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Diffstat (limited to 'published')
| -rw-r--r-- | published/2014-12-19_night-before.txt | 13 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | published/2016-01-01_pilgrim-happiness.txt | 16 |
2 files changed, 29 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/published/2014-12-19_night-before.txt b/published/2014-12-19_night-before.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0eba09a --- /dev/null +++ b/published/2014-12-19_night-before.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13 @@ +Every voyage has a night before. These quiet hours of darkness before the journey begins. + +We tend to remember the excitement of the next morning. Then our senses are on edge, hyper-aware, anchored in the now. This is why we remember so clearly the smell of salt on the air, the soft pad of bare feet on the deck, the sound of water slapping the hull. Or maybe it's clatter of wheels on the rails, the soft sway of sleeper cars in the early morning light, the hum of jet engine, the first light as you pop up above the clouds. + +All of these things mark beginnings. + +Me, I like that night before. I like when you're still imagining what it might be like. Still trying to picture it all in your head, fit yourself into your own imagination. You're still the one at the helm. Tomorrow life will take over, steer you where it will, but that night before everything is possible. + +The hardest voyage for me to imagine is my children. My son will come forth out of the world tomorrow. I try to picture what he looks like. It's marginally easier than it was with my daughters, since I can imagine he might look like they did. But he won't. Not really. Because it's impossible to conceive of what someone will look like before you meet them. Impossible, but fun to try. + +It's likewise impossible to imagine what your life with them will be like, beyond knowing that it will be inconceivably great. + +That's why there are these nights before, to reflect, to imagine, to remember that we are here to go. Forward. Onward. Always. diff --git a/published/2016-01-01_pilgrim-happiness.txt b/published/2016-01-01_pilgrim-happiness.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b051265 --- /dev/null +++ b/published/2016-01-01_pilgrim-happiness.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16 @@ +I've been thinking about this little mantra ever since I saw it six or seven years ago. I don't think I've ever seen what I consider the secret to happiness so succinctly and completely captured. + +I'm reprinting it here because I've been putting into action lately. And the author of this little guide happiness, Mark Pilgrim, removed his entire online presence back in 2011. When he originally published it in '09 or so he said he was on step 4. I assume he eventually made it to step 8. + +>1. Stop buying stuff you don't need +>2. Pay off all your credit cards +>3. Get rid of all the stuff that doesn't fit in your house/apartment storage lockers, etc. +>4. Get rid of all the stuff that doesn't fit on the first floor of your house attic, garage, etc. +>5. Get rid of all the stuff that doesn't fit in one room of your house +>6. Get rid of all the stuff that doesn't fit in a suitcase +>7. Get rid of all the stuff that doesn't fit in a backpack +>8. Get rid of the backpack + +I would say I am simultaneously on steps 2 and 4, with 5 in sight. + +For the record, while I understand wandering monks and the like, right now I personally have no desire to go beyond step 7. |