Monday Motivational

Hi Dear Readers!

I hope this blog post finds you and brings you joy, insight, and/or action steps for defeating the Diabolical Forces in the Universe (DFUs).

It's Monday, and for me that means kicking off another work week of marriage and family therapy AND social and mainstream media (SMSM) fasting. I cannot fully express how AWESOME it is to be totally free from the toxicity and negativity of SMSM incursions (not excursions) into my life. The DFUs are almost totally disenfranchised from my day to day existence, since SMSM is currently the ONLY pathway the DFUs have into my (and most people's) life. I'm happier, smarter, and more productive as a result. There are myriad ways in which SMSM makes you angrier and dumber, all whilst sucking away your time - a finite resource that you cannot get back (although you can generate a little bit more of it with a plant based diet and daily aerobic exercise).

Shortly, I'll be taking the dogs out for their morning constitutional (aka, walk). Then I'll hop on the Peloton trainer for a decently long workout (ideally, 90 minutes, but probably a little less). Once those goals are checked off, the rest of the day should unfold in the typical way.

I don't have much to add to that. So, let's call it and all get back to being awesome, giving off positivity and optimism, and in so doing CRUSHING DFUs left and right.

Fin.

Thursday Meanderings

Hi Dear Readers!

I hope this post finds you and brings you joy, insight, and/or action steps for defeating the Diabolical Forces in the Universe (DFUs).

You may have noticed an uptick in posts from me this week. That's because I am on a 5-Day Social Media Fast, and when I don't have the distraction of useless social media to waste my time, I use that time for more productive things.* It feels great to be free of the negativity and toxicity of the social media. But also, it feels even better to deny the Big Tech companies from profiting off my attention. I encourage all of you to try a five day fast from social media. If enough people do it, the Big Tech companies will feel the dent in their bottom lines. Ideally, someone with some charisma and persuasion power would call for a General Boycott of social media for a day, week, month, or (stretch goal!) year. If social media wasn't so ridiculously addictive to the human mind, this might even be possible. But the Big Tech companies were ingenious in making social media both irresistibly addictive and immensely profitable.

I remind everyone again (and this is not disputed by anyone), you are not the customer of social media (that's why it is free). YOU ARE THE PRODUCT. Every time you use social media, Big Tech profits off the time your eyeballs are on the screen, to the tune of billions of dollars. And you NEVER get any cut of that pie. Your attention is nothing more than a commodity and as with any commodity, the goal is to mine and exploit more and more of it. Think of social media as an attention mining operation, and the more addictive it is, the more profitable it is. So, if you can escape the addiction (and that's no easy task), withhold your attention from social media exploitation companies until/unless they offer to pay you for the use of your attention. Remember way back in the day when people with landline phones would try to charge Telemarketers who called them for the use of their phones for business purposes? Some of those people even took the Telemarketing companies to court and WON! So, there's hope. But not much, because you are human and that means you are ridiculously bad at resisting addictive things. But...change my mind and prove me wrong. I'll wait...

I guess that's all I have. I should wrap it up, because I want to get a few minutes of mindful meditation in before I kick off an action packed morning of seeing marriage and family therapy clients. I have the afternoon off today (because when you are self employed, you can take time off whenever TF you want, albeit unpaid). I will meet my parents at the Middleton Starbucks at lunchtime for some chit-chat and the NYT mini-crossword. Then I'll come home and pound out a solid Peloton workout with intention (outcome = the demise of a certain specific DFU in the next few days).

Fin.

* NOTE: It could be debated if writing blog posts is actually a "productive thing." But that would also be unproductive because all signs point to blog posting being a far more productive pursuit than social media doom scrolling.

Overton Window Needs to be Closed

Hi Dear Readers!

I hope this post finds you and brings you joy, insight, and/or action steps for defeating the Diabolical Forces in the Universe (DFUs).

This week comprises, among other things, a five day TOTAL social and mainstream media fast. I had planned it for Monday through Friday, but I actually ended up starting it a little bit early, on Sunday night, when I actively avoided poisoning my mind with the Oscar Awards. Deborah watched them. I meditated and read a book - not unsurprisingly about the Attention Economy - instead.

I wanted to remind all my readers once again just how toxic and poisonous social and mainstream media exposure is for you these days. You can use these media quite often without any awareness of the subtle and insidious ways that they restructure your consciousness and beliefs about things in an undesirable way. If you need proof, just consider how far the Overton Window has shifted in the last decade. The Overton Window is directly correlated with Public Opinion and what is acceptable in the Court of said Public Opinion. We now openly accept racism, sexism, and pedophilia as part of normal mainstream public discourse. Think about how weird that is. But...YOU DID THAT. Not to play the blame game, but your use of social and mainstream media is what has allowed the Overton Window to shift. The good news is that you can restore your rational and critical thinking skills pretty easily, by simply ceasing to engage with any and all social and mainstream media. You will be happier and smarter if you do.

I wish that the Algos didn't bury my posts far away from public view. I understand why they do it...because these posts are directly counter to their mission of getting more eyeballs on screens. If people see my posts and realize their attention is nothing more than a commodity product, bought and sold by giant corporations, they might stop using social and mainstream media, which would impact the Algo companies' bottom lines in a negative way.

Fin.

Hunkering Down

Hi Dear Readers!

I hope this post finds you and brings you joy, insight, and/or action steps for defeating the Diabolical Forces in the Universe (DFUs). I felt SO MUCH JOY yesterday...to the point where I was concerned I might be having a hypomanic episode. I can't explain where it came from, but it felt good.

Yesterday was also ACTION PACKED. And that wasn't a cause or an effect of my hyper-joy state. Deborah and I took my parents to the Garver Feed Mill and perused the vendors at the Winter Farmer's Market, scoring a veritable bounty of goodies - some specialty mushrooms, vegan strawberry-rhubarb bars, bagels, some flowers, and maybe a couple of other things that are escaping my mind right now.

After the Farmer's Market, we cruised over the the Green Owl vegan cafe for delicious vegan lunch. Deborah and I went to the gym after we dropped my parents back at their house, and I got a decent set of weight lifting in. I also got a short Peloton workout in when we got back home (for the aerobics). I spent the remainder of the afternoon meal prepping - vegan quiche and a HUGE salad - for the week.

I was joyously spent after all of that and slept HARD last night.

This morning, I expediently got the dogs out for their morning walk ahead of the massive winter storm that is barreling across the state today. Thankfully (I think...), most of the storm will be rain for most of the day, but then the temperatures plummet and we are expecting massive snowfall overnight into Monday. So...I am hunkering down. It's a Sunday, so I am just going to chillax and enjoy myself with indoor activities, which will comprise eating a breakfast of cereal - with maple syrup, flax seed, blueberries, and nut milk - a long Peloton workout, and assorted other leisure activities as they come to mind.

Fin.

I Am on a Hardcore SMSM Fast Today

Hi Dear Readers!

I hope this post finds you and brings you joy, insight, and/or action steps for defeating the Diabolical Forces in the Universe (DFUs).

I'm on a hardcore fast today from all social and mainstream media (SMSM). As you know, one of the Tenets of the Church of BWJ is abstinence from SMSM (all of which is toxic and addictive media). As with any and all religious Tenets, it is virtually impossible for mere mortals to perfectly adhere to them. I do a fair job of it, of course, but sometimes I LITERALLY have to engage with SMSM in the course of everyday operations as a marriage and family therapist. There is networking to be done, after all. I try to minimize my time on the social media (mainly Facebook) and limit it to business operations. But the DFUs are ever present on the SMSM, trying to suck you in and redirect you toward less desirable content.

So, today I decided to rigidly abstain from all SMSM, even that required for business networking (nothing is so pressing with that that it cannot wait a day or two). It has been fine, but I can definitely feel the pull of the SMSM at times. That's part of the rationale for fasting from SMSM today. It's an exercise in discipline.

Fin.

Sunshine

Hi Dear Readers!

I hope this post finds you and brings you joy, insight, and/or actions steps for defeating the Diabolical Forces in the universe (DFUs).

I took the dogs out for a morning walk today and it was a crisp sunny and brisk early spring day. We had to push all the clocks forward an hour today, which wasn't all bad. The day will feel longer now, with it not getting dark until an hour later.

Temperatures are supposed to edge into the 60s Fahrenheit today, which bodes well for a possible mid-afternoon bike ride. I'm trying to decide what kind of a bike ride it will be, but I am leaning toward maybe trekking over to Brennan's grocery store to gather the fixings for one of my famous salads. Excited to get the bikes out and pump up the tires and generally assess their worthiness for the upcoming cycling season.

I'm doing RAGBRAI this year, because it's an even numbered year and those are the years when I tend to go. I'm once again joining the Powered by Plants vegan cycling team, who coordinate all the transportation, lodging, and meals (including bringing a vegan caterer along for breakfasts and dinners). That'll be fun. I still haven't motivated Deborah to give RAGBRAI a try. It's a bucket list challenge, but there are a lot of obstacles.

Anyway, go enjoy the day, because word on the streets is that the world may be consumed in a global thermonuclear war around the middle of next week.

Cheers!

Fin.

A Happy Day

Hi Dear Readers!

I hope this post finds you and brings you joy, insights, and/or action steps for defeating the Diabolical Forces in the Universe (DFUs).

It's a happy day. I don't know exactly why, but it is. I cannot put my finger on any underlying or causative factor. I have to work today, and although I love my work as a marriage and family therapist, it does not necessarily cause or correlate with happiness, in the truest sense of the word. It can often be satisfying and even joyful, but those emotions are not quite happiness, per se. I guess I am happy that I am in a career that aligns with my Values.

It's also not a particularly great weather day. It's a bit rainy and gray. Temperatures are above freezing, which I guess is good, but not quite in the thermodynamic comfort zone I prefer. For the weather to make me truly happy, it needs to be above 60 degrees Fahrenheit and mostly sunny. Those conditions are likely to be met TOMORROW, and so perhaps I am feeling anticipatory happiness? It's anyone's guess, but that's about as good of a guess as any other.

It's remotely possible that today will see the defeat and/or demise of one or more DFUs. I have no evidence for that, but if true...it would absolutely be a happy day. There is a retroactive happiness for future events that can sometimes be felt in the present (and past) due to quantum entanglement and tachyon particles. I'm not sure what the mathematical equation for that is, but as with most Laws of Nature, it is probably an exponential function of some kind, meaning the happiness generated increases exponentially the closer in time one is to the happiness-inducing singularity. If that's the case, then said singularity is probably going to happen soon, because the happiness vibes are quite intense.

Or maybe I'm just hypomanic today.

In any case, I hope your day is filled with happiness too (which would be another indicator of a universally experienced pending demise of DFUs).

Fin.