Nice post , Jack. You would like Retrosuburbia by Dave Holmgren. He advocates for these cool suburban transformations in great detail. One of his pieces of advice for surviving a future of less and less extra is to quit caffeine. He talks about lots of addictions that people don't usually call addictions that we could more easily deal wi…
Nice post , Jack. You would like Retrosuburbia by Dave Holmgren. He advocates for these cool suburban transformations in great detail. One of his pieces of advice for surviving a future of less and less extra is to quit caffeine. He talks about lots of addictions that people don't usually call addictions that we could more easily deal with now, than in a crisis time. Think how irritable people trying to get through a tough situation might be, simply because their addictive habits are interrupted, not because the situation itself is insurmountable. There is anther book on this topic called The Art of Frugal Hedonism about enjoying the simple things. So, I thought there was a very cohesive thread running through your post. I am caffeine-free person, too. If I do get a dose of it I jabber on and on and am very funny and hyperactive.... but then a headache and irritable. Clara
Clara- Caffeine has become so normal we forget that it is a drug plain and simple. Just one with more elegant accessorizing. But oh the connections one can make!! But no...it isn't worth it. I need to find a way to downshift. Black tea and green tea to start. I am heading down the mountain to town tomorrow so I shall pick up some "methadone".
Part of this impulse is the reduction of our lived ecologies into bare utilitarianism. There is no beauty or elegance of invitation to community and music and prayer. Most modern homes are designed like space stations now. Big garage up front. Climate controlled. Large 'entertainment centers'. A few simple changes and people would have far-richer lives and it wouldn't necessarily sacrifice privacy and solitude when/if one wanted it. It is worth fighting for.
Thank you for the book recommends. I need to settle somewhere and get a library card. -Jack
Jack, I'm very fortunate in that I've always detested coffee and as for tea, I can take it or leave it.
I do though very much enjoy fruit, herbal and green teas, but for me rather than being a caffeine substitute, they are an alternative to alcohol and I do enjoy them.
"To truly put this seeking aside is to become, in many ways, a non-person."
I was struck by this line of yours. you know that "except a corn of wheat fall to the ground..." and "whosoever loseth his life for my sake shall find it". I think that there is the fear of becoming a non-person but that isn't what actually happens. Certainly some onlookers might say that you are unimpressive or foolish. Truly we become more fully ourselves and more fully alive and more of what God created us to be. Not by trying, it is true.
This is a Girardian insight about metaphysical desire, or at least I intended it to be. But it is exactly as you say. In being socially relevant we become less than we are meant to be. In becoming a "non-person" socially we can begin to come into being in ways that we couldn't have planned. The irony is how much time we--myself--have spent trying to gain admittance to the social exalted confines of non-being.
I'm doing great, thank you, and I see that you are thriving in your mountain retreat :)
Yes indeed! Come late Spring, I have several long trips planned to the deserts and mountains of the West. I can't wait to return to that part of the country.
I hope your journey continues going well, wherever it takes you.
Nice post , Jack. You would like Retrosuburbia by Dave Holmgren. He advocates for these cool suburban transformations in great detail. One of his pieces of advice for surviving a future of less and less extra is to quit caffeine. He talks about lots of addictions that people don't usually call addictions that we could more easily deal with now, than in a crisis time. Think how irritable people trying to get through a tough situation might be, simply because their addictive habits are interrupted, not because the situation itself is insurmountable. There is anther book on this topic called The Art of Frugal Hedonism about enjoying the simple things. So, I thought there was a very cohesive thread running through your post. I am caffeine-free person, too. If I do get a dose of it I jabber on and on and am very funny and hyperactive.... but then a headache and irritable. Clara
Clara- Caffeine has become so normal we forget that it is a drug plain and simple. Just one with more elegant accessorizing. But oh the connections one can make!! But no...it isn't worth it. I need to find a way to downshift. Black tea and green tea to start. I am heading down the mountain to town tomorrow so I shall pick up some "methadone".
Part of this impulse is the reduction of our lived ecologies into bare utilitarianism. There is no beauty or elegance of invitation to community and music and prayer. Most modern homes are designed like space stations now. Big garage up front. Climate controlled. Large 'entertainment centers'. A few simple changes and people would have far-richer lives and it wouldn't necessarily sacrifice privacy and solitude when/if one wanted it. It is worth fighting for.
Thank you for the book recommends. I need to settle somewhere and get a library card. -Jack
Jack, I'm very fortunate in that I've always detested coffee and as for tea, I can take it or leave it.
I do though very much enjoy fruit, herbal and green teas, but for me rather than being a caffeine substitute, they are an alternative to alcohol and I do enjoy them.
Luckily I've never needed caffeine to function.
"To truly put this seeking aside is to become, in many ways, a non-person."
I was struck by this line of yours. you know that "except a corn of wheat fall to the ground..." and "whosoever loseth his life for my sake shall find it". I think that there is the fear of becoming a non-person but that isn't what actually happens. Certainly some onlookers might say that you are unimpressive or foolish. Truly we become more fully ourselves and more fully alive and more of what God created us to be. Not by trying, it is true.
This is a Girardian insight about metaphysical desire, or at least I intended it to be. But it is exactly as you say. In being socially relevant we become less than we are meant to be. In becoming a "non-person" socially we can begin to come into being in ways that we couldn't have planned. The irony is how much time we--myself--have spent trying to gain admittance to the social exalted confines of non-being.
In Zen the goal is to become - "the True Man of No Name".
Amen to that.
Benjamin, how are you? Any plans for adventures out into the wild?
I'm doing great, thank you, and I see that you are thriving in your mountain retreat :)
Yes indeed! Come late Spring, I have several long trips planned to the deserts and mountains of the West. I can't wait to return to that part of the country.
I hope your journey continues going well, wherever it takes you.