Order and Chaos:

Jordan Peterson is all over the internet, podcasts, best selling book, etc. His philosophical – mythical – psychological grasp of humanity is comprehensive and pragmatic in its ability to integrate your psyche. I was thinking about why night shifts are fun, and why dangerous and “unhealthy” behaviors are fun. And I think Mr Peterson would say, or maybe has said, that during these activities, we are walking the line between order and chaos. He repeatedly points out that humans need order, but not too much (authoritarian), and chaos, but not too much (well, chaos, death). And when we are in a flow state, listening to music, with people we love, engrossed in a hobby, exploring something new, we are walking the line between yin (chaos) and yang (order). This one well developed lesson of his makes his books and articles worth reading. It parallels two of Tony Robbin’s human needs, certainty and need for uncertainty.

By the Book:

The NYTimes.com Books page has a weekly author interview: usually highlighting a new book but also fun questions about reading and writing. Electronic or paper, what is on the nightstand, how they organize books, what book they did not like / finish, which 3 writers they’d invite to a party, and several others. I look forward to it every week. Here is one of my favorite living authors, Bill Bryson.

Sick Care:

This article is essentially a summary of a book by Barbara Ehrenreich. She is “giving up on preventive care.” But it is more that she “refuse[s] to accept a medicalized life.” I really like the 6th paragraph, beginning “Once I realized I was old enough to die…” She goes on to describe essentially an ancestral approach to living, avoiding the excessive reliance on medical testing and quantification.

Adversity:

When you think work is tough today, read this article about a 70 year old man who just finished his third passage across the Atlantic in basically a canoe. If nothing else, look at the pictures of his routes and his “ship.” Amazing.

Winding Down:

Decaf coffee. Something I had never really considered. But researchers continue to discover benefits of coffee, with many of them present in studies of decaf drinkers. And no one needs to have the full 500mg every day. So we recently started keeping some decaf around for afternoon coffee. You’ll find something like 20mg of caffeine per serving, compared to 100+mg for most small cups of regular coffee. The 20mg is comparable to a green tea. Gevalia still makes coffee, they just don’t throw in a whole coffee maker with your $5 bag anymore. Look for the Swiss Water Process on decaf coffee. 

Quotes:
1. Hunters will tell you that a moose is a wily and ferocious forest creature. Nonsense. A moose is a cow drawn by a three-year-old.
2. There are only three things that can kill a farmer: lightning, rolling over in a tractor, and old age.

– Bill Bryson