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comment by veen
veen  ·  2493 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: May 31, 2017

~ meditation ~

I'm now more than three weeks into the Headspace Take 10 programme. I don't know to what degree meditation can have a positive effect on one's day, but I feel like it has a noticable effect on mine. I feel less stressful even though I'm not doing less stuff. Anyone else here meditating?

~ random encounter of the week ~

I was climbing the stairs from the platform to the exit of the train station when the guy in front of me dropped his empty cup. Bending over to reach it, a bottle that was sticking out of his backpack poured some water on his neck. It looked like he kept some kind of thin bamboo sticks in the bottle? I felt bad for him so I said something like 'hey man, your bottle is open and so is your backpack' and he looks at me with the vilest look on his face and growls:

DIDYOUTOUCHIT?!?!

'no, I just wanted to say that...'

WELL DON'T EVER TOUCH IT. UGH.

And then he scurried away to the bike stalls, leaving me behind all confused. While exiting the station a girl came up to me asking what happened. We concluded that he was just rude. I still don't know what Bamboo Backpack Guy was thinking.





user-inactivated  ·  2493 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I like your header styling.

veen  ·  2493 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I had to re-edit it like six times because as soon as there are an uneven amount of ~'s in a post, the mkdown minions get angry and conjure a new ~ somewhere. Or they remove a \. But I'm glad someone noticed. :)

blackbootz  ·  2493 days ago  ·  link  ·  

There was a ~month long period where I cycled through Headspace's starter 10-day course a few times. I found it immensely useful. I stopped short of enrolling in their paid app and haven't tried it since, but I honestly see the utility in it.

I think there's value in exercising the "muscle" of mindfulness--of not identifying with every thought and feeling that spontaneously arises, but letting them pass non-judgmentally. This ability, paired with a larger overarching life goal or set of deeply examined principles, makes for a potent human being. It's not the only kind of potency (Kanye West is a pretty potent guy, but I think he identifies with every thought that passes his consciousness), but mindfulness steels you in a quintessentially stoic kind of way.

Question: Is the desire for the benefits of stoicism at odds with stoicism? Because I view stoicism as a means to an end--that end being a peaceful and fulfilled inner life. But wanting a peaceful and fulfilled inner life seems to violate the stoic creed of not wanting for things, or otherwise living a life free of desire. (I imagine this paradox has parallels in a buddhist context.)

user-inactivated  ·  2492 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    Question: Is the desire for the benefits of stoicism at odds with stoicism? Because I view stoicism as a means to an end--that end being a peaceful and fulfilled inner life. But wanting a peaceful and fulfilled inner life seems to violate the stoic creed of not wanting for things, or otherwise living a life free of desire. (I imagine this paradox has parallels in a buddhist context.)

I think Seneca would say that you should desire the benefits of stoicism.

Adopting a viewpoint is something that is internal to you. That's exactly the realm in which you should desire and set stock by according to the Stoics: qualities that are assigned to you by yourself, through your own faculties of reason, and not by fortune.

blackbootz  ·  2490 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    Adopting a viewpoint is something that is internal to you. That's exactly the realm in which you should desire and set stock by according to the Stoics: qualities that are assigned to you by yourself, through your own faculties of reason, and not by fortune.

This is helpful. I feel less selfish in pursuing stoicism now.

Isherwood  ·  2493 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I meditate. I did tai chi when I was younger because I've always been an old man, and it was a great way to slow down and appreciate what I have. I don't do the motions any more, but I do still have two meditation techniques that I like a lot

1. Thankfulness. A lot of times we curse what goes wrong, but very rarely do we appreciate what goes right. This is an all day exercise where you say "thanks" out loud when something goes well, like you hit a green light or don't have to wait for an elevator. The goal is to be thankful for everything that goes right in your day - if you do that you'll quickly see how much the good outweighs the bad.

2. Clear mind. This is a more traditional meditation - I find a quiet place where I won't be disturbed and close my eyes. I imagine a clear flowing river. Whenever I have a thought, I drop it in the river and watch it float away. It takes a lot of effort to make sure every thought goes into the river and flows away, it's easy to hold on to some, but it helps me to practice what it feels like to let things go. On really good days I do this until my mind is clear, but on most days it's until I'm frustrated or bored.