KISS = keep it simple stupid
easier said than done
for my summer reading I have chosen the concept first made explict by Henry D. Thoreau in "Walden" - simplicity. Our current 21st century life is clearly too complex. The evidence is the need for most of us to deaden our senses with alcohol or drugs, or fall into depression or anxiety as so many I know. Know that I don't drink coffee - an upper - or drink alcohol - a sedative - I look around me and realize how much these social drugs allow people to get through the day. They are lubricants - and needed by most - but try a few days without them and you will realize that your tempo and stress of life needs them - you don't ingest them for 'the taste' - you are just kidding yourself - you need them to get through the day
like a drug addict needs his fix to get through the next hour - we are thus, in a certain kind of way, drug addicts
which means, of course that our lives need to change or we slowly descend into a form of physical, emotional or spiritual death - eventually...
so how to simplify? spend less, achieve less, - why? to leave MARGIN in your life - breathing room to , of course, breath. A life of deep breathing acts just like deep breathing does in Yoga - it brings life to all the cells of the body and health and peace of mind.
So breath - by having a SLOW life that allows the time to just be. Or, if you want an example, try the format that Scott Nearing , the original back to the lander made famous in his book "Living the Good Life";
wake up breakfast - 4 hours physical labour
eat lunch - 4 hours intellectual labour
dinner - 4 hours social interaction with others and community building - giving back
rest
more recent books that can help are
The heart of simple living by W.Urbanska
living the simple life by E.St.James
enjoy!
Thursday 28 July 2011
choice - july 27
we seem to have lots of choices
the problem is that most of them are destructive and lead to dead ends
so - real choices - that i will define those as choices that lead to positive growth - even if painful in the short term - are few.
so how do we choose from an excess of options? I used to ask people who i thought knew more than me - but recently that has not worked because most people really believe they know something and have helpful advice but actually know next to nothing and should be quiet....Of course you can try the advice of the famous Frank Sinatra song "I did it my way"... if you are foolish enough that you know everything about everything in this crazily complex and changing world... not for me thanks. Or you can pray. and meditate. A lot. And wait for an answer that can come is any form; a note, an article/book, a thought mentioned by a friend... who knows. I am now opting for the this third approach, mostly, because I have tried the other two and they do not work well for me.
So it is your choice - on how to choose. As you do so the concept of Franciscan friar Father William of Ockham called "Occams razor" is helpful: "simpler explanations are, other things being equal, generally better than more complex ones".
This, of course, leads us to the concept of simplicity - which is tomorrow's blog report.
Good luck!
the problem is that most of them are destructive and lead to dead ends
so - real choices - that i will define those as choices that lead to positive growth - even if painful in the short term - are few.
so how do we choose from an excess of options? I used to ask people who i thought knew more than me - but recently that has not worked because most people really believe they know something and have helpful advice but actually know next to nothing and should be quiet....Of course you can try the advice of the famous Frank Sinatra song "I did it my way"... if you are foolish enough that you know everything about everything in this crazily complex and changing world... not for me thanks. Or you can pray. and meditate. A lot. And wait for an answer that can come is any form; a note, an article/book, a thought mentioned by a friend... who knows. I am now opting for the this third approach, mostly, because I have tried the other two and they do not work well for me.
So it is your choice - on how to choose. As you do so the concept of Franciscan friar Father William of Ockham called "Occams razor" is helpful: "simpler explanations are, other things being equal, generally better than more complex ones".
This, of course, leads us to the concept of simplicity - which is tomorrow's blog report.
Good luck!
Thursday 14 July 2011
july 12
I am now officially the GPO candidate for Nepean-Carleton - a rewarding and enjoyable a task as there ever was! I look forward to meeting the electorate in September and sharing with them the good news that living Green means that their great-grandchildren can have as amazing a quality of life as they now enjoy.... or not if they choose the status quo.
As a Physics teacher I have become a huge fan of the part of String theory that demonstrates that CHOICE itself is a dimension, just like space and time are, being the 5th dimension, and those choices are REAL and controls all the lower dimensions of space/time and thus is not only real, but more real that physical objects...
So let us help choose a reality in which our great-grandchildren can look back at us and be proud and grateful for the choices we made for them.
As a Physics teacher I have become a huge fan of the part of String theory that demonstrates that CHOICE itself is a dimension, just like space and time are, being the 5th dimension, and those choices are REAL and controls all the lower dimensions of space/time and thus is not only real, but more real that physical objects...
So let us help choose a reality in which our great-grandchildren can look back at us and be proud and grateful for the choices we made for them.
july 14 - GOING TO THE BUSH
Tonight, after my 2 daughters watch Harry Potter's last film starting at midnight we shall drive them to our cottage in 'the bush' - blackflies and all. What I find amazing is that Canada has a vast area of real wilderness that is quite accessible to most, and yet very few Canadians go there. For some reason they prefer Disney World or Rome. My theory on this is that most of us are uncomfortable with 'nothing', with silence, with just "being there" and melding into the landscape which is what the 'bush' experience is all about.
So - for all you going to the Bush this summer - good on you! - and for the rest of you landlubbers - give it a whirl - perhaps you will be able to hear your own heart beating...
So - for all you going to the Bush this summer - good on you! - and for the rest of you landlubbers - give it a whirl - perhaps you will be able to hear your own heart beating...
Sunday 10 July 2011
july 10
great news from Austalia !
They are staring a Carbon tax coupled with tax reform that will reduce taxes for the lower half of the earners, be neutral for all but the top 10% of earners who will pay 1% more in taxes. They will do this by only carbon taxing the top 500 carbon emitters to reach a target of 10% less CO2 than they had emitted in 2000!
This shows us that we CAN do the same as, having lived in Australia, I know that our two cultures are very similar. For more details see:
http://www.theage.com.au/environment/climate-change/gillards-biggest-gamble-20110710-1h91b.html
By the say, tomorrow July 11, is the date to choose a candidate for the Nepean-Carleton Greens at 1096 River road, Manotick @ 7 pm - hope to see you there!
They are staring a Carbon tax coupled with tax reform that will reduce taxes for the lower half of the earners, be neutral for all but the top 10% of earners who will pay 1% more in taxes. They will do this by only carbon taxing the top 500 carbon emitters to reach a target of 10% less CO2 than they had emitted in 2000!
This shows us that we CAN do the same as, having lived in Australia, I know that our two cultures are very similar. For more details see:
http://www.theage.com.au/environment/climate-change/gillards-biggest-gamble-20110710-1h91b.html
By the say, tomorrow July 11, is the date to choose a candidate for the Nepean-Carleton Greens at 1096 River road, Manotick @ 7 pm - hope to see you there!
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