Category: Life

I heard this line on the Jocko Podcast and it’s stuck with me since.

The original question is “When should you plant a tree?”

But it applies to so many other things in our life. We can rue the lost time or just start moving.

But it almost creates another moment of paralysis – which skills do I need to learn, what is worth pursuing for the next two decade?

I guess we can never read the crystal ball that well, not if we’re sitting still. But maybe things get a little less murky if you try a few steps here or there.

And maybe the key is to take those first few steps, but then decide whether it is still worth that two decade run. Otherwise, just walk away and try something else.

So get moving, but don’t get trapped by sunk costs.

This was the cold where I in such bad shape that I could not work. Normally I’ll take a sick day out of respect of my coworkers, to let the worst of it blow off before I go into the office.

This time I was in such a general malaise I couldn’t even work at home, even though I had brought some back to try.

But the other big cost of such an extravaganza is the morning habits that have been fully broken for a week. With my impending work deadline, I had started to skip exercising the last couple weeks, and now I had fallen off the blog for a few days at a time.

I can catch up on the blog posting schedule, but daily mental exercise is something you don’t get back.

Just like that physical exercise.

Life decided to greet my entrance into my forties by giving me a bout of pneumonia!

In the past I’ve always beaten back my colds by just waiting it out with some guaifenesin, but when things slowly kept getting worse, and my chest started feeling funny, it was time to go in.

After a couple chest x-rays it was confirmed to be pneumonia and I’m on an antibiotic and steroid for a week.

And this is when you are reminded the value of western medicine. In an earlier era I can easily envision a scenario where it gets worse to the nth degree.

Ideally it would have been preferable to avoid it (a reminder to do those qigong exercise I should have been practicing), but once you need it, goddamn it’s good to have.

A couple days after my birthday, I woke up thinking “time for a new me!”

But every day is a new day.

Every day is an opportunity to shape a newer me.

So yeah, time for a new me.

One day I saw a social media post by one of my consultants at a groundbreaking or ribbon cutting at a local private university.

A few days later I happened to drive by that place. It wasn’t particularly out of the way, but I had never been on that street before.

A couple days after that, I met a security guard who was interested in renting my place. He works on that campus.

The world is invariably smaller than one would think.

Life is funny.

It gives you a visions and dreams of great victories and accomplishment.

But it never really plays out like that in reality.

Even when the accomplishment is earned, it is a fallible human being that made it happen.

Or in this case, finally renting out one’s place, closing out a six year project, but otherwise laid low the whole with with a nasty cold.

Life be funny like that.

“Oh,” said Yen Hui, “I am used to fasting! At home we were poor. We went for months without wine or meat. That is fasting, is it not?”

“Well, you can call it ‘observing a fast’ if you like,” said Confucius, “but it is not the fasting of the heart.”

“Tell me,” said Yen Hui, “what is fasting of the heart?”

Confucius replied: “The goal of fasting is inner unity. This means hearing, but not with the ear; hearing, but not with the understanding; hearing with the spirit, with your whole being. The hearing that is only in the ears is one thing. The hearing of the understanding is another. But the hearing of the spirit is not limited to any one faculty, to the ear, or to the mind. Hence it demands the emptiness of all the facul­ties. And when the faculties are empty, then the whole being listens. There is then a direct grasp of what is right there before you that can never be heard with the ear or understood with the mind. Fasting of the heart empties the faculties, frees you from limitation and from preoccupation. Fasting of the heart begets unity and freedom.”

The Way of Chuang Tzu, translated by Thomas Merton, pages 52, 53

Strangely enough, my eyes glazed over several times when I read this paragraph, even though I could tell this was the heart of this little story between Yen Hui and Confucius.

I wonder why my brain would silently shut off as I read these words.

In a more dualistic mindset, I’d say it’s the forces of evil trying to keep me from the truth, but that doesn’t seem to be way of the Dao.

Maybe in realizing “this passage is important”, I was taken out of the moment and thus lost my concentration.

The mind a weird little fellow.

I woke up early and ground through the remaining emails in my personal inbox, which had gotten up to the four digit range.

Yes, I’m one of those obnoxious inbox zero people, though I’m not so perfect to be truly obnoxious.

Now I have to figure out what to do with the remaining 22 emails still hiding the inbox. I most likely need to revive my old Things to Do, which will suck up a few of these items.

But that doesn’t answer what to do with the items that are just interesting bits of reading or media that I’d like to enjoy in the future reading / time.

I suspect I’ll just add a star to them, put an entry in the TTD, and then archive it away. In about a year, I’ll cull through the TTD list and they will be disappeared for good…or at least until I decide to go through another exercise culling my starred emails as well!

Maybe it isn’t the worst thing in the world to procrastinate on such “gems”, there is a chance they weren’t really worth reading at all.

Time will tell.

For the next road trip, now that we have more room in the back of the Odyssey. This is definitely not a minimalist list, but it worked well for our Disneyland run in May.

Instapot
The small baby chair, with straps.
Water Boiler
Water Filter
Bottled Water
Toaster (optional!)

Grains and stuff for breakfast porridge (yams worked well too)
Fruits
Nuts
Beef Jerky
Granola Bars
Chocolate bars
Chips / Crackers (as desired)

Underwear for every day
Socks for every day
Undershirt for every day
Tank Top, every other day
Outer shirt, every other day
Pants + Shorts, every other day
Vest
(This collection of clothes was a bit more than necessary, but better than the alternative of running short).

Flip flops or slippers to go with the shoes (presumably one is on your feet when you leave, so the other is packed in the car).

Camping Mattresses (that sofa bed was not good)
Yoga Mats (so we can walk barefoot in the motel)
Picnic Blanket
Extra blankets for sleeping

Stroller (the kids don’t walk themselves)
Baby Carrier (maybe for the last time)
Books
Toys
Board game (one)
Clipboard, paper, and pens to draw with

Power Strips, Two (one for the phones, the other for the kitchen stuff)
USB chargers and chords (one for each phone).
External Battery pack (one)
Computer
Computer power cable
ipad (optional)

Using the Trofast bins was a stroke of genius by my wife. They are light and modular, easier to use than suitcases since our visit stayed at one motel the whole time. Even if we were hopping from motel to motel, then I think we would have picked out the next day’s clothes at the back of the van and then brought it up in one bin.