thelerner

Very cool , a house is sort of like a member of the family. Glad you gave it a good welcoming birth.

To me, Dao Bums has been a place to shoot the shit, learn a bit, exchange thoughts great & small and make a friend or two.

Tired of endless daily grind of cooking dinners, I've ordered out a bit more then I like. Thought I need to re-energize myself and the best way to do that is to plan out and share menu ideas. So what you guys got cookin?

I have a journal of gratitude, writing down what I'm thankful for and I realized it wasn't complete, it was missing something. So I added generosity to it; things I'd done for others and it was a much better journal. Gratitude and generosity are two sides of the same coin. One you want to keep in your pocket at all times.

Money is also about security and choices. Security is good, though total safety is an illusion. It's horrible to worry about paying rent, food.. necessities. It's nice to have a cushion and savings. Still, a first world problem is too many choices. I think it leaves us less happy. Wasting our time chasing after shiny things and too distracted. If we can, we should mold our life into what we want. One hour, one room, one meal, one job at a time. If we can.

There's an Aikido warm up that is very similar and I've felt better doing it. Just swinging hands up and down repetitively, though in this case they 'cup' a bit together at the top.

I guess, mothers and saints often have it. Best most of us can do is forgive and not forget. Help but not make ourselves too vulnerable or victimized. When it comes to some of the worst rascists, Klan, neo-nazi's the reflex is revulsion and to fight but the people who've made a real difference are those who've shown them love.. even respect. These saintly people have turned around some of the worst, whereas guys like myself, probably just add tinder.

Didn't want to de-rail the thread more so answered in the Canna Bums thread in the Rabbit hole. Back to OP. 61 is a great age. I've heard its when a man is at his peak mentally, spiritually and sexually. Only thing is the mental peak only lasts a month. The spiritual peak, sadly only lasts for a week. The sexual peak, only lasts a day, so it's important to have lots of sex, pretty much daily because you don't know which day the peak will be on.

Moved from the Turning 61 thread. 3 Seeds were $30, but got a $6 discount so $24, but wait! shipping was an expensive $10, so $34, so $11.50 a seed, not so fast paying with a credit card meant getting 3 extra mystery seeds. So kinda $6 a seed, but I'm hoping all I need is one. That it germinates and gets me a dried oz or 2. I am a man of simple needs. I picked the Blueberry something because they seemed like ideal indoor plants. Self flowering, short, low smell, probably a hybrid of indica and sativa as I recall. <90% indica but I'm mellow w/ that> My plan is old school- grab one, throw in my mouth, and swish it around for a bit. The acids and saliva should soften the outer coding, change its RNA and establish a telepathic link with the plant. This way if I'm ever in trouble, say getting arrested I can call to it for help. Course being a plant it can't move or talk or do much. Still 20 years later when I'm in prison I'll notice a guard who seem a little dopey. I'll call to him, say 'Let me out'. He'll nod and say 'Why not.' And I'll be free thanks to the plant's progenitor. Thus, best $34 I've ever spent.

By bonsa-ing I'm just thinking of a heavy 90 degree tilt. I read good things about such training.

Encephalon, you've inspired me. Finally pulled the trigger and ordered 3 Blueberry autoflowering seeds. To honor my coming 57th birthday, grow one little plant bonsai style. See how it goes and grows.

Thought I'd make a thread for people to record unexpected consequences of things going on in the world. NASA is delaying the launch of some satellites* because of Covid. Oxygen is in such high demand (due to Covid) that they don't want to take so much O2 off the market. **At a space conference last week, SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell said, “We certainly are going to make sure the hospitals are going to have the oxygen that they need” for Covid patients. But if anyone has some liquid oxygen lying around their basement, “Send me an email."

Beyond the physical there is the all important mental game. After a traumatic event, can we let it go? Stop thinking about it, not let memories of it trigger us? It's hard, but important, letting it go, cause trauma hits us deep. The more we dwell on it, the deeper the grooves get, until it's a hole we keep falling into. After trauma, review it, learn any lessons, talk it out, then.. stay busy, exercise, when the thought comes, let it go, don't cling to it. Otherwise we can victimize ourselves as bad as the original crime. Not easy but it's something to work at.

I've been noticing and comparing notes lately w/ friends on the 'demon' of urinary track infections. I'm in my late 50's, many friends are of similar age, w/ parents in their late 70s or 80s. We all have stories of bizarre extreme behavior of our parents who were suffering urinary track infections. Sometime paranoia, fear or off track thinking. I think what's worked best is to agree and postpone. Like, yes there is a fire, but now it's out and we're safe. Thank you for the..cake, I'll eat it later. In the short run, it's pointless to argue against an irrational mind**. We can't win. Rational argument will not make a dent, indeed it will inflame the situation. So.. agree/lie, sooth, reframe the problem into the future. ** in the long(er) run, maybe it is worthwhile, in an- each drip makes a tiny difference kind of way. ie stating the truth, and the facts behind it, but that's assuming we'll be with the person in the long run. on the third hand, sometimes having peace is better than being right or straightening out the other.

New member Milo mentioned this to me- wouldnt a chatbox be a great addition to the forum or maybe a discord server ? https://invisioncommunity.com/files/file/7465-chatbox-free/ Years ago it was nice to have an active chat feature, another way for members to connect. Though it was not without its controversies. Don't know how much work it'd be to add this on, but thought I'd pass it on.

Yup, leave, leave early, don't connect or explain, walk away, fast. Develop and listen to your gut. It tells you cross the street or leave the establishment, do it. Don't be afraid, but always be cautious. <<if you are afraid, realize that's good. It should be feeding you some adrenaline, sharpening your senses and letting you take a hit, evolution baby>> One of the most important martial art lessons I received was recognizing an attack. And that wasn't when they threw the punch. Their stance, their eyes, spacing etc. Most often, an attack begins before a punch is thrown. Get the hell away, if you can. Move forward, Listen back. Course there is no guarantee of safety. Its a dangerous world, but we muddle through it, day by day, year by year. Not a bad idea to read police blotters to see what shit is happening and figure out the whys. Don't be an easy target, that includes location, dress, stance and walk. Not sure exactly what I'd do in the OP's situation, but hope it'd be something like 'We didn't take your wallet, excuse us' and walk away quickly, heading somewhere busy and well lit. Listening intently behind, and if steps get close, move faster or turn and face the threat.

Important question. There's a yang (I was going to write masculine) default to 'do something'. When the best course is relaxed observation. Not ignoring, but letting things play out and keeping an eye on them. Possibly strategizing other moves, but for now keeping chill.

After 6 years nice to see this thread come back to life. It's an important subject.

A useful, loving, saintly, point of view. often the best I can do, is show others respect til given a reason not to.

No Likes for U ManitoU

I recently found myself wasting too much time on Reddit and Quora. Reading news and opinions. The more I opened the more it catered to my prejudices. Subtly at first, but after a few days everything was so agreeable to my point of view. Like sugar. Like skating down hill. We're much more susceptible to 'likes' and agreement than we realize. I was reading about one Qanon guy who made it big. He didn't start out w/ rabid, make believe ideas. It was 'likes' that turned him. Writing on normal things gave him a few likes, writing political gave him dozens, but the more outrageous he wrote, the more approval he got. From dozens to 1,000s to 10,000s. People showing him love, the more outrageous he spewed, the better. Growing until it became self feeding madness and he was in the middle of it, raking in some decent cash and rationalizing the craziness. We want to feel superior. We want to save the world. A little bit is fine, but too much and we fall into some pretty deep traps. The worst kind, because we enjoy being in them.

Misery Porn. The basis of most reality shows and lower end talk shows. Trotting out unfortunate folks and putting them/encouraging them to show their very worst side. News does it too- it bleeds it leads. A distillation of all that's going wrong in the world. Watch enough and that's how you come to view the world. But it's wrong. Those shows are like a photo, often 'posed' of people at their worst. The news is the news because its the exception. 99.9% of the world is.. not exactly fine, but regular. Same as yesterday. People either doing their best or running on auto-pilot. Easy to see others as idiots but walk in their shoes and you get fuller perspective. They have reasons not apparent from a surface glance.

Hurting the world, kicking the dog.. Signs we need more inner peace. Ignore the world, (for a bit) Sit peaceful, breath peaceful walk peaceful. Return to balance

ka-choo

When you are meditating, what does it feel like? What do you experience? During.. after. thnx.