I've been feeling good for a fair while, thanks in part to a few weeks of hero-dosing ketamine late last year. I've been a bit sickish recently, though, for the first time in years so I've spent a fair bit of the last couple of weeks laying low and taking inventory. And I admit I'm in a bit of a sustained period of feeling somewhat null. Apathetic? Uninspired? Meh?
I thought about making a MC Life Improvement Market for this, but inspiration is too hard to realistically track? Instead, I'll send you mana for sharing:
Things you love
Things that inspire you
Things that you think I would love or be inspired by
Basically, there's no pressure to actually inspire me; I'm happy to drink from the well of inspo and loved things from a bunch of strangers on the internet so as long as it's a genuine answer, even if you're not sure I'd be into it, please share. 🧡
Still, here are some random things in case there's an overlap: I write poetry, I sing in Portuguese, I'm trying to do a chin-up with only a few weeks left, I have a modest reading goal for 2024 (suggestions welcome), I'm poised for another career pivot (interesting/uncommon ways to explore an entirely new path welcome), I take/attend a lot of courses/workshops/lectures, I had a somewhat near-death accident a couple of years ago with a TBI and I'm experimenting with optimising my cognition (insights welcome), I could do with a lot more self-discipline (tactics welcome), I play a lot of word games, and I can rarely resist the siren song of a rabbit hole, controversial topic, or good debate.
This is my first bounty but I've really loved a lot of them I've seen recently. I'll happily keep filling the coffer if the contributions are flowing.
Related questions
I tried to come up with inspiring shit but brain couldn't shit out shit. Instead, here are some rabbit holes I've gone down recently you may find interesting:
-Ryokan's poetry: https://allpoetry.com/Taigu-Ryokan
-Linear A: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_A
-OG ambient music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsIjyJvhR9A
One thing I love is rain. I think I've always loved it. The smell of it, the sound of it, the feel of it, the symbolism of it. It gives life, it cleanses, it refreshes. Some people despise rainy days, but I love them. Sure, sometimes they spoil a plan to go on a walk, but sometimes you decide to go on the walk anyway and end up soaked for the hell of it.
In the spirit of loving rain, I would advise you to find love in the smallest things. Sometimes I ask people, "If you were writing your own verse in the song 'My Favorite Things' from the Sound of Music, what small oddities would you mention?" Those little, unique things are the best. That's where life is, you know? For me, that's a window open at night, the smell and sound of rain blowing in.
I see someone else already mentioned cooking, but here is my story with it.
Growing up, my family had really, really long working hours. Due to that, our meals were usually very simple and quick. I always thought it was very cool when friends of mine went on about how their grandparents/parents food was the best, but never felt that way. As I grew older, I started taking that into my own hands. I cooked our first ever family Christmas dinner, would make special dishes for friends' brithdays, etc. To this day, if someone comes visit me I will gladly cook a three course meal and take time to find good wine that pairs well with whatever it is I am cooking. It became one of my ways of showing love for others. Thinking about food that they will love, and taking time to prepare it and enjoy with them.
The issue with that is that I live alone, and really far away from my closest friends/family. I noticed that while I always go out of my way to prepare things for other people, I would just eat bread, fried eggs, canned tuna, and whatever comes in a too good to go bag. It's like there was something missing. What I started doing then is that when I go to the supermarket, I try to pick something different and nice to cook for myself, at least once a week. Something that would allow me to be creative with cooking, and that would be a really good meal, even if just for myself. It's a nice way of showing some love and appreciation for myself, and makes me feel home and loved, even when far away from those that are my actual home.
On the topic of tactics for running everyday life, i find that crafting the perfect motto is way more helpful than i would expect. My current most-used motto is 'Do only what benefits the Dayline', which is my idiosyncratic way of phrasing an improvement-focused perspective. It means that reality is today followed by a sequence of days, &, when stressed or disoriented, i should reorient towards whatever activity makes that sequence better. I keep whatever mottos i find most helpful on my phone main menu screen.
What inspires me: i'm a big scifi reader, but in 2018 i read Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer & have been in love with that novel ever since. Definitely book of the decade. It features a wonderfully passionate & bizarre fictional culture, heroic speeches, & several intriguingly juxtaposed varieties of optimistic secular humanism.
I love powerful lasers.
These sharp, concetrated rays, which, given enough power, can evaporate steel with nothing but light. These unnatural, monochromatic colors as bright as a million suns put in a tiny dot. Enough to burn your eyes and blind you instantly.
I think, humanity truly invented two things that didnt exist in nature. The wheel and the laser. Do you know any other example
Apart from that, lasers are incredibly useful. Our internet mainly depends on them. And they are simply just beautiful. What's your favourite laser wavelength?
When it comes to inspiration in my life, there has been no greater source than the album Starship Velociraptor by Galactickraken & Jonathan Young. It’s roughly 47 minutes of rock music covering a variety of stupid fun ideas with 0 shame, and that’s why I liked it enough to memorize the lyrics. However, the more I listened to the album and started piecing its ideals together into a cohesive message, I started to see a full ballad preaching of freedom and determination for everyone (something I was very much lacking at the time). I listen to the whole thing at least once a day, and it never fails to put the wind in my sails.
Talking about mindset phrases that help me with motivation and discipline.
1) "Life - the day, repeated". However you spend The day (today), is likely how the future life will be shaped. I want to look like Frank Medrano? I go Today for a workout. I want to move to Germany? I learn the language Today. I do not care how much time or effort those tasks would take, I just know that doing them Today is like programming the future life algorithm.
Repeat the next day.
2) What a perfect version of myself would do now? Envision it and repeat after it. Repeating after an image is mentally easier than "doing yorself".
3) "7 to 7". From 7:00 to 19:00 I forbid myself any external fun. I can have fun, but only if have done my work and i am creating something new (pottery, drawing, programming). Any fun/addictive consumption is banned: no sweets, no music, no internet, ... . For me it turns out that it is easier to get bored and move from "creative fun" towards "productive not fun" tasks and back, switching becomes easy and procrastination becomes rare. Also thx to that I do not fall into "mindless scrolling" problems.
@shankypanky I also just stumbled upon https://integralguide.com/, which is at least one person's way of guiding themselves through a trauma. I spent ~30 m reading (so far), and think it's worth 30m of your time to see if there are threads there worth following. I liked their disclaimer: "I encourage skepticism, independent research, and discussing what you've read with your doctor, psychiatrist, therapist, sponsor, councilor, or confidants before making any major decisions" which is to say they don't purport to have THE answers.