This point about presence is one I’ve not seen made before about ‘mise en place.’ I’ve always focused on the preparation part, and how that then makes it possible to do great work (under press, amidst chaos, etc.) The idea that you can set yourself up for being present is quite enticing.
I describe my weekly email, 7 for Sunday, as “Hand-rolled and algorithm-free.” I’m using some custom code in WordPress to assemble separate posts into a single “thing” which then goes out via email. It’s definitely a lot of “hand-rolling”. A lot of hand writing my notes and mind-maps for each post, typing the posts, the quotes, ordering and organizing everything, handling links and images and… zoinks, it’s a lot. I love it.
“The obstacle is the way” is not a phrase from Art du Déplacement. It’s a two-thousand-year-old comment from a Stoic (writing in a personal journal to himself.) In a similar vein, he also wrote that, “nature turns all things to its own purpose.” Likewise the more modern “Rust never sleeps,” is equally pithy.
The real lesson is of course that there’s a season for everything. Sometimes more challenge is the key to progress, and sometimes simply being is the key. (Which is also something thoroughly covered in the Stoic philosophy. And please: Stoicism is not at all about suppressing one’s feelings.) I think I learned that seasons lesson early on from bicycling. I’m from Pennsylvania, from an area of rolling, often wooded, hills. Every bike ride ever was an endless repetition of “down a hill, ’round a corner, up a hill, round a corner, down a hill, …” In a very real sense, all parts of that were equally fun.
In a comfortable, prosperous country like ours, some of the built in tendencies of Human nature tend to work against us, saying, “Hey – I’ve noticed we have plenty of food and reasonable shelter and that’s good enough. So let’s just double down on the Netflix, comfort foods, and occasional luxury purchases and that will keep us safe.” Instead, I want you to set your life treadmill to just a bit of a steeper, healthier incline setting.
I’d like to mention that “Culdesac” in that linked URL is a town’s name; You can go read that article either for the life advice, or to learn about one of several towns in the U.S. now which are being built as people-first. (As opposed to basically every other town and city which is built as cars-first.)
It’s not like, “oh, well this thing came up and I was easily able to bring it up with the first person I came across. Luckily, after revealing this deeply troubling issue of mine this person understood me correctly, didn’t interject themselves into the situation, cared about it as deeply as me, didn’t run away, didn’t deflect with “just be positive”, knew exactly the right things to say to me and left me with actionable advice. I will never have to face this issue again”. But I think that’s exactly how some people think it goes.
There’s much in that article worth reading slowly. The phrase, “cared about it as deeply as me,” is probably the most important phrase in the entire piece. When one has a serious problem (presuming you have a problem of which you are aware,) there is literally no one that cares as much as one does. That’s how it has to be since each of us is the main character only in our own narrative. That problem is always right there in the foreground, unescapable. For everyone else (…the therapist who sees me once a week for an hour? …the physician who did one operation?) To everyone else, the problem is simply another thing in the narrative they observe outside of themselves. The lesson I take from this is that quite often there is absolutely nothing we can do to help. But every once in a great while, there is something small we can do to help. Do that.
What drives personal growth, resilience, and connection in the face of challenges like health conditions and cultural transitions?
Diagnosed at age 18, diabetes has simply been a fact of life for Josh Wit. He discusses traveling to Germany and his experiences training and living with diabetes. Josh unpacks why he loves workshops and training with community. He shares stories of how diabetes affects his practice, and his thoughts on training and community.
I had to learn over a long period of time that, ‘Wait a minute! If I actually start listening to what my body’s telling me, the outcome is better even if it might hurt the ego at the time.’ That’s a huge practice.
~ Josh Wit (25:52)
Josh Wit is an engineer turned parkour practitioner, coach, and organizer. He is a parkour coach with the Brisbane Parkour Association (of which he is also the vice president), and has traveled globally to visit other communities and events. Josh has been training parkour for many years, despite being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes prior to beginning his training.
The conversation explores themes of personal resilience, connection, and the transformative power of movement practices. Josh shares his journey with type-1 diabetes, describing the challenges of managing health during intense physical activities like parkour. He reflects on how diabetes shaped his awareness of his body and pushed him toward a deeper understanding of balance, both physically and emotionally.
Another key topic is the influence of community and cultural experiences. Josh discusses his decision to move to Germany, motivated by a desire to immerse themselves in a different culture and to embrace their dual heritage. He also shares memorable experiences from international workshops, emphasizing the importance of learning from others and the sense of connection fostered through shared physical practices.
Takeaways
Learning from others — Acknowledging that much of personal growth and creativity stems from shared experiences and inspirations from others.
Managing diabetes through awareness — Balancing life and physical activity with diabetes requires heightened self-awareness and proactive management.
Impact of cultural immersion — Choosing to live in a different culture can provide profound personal and anthropological insights.
Transformational power of workshops — Structured, progressive environments in workshops can lead to significant personal breakthroughs.
Value of resilience and adaptability — Adapting to physical and emotional challenges teaches patience, balance, and self-compassion.
Episode 27 of John Vervaeke’s, Awakening from the Meaning Crisis presents an intriguing definition of intelligence, and in particular how does one succeed or fail at finding solutions to generalized problems (“I’m thirsty, how do I get water?” “How do I win this chess game?” “What’s 4 times 8?”)
Sometimes you just need to scribble on the walls. In recent weeks, I’ve fallen off of a morning exercise habit—long story. Just takes a few seconds for me to scribble out a calendar grid so I can begin a “don’t break the chain” reboot.
We have three of these chalk boards in our house now. It’s simply paint, (it actually has a lot of blue in it, as real slate does,) and you can probably find labeled-as “chalk board” paint anywhere you buy paint. The trick that no one mentions is that you have to sand the wall with fine sandpaper—chalk boards are smooth, and walls are actually not very. Then a few feet of what’s called “brick mould” cross drilled and screwed to the wall, and finally a few sticks of sidewalk chalk.
Oh, one more trick: If you look closely at the image, midway down on the left, there’s a tiny, smooth, rounded nail head barely visible. I drove that fully into the wall, before I painted the chalk board. It enables me to stick magnets to the wall in a few places, so it’s easy to tack up pieces of paper with little magnets too.
This includes people who get angry, which is why Seneca calls anger a “temporary madness.” This class of individuals can certainly be held morally responsible for their actions, since they are perfectly capable of reason, they just don’t use it well.
Once more, louder for those in the back: Stoicism is not about suppressing emotions. It is about [among other things] having appropriate emotional responses.
Another finding of this recent research was that those who believed weight is primarily determined by activity generally ate more than those who believed diet is more important. I am wondering if this observation is, at least in part, a reflection of a belief some have that they can eat relatively freely as long as they ‘exercise it off’. For the reasons I’ve listed above, I’m not sure this strategy is likely to work out too well. And on top of this, sometimes the issue can be compounded by individuals ‘rewarding’ themselves after exercise with food or drink.
Years ago, when I discovered the Lehigh Valley Parkour community’s inside jokes, I started avoiding the word “can’t” — if another LVPK member hears you, there’s an immediate 5 pushups penalty. (Very annoying in markets, subways, when driving, you get the idea.) Instead of saying “I can’t do that…” you start to say “I can do that when I am able to [insert something I need to work on].” Changing your words, changes your thoughts, changes your actions, changes your life.
Well, this one is my newest addition. No more “I don’t have time”; It’s all going to be, “It’s not a priority.” Go ahead, try a few of these out loud:
I don’t have time to eat healthy, becomes… Eating healthy isn’t a priority.
I don’t have time to exercise, becomes…Exercise isn’t a priority.
I don’t have time to sleep, becomes…Sleep isn’t a priority.
Oh, well brain, if you’re going to think about it that way… our whole life is going to change.
Taking time to repair cue tips. The Schnelk in the case I’ve had for about 30 years now. Bought it back when this table was in my grandparents’ basement on Westminster street in Allentown. Would never have believed then, what this table looks like now, or where it would be today!
Scientists have known for years that normal blood sugars follow this kind of rapid increase, slow return to normal curve. At some point someone asked the question: do different foods cause a different curve? In other words, if someone eats a piece of cake does that make a different blood sugar curve than if that person eats a bowl of ice cream?
Honor is the moral imperative of men; obedience is the moral imperative of boys.
At the crux of the argument for the revival of honor is this: honor based on respect is a superior moral imperative to obedience based on rules and laws.
When you’re a child, you do the right thing out of obedience to authority, out of the fear of punishment.
As you mature, you begin to see that the world does not revolve around you, that you belong to groups larger than yourself, and with this discovery comes a new awareness of the needs of that group and how your behavior affects others. This change in perspective (should) shift your motivation in doing the right thing from obedience to authority/fear of punishment, to respect for other people.
. . .
Honor acts as a check on narcissism.
Honor begins as an inner-conviction of self-worth, but then you must present this claim to your peers for validation. Other people serve as a mirror of the self and a check to your pride – they are there to call bullocks on an inflated or false self-assessment. Without this important check, people become like Narcissus – staring at only themselves all day and absolutely loving what they see. At the same time, the ability to give and receive feedback openly and honestly creates affability among you and your peers – the bonds of respect.
Too many men today think they are the sh*t, when they’ve never had to prove themselves to anyone else – they’ve never shown their abilities outside their own bedroom. An honor group is crucial in teaching you that not only are you not wearing any clothes, you ain’t the emperor either.
Brett and Kate McKay have put together an enormous, seven-part, treatise on honor. It begins with the relatively simple task of describing what is honor, before going into an excellent overview of the history, and ancient history, of honor. Eventually, with enough of the groundwork in place, they lay out a strong case for reviving certain parts of an honor system for our modern world.
