All tagged Growth
Why I Take Cold Showers
My story goes something like this:
I was a Personal Trainer with a defunct body. I was aesthetically fit; endowed with “abs” from a regimen of eating mediocrely, lifting weights (with bad form), running, and the benefit of youth. But at age 24, the observance of chronic lower-back and shoulder pain necessitated my first application of The Life Method:
Question: Do I have absolutely no idea what it means to be healthy?
Test: Takes a Pilates class
Observation: Gets shown up by 50 year-old women
Feedback: Not happy about the observation—pretends event never happened
Result: Keeps injuring lower-back
Thank You For Sitting
For the first time in history, our best technologists are more interested in making you an object of monetization, than solving the problems that hinder our race. The light bulb made us more efficient at night. Flying to the moon showed us that we are not bound to the confines of our planet. Currently, my Amazon Alexa is eavesdropping on my conversations and using what she hears to sell me stuff on Instagram. Which of these things is not like the other?
Mushrooms and Compassion
It was a bad mushroom trip that did it for me. I had a good one in college: kaleidoscopic visuals, nonsensical laughter, an ineffable sense of connectivity. The second time, however, was darker—much darker.
Are You Having Enough Fun?
This is how character develops as well. Growing up is tough; just ask a pubescent boy. He will probably tell you that learning to navigate girls is a lot like making a right-on-red. This early feedback—when we are learning to drive—is the information we will subsequently use as we traverse through life. If all goes well, the boy will transition into a young man and just as with making a right-on-red, hopefully he has enough practice to no longer shit his pants while conversing with the opposite sex—I’m still a work in progress. The things we perceive when we are developing will determine whether we grow up to be someone who instinctively says “Bless you” when a stranger sneezes, or someone who actively abstains like that weird lady on the subway. Hopefully, these examples show that our brains’ feedback and autopilot system is a double edged sword: allowing us to add complexity to our daily drive but making the disruption of our habits and character nearly impossible.
