Comfort
Everything happens in cycles - ebb and flow, wax and wane. Whatever's good for you now, enjoy it, because it'll change…and whatever's bad for you now, endure it, because it too will change.
Enjoy and endure.
Advice that boils down to those two things being the major attitudes in one's life is, I think, guaranteed to be good.
I have trouble anymore, saying what's good and bad for me, in my "life situation". Something feels wrong about making that call, and as is always the case lately*, when I get stuck I turn to flipping focus to 3D; and there's never any room there to judge something "good" or "bad". I know that sounds weird, but there isn't; just like there isn't room in say, mountain-climbing to write a novel. They're just…not compatible pursuits, 3D and normative judging. Maybe one day I'll be able to explain why.
Things are nicely crazy though (you know I like them that way), and the end-result-of-the-moment is me sitting at my desk, exhausted after a long hard couple days without much room for naps, sipping scotch and watching Footy** and looking forward to retiring my brain into a silly book until a faceplant sleepcoma takes me for as long as it needs to - I'll happily crash tonight because gods, I need to heal up. The underwater hockey tournament I planned on, but then I extended it by one game that was even more intense than the tournament and one massive taiji workout and one very tiring seven-hour work meeting that didn't let me nap to recover from any of the above and then I tumbled off my skateboard pretty well and added some scrapes to my already-pretty-banged-up body, and right about then I felt my soul go, "NOPE. WE DONE, YO."
Which is really quite a nice place to get to, as long as you can indulge it - it's miserable if you have to keep pushing through, but a downcycle in itself isn't bad, and just like an upcycle, it feels good to go with it, to do what needs to be done; to flow like water. "Flowing like water" (as the Chinese put it) is extra-important when times are turbulent, and I think it's safe to say they are now - I'm moving in two weeks, just for starters - because pushing or pulling in the wrong direction and at the wrong times can do you so much damage. Stress kills - not a joke. Tensing up when you're hit makes you break bones, rip tendons; knowing how to relax and control your movements without unnecessary tension keeps you from breaking in a strong wind. And other hilariously mixed metaphors. Sh'up, I'm tired. ;)
Other recent wisdom, which I don't necessarily have the energy to explain in detail right now, but which could be handy to other students of reality so here you go:
When you think you can't, take deep breaths and allow yourself to have the experience of being at your limit.
Always be as nice as possible about saying things that may make someone angry. It'll make you more comfortable saying them - because sometimes they need to be said - and also minimize the odds that you'll regret the encounter later.
When in doubt, if you feel like laughing, do it.
Especially at your brain. Laugh at your brain at every opportunity.
Peace
(is a verb ;)
-PD
*yes, I know I need to say more about this…I've been stewing on another NYE YouTube video too long. Will fix soon, promise!
**I'm not much for spectating, but holy shit footy. Think "extreeeeeeme soccer that's maximally fun to watch". Damn Australia is awesome.
Originally published at *Transcendental *Logic. You can comment here or there.