Get your mind right
• Which is worse: The time you spend thinking about work while at work, or the time you spend thinking about work while at home? Therapist Guy Winch has 3 TED talks; this one covers rumination and the work-life balance dilemma. He tells a story about getting stuck in an elevator with someone who freaks out, and instead of calming the person down, he snaps at him. This is how he realized he was burned out early in his career.
• Ruminating about work leads to poor sleep, unhealthy diet, worse mood, and more cardiovascular disease. “Ruminating always feels like we are doing something important, but we are doing something harmful.” Telecommuting, thus losing the physical boundary between work and home, is now increasing the problem.
• But thinking about work in creative or problem-solving ways does not cause problems. “I have so much work to do” is not a problem to be solved. “How can I work 30 minutes into my schedule to complete this one task” has a concrete solution.
Music
• Check out this video of Al Green singing on Soul Train, 1973. He starts with a prayer, singing with a makeshift arm sling. Have to watch until the end.
Stay Classy
• Interesting article on the Michael Scott theory of social class. A bit cynical as theories of class tend to be. The author divides people into three classes, “sociopaths” at the top, “clueless” in middle management, and “losers” at the bottom (many favorite characters and true heroes of the show). Author Alex Danco links to a similar 3 ladder theory on social class in Britain. Certainly does not capture the entire socioeconomic system, but very interesting especially for fans of The Office.
The Sun
• Check out this article with a series of photos taken as optical illusions, using the sun as a prop. Hard to explain, but very much worth a few minutes of your time. I think my favorite is the one with the bird eating the sun, not sure how they pulled it off.
Pick your Brain
• If you haven’t checked out www.brainpickings.org, go to the website right now. I have kept up with Maria Popova’s site over the years, enjoying every post. She was recently on Tim Ferriss’s podcast, and the episode is extremely good. They talk about reading, writing, history, organization, business, and many other topics.
Podcasts
• Speaking of podcasts, I had no idea Dax Shepherd was absolutely killing it. I enjoyed his interviews with Rob McElhenney and Charlie Day (both from Always Sunny in Philadelphia, possibly the funniest show of the 21st Century). Dax and Tim Ferriss were together on Brene Brown’s podcast, also a great episode.
Chocolate
• Expensive but worth it, Hu chocolate bars are on Amazon and in Whole Foods. Look for sales, sometimes 40% off.
Exercise shouldn’t be fun
• If you are looking for a not fun exercise, try thrusters. If at the gym, grab a 45lb bar to start. If at home, grab a broomstick or hold two gallon jugs of water. The thruster is a combination of a squat and overhead press.
• You just hold the bar or two objects in your hands, get down into a full squat, rise up to a standing position but continue pushing your arms overhead to full extension. As with any workout, you can perform them slowly to really focus on the movement and proper form. Here is a video. Do not be afraid – actually yes you should be afraid they are awful, but you will feel amazing when you’re finished.
Are we doing gratitude wrong?
• Many successful books have come out in recent years related to gratitude. Start with Robert Emmons book Thanks; he has devoted his entire career to the subject. This article from Psyche points out the concerning modern focus on the personal, singular phenomenon of gratitude. I am thankful for my family, my health, my nice house, my fulfilling job, etc. But the ancient practice of gratitude bonded people together. For years, Dr Emmons had an end of the semester gratitude letter session, where students brought a benefactor to the class and read a letter of gratitude to that person in front of everyone, making it a communal experience.
“The contemporary preoccupation with gratitude as an individual experience, and viewing it as a path to psychological wellness, is significantly different from how the emotion was understood historically. Whereas earlier theories of gratitude also concentrated on the importance of gratitude as an inward disposition, such theories nevertheless emphasised that gratitude derived its value from its interpersonal nature.”
“[The Stoic philosopher] Seneca treats gratitude as a virtue that ought to be cultivated for social purposes:
That gratitude is an attitude to be chosen for itself follows from the fact that ingratitude is something to be avoided in itself, because nothing so dissolves and disrupts the harmony of mankind as this vice. For what else keeps us safe, except helping each other by reciprocal services? Only one thing protects our lives and fortifies them against sudden attacks: the exchange of benefits.
Seneca argues that the generosity of benefactors and the gratitude of recipients are the glue that holds society together and guarantees its survival.”
“This interpersonal aspect of gratitude is essential: if a person only feels fortunate without crediting anyone for their good fortune (as in the social media messages and gratitude diary entries written by so many), they are not really being grateful at all. Contemporary philosophers even propose that being grateful for general states of affairs, rather than to any specific person, is a misnomer: when I am grateful for my general health, or grateful that it didn’t rain on my wedding day, what I’m actually feeling is not gratitude but appreciation.”
Quotes
Either mathematics is too big for the human mind, or the human mind is more than a machine.
-– Kurt Gödel, cool photo of him with Einstein in this tweet
check out When Einstein Walked with Godel
God breaks the heart again and again and again until it stays open.
– Hazrat Inayat Khan
my favorite quote in a long time
