of the most important, and sadly neglected, elements of a sound mind and body.
~ Jarlo Ilano from, https://gmb.io/sleep/
slip:4ugise1.
(Emphasis mine.)
No.
Sleep is the most important part of my life. No exceptions. No equivication. No weasel words.
Sleep. Sleep? SLEEP!
Despite my issue with his characterization of the degree of importance, Ilano’s article is a good overview of some basic sleep ideas.
ɕ
9/11 Memorial
ɕ
Wow
Awesome!
ɕ
1WTC
headed down town! Thanks for the great class and a ride downtown :)
ɕ
Big Apple
Oh hello Bryant Park, ice skaters and HOT apple cider!
ɕ
500 pullups behind
(Part 6 of 36 in series, 10,000 Reps Project)
As my 10k project plods onward, I’m making good progress. With some renewed motivation to keep knocking out the numbers, I’ve been making a weekly plan and sticking to it for several weeks now. (A big thank you goes out to my “accountability partner”, Clif!)
Through November 22 (day 124 of the year-long challenge) I’ve been doing various numbers of exercises. In particular, I’ve recently been doing a “pull-ups program” designed to get me from being able to only do 2 or 3 lousy pullups, to being able to do a few sets.
The orange cells show [what I call] the “odometer problem”: pushups and squats are close in the 1800 range, but pullups are way behind, with handstand-seconds and bar-to-bar precisions adrift in the midlands. Green cells remind me where I’m changing numbers, and yellow cells are planned; That’s the number of reps I should do — so this screenshot is from before December 3rd.
For the last week of November and the first week of December I’m focusing on brining four of the activities into line. Low reps of pushups, easy squat numbers, and a load of bar pre’s. On Monday the 7th, the blue cells show the four coming together. And, after a bit of fiddling, they will also all pass over the 2,000 reps count in the same workout. (Yeah short term goals! :)
That leaves pullups (the red cell) a wopping 500 reps behind the other four. Going forward from the 7th, I’ll keep the other four activities in lock-step and work as hard as I can (without injuring myself) to crank on that pullups number. If I get the math right, I think I can make all five activities come together AND pass 3,000 in a workout near the end of January.
ɕ
If you start, go all the way
For some reason, we hold back – almost as if it’s preferred to actually going ALL IN on something. Why? Because if we’ve given our all, and we still fail…what is left? If we go all in and fail, we tell ourselves that we are failures. We aren’t good enough.
In reality, giving our all and then failing is one of the best things that could possibly happen to us. When we give max effort and we fail, we’re only setting ourselves to level up.
~ Steve Kamb from, http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2014/10/09/if-you-start-go-all-the-way/
slip:4unebo16.
ɕ