Monakhos

After stewing a little longer on the words of the day, I thought I’d post a little synopsis on what I’ve been thinking about them. I’m still thinking about them all, but these are my thoughts tonight since I can’t sleep.

Community and Rat Race

For the past months, I’ve become increasingly aware of the rat race so many of us seem to be caught up in. It really seems silly. Physically we all have a limited time here and yet too often we don’t seem to pick up on that and waste our time running a race that doesn’t really benefit us in the end. I was reading about this some today and a key point in a lot of the writing was the emphasis on finding value from and engaging in community.

Value

A quote by Seth Godin has been stuck in my head since I read it. Paraphrased (I don’t remember the original exactly is:  “create value every day.” This ties in somewhat to the previous two words/phrases. If I’m not engaged in the “rat race”, then how will I be able to survive (i.e. how will I be able to pay for food, shelter, etc.) I guess I’m not the most capitalistic guy on the planet. Anyway, still thinking about this one (combined with the two above.) These have revived my interest in Steve Pavlina’s blog. It can be a little wierd at time, but overall it’s great.

Death

During lunch I happened to hear a piece on people dying of pancreatic cancer on NPR. It was depressing. And made me think about death. I got all caught up and anxious for a little bit before I was able to reel myself in and reiterate that its just another transition. I used to get a lot more worked up over the idea, but it’s getting better. Not that I’m suicidal or anything, but I’m getting to the point of accepting that it’s a phase of life.

Simplify

And with that, we’ll move on to John Maeda. I found his Laws of Simplicity sometime last year and have been rather interested in them since. Recently, I’ve been using a Google Homepage widget that displays a different one on my homepage everytime it loads. It’s great stuff and really can get you thinking.  The one I’ve been thinking about most is the first law: “The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction.” Check them out. They are awesome.

Happiness

I tacked this one on at the end, and can’t really remember where it came from. I guess it ties into the first two. Anyway, no great enlightenment on that. Sorry! Maybe next time.

Community
Rat Race
Value
Death
Simplify
Happiness

I’m going to start putting these up from time to time. They’re just a sequence of words that I’ve spent time today thinking about. If you have anything to say on any of them, feel free to comment.

Sitting silently
With eyes closed and the mind cleared
Waves of nothingness

I’m keeping Monakhos around as it is. I just upgraded to the new Wordpress, so if you see anything strange, let me know. I’ll be changing the style of the blog and consolidating categories in the next couple of weeks.

I guess I’ll post a few things as I think of them until I figure out exactly what I’m doing with this site.

Anyway, I’ve been pondering a question recently, and thought I’d post it on here. Sometimes, writing helps clear up confusion.

Drastic changes are a pain. The kind I’m talking about are confusing, awkward, and painful. So is there really a point in making them? Our physical existence is temporal and not really what matters in the end. The physical does influence the spiritual in some regards, but is it really worth it? Is it better just to wait it out quietly and hope some things get sorted out before the next rebirth?