Random. No more or less

Also for your listening pleasure. “I hate my phone”

It’s actually a love hate affair with the damned thing.


 
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RC Mike, that is terrific news! My wife recently left her clinical pharmacy practice of 40 years for a casual retail gig, she's so much happier to be shed of the bureaucracy of the institutional world.
Lola, very happy for you and you little canine family member!
For me, yesterday was a long and difficult day. My sister-in-law succumbed to the battle with her tumor and the funeral was yesterday. Yours truly delivered the eulogy, something I've never done before. Hard as it was, it was uplifting to have so many friends and family there to celebrate her life and release the tension of a horrible and progressive demise. My brother has been through so much in the last two years, first with their daughters leukemia battle and now his wife of 48 years. Nobody deserves to go through what he has been subjected to.
Live, love, and celebrate the life you have my friends. Be grateful for those in your life that make you richer than any monetary means can ever afford.
 
I am so sorry for your loss. I feel for you! This is very hard for some ppl to deal with. I am definitely not good with things like this because I crumble. That’s okay though I give my self over to what ever I am feeling. Just take it day by day. Again pls accept my condolences.
 
RC Mike, that is terrific news! My wife recently left her clinical pharmacy practice of 40 years for a casual retail gig, she's so much happier to be shed of the bureaucracy of the institutional world.
Lola, very happy for you and you little canine family member!
For me, yesterday was a long and difficult day. My sister-in-law succumbed to the battle with her tumor and the funeral was yesterday. Yours truly delivered the eulogy, something I've never done before. Hard as it was, it was uplifting to have so many friends and family there to celebrate her life and release the tension of a horrible and progressive demise. My brother has been through so much in the last two years, first with their daughters leukemia battle and now his wife of 48 years. Nobody deserves to go through what he has been subjected to.
Live, love, and celebrate the life you have my friends. Be grateful for those in your life that make you richer than any monetary means can ever afford.
Condolences
 
I have some happy news. My wife got a job offer yesterday! She'll be the operations director for a large private medical practice. She's been out of work since being laid off in July. It's been a bumpy road of finding a new position that's also a step up in a field that's locally in recession (lots of healthcare layoffs here).

We were pretty fortunate to have built up a nice rainy-day fund. Cut way back on the spending and didn't have to tap into any savings while she was on the beach.

Great news, congrats Mrs RCM.

Daryl, sorry for your loss. Forum Bro hugs.
 
Are any of you aware of “state of flow”?
100% familiar with this. It is a thing with many different things. I experience it with music, writing code and writing documentation and presentations and a number of other things. What sucks is when you are in the flow and something takes you out of it. It can take 15 to 20 minutes to get it going again and any further interruptions just keep delaying it.
 
100% familiar with this. It is a thing with many different things. I experience it with music, writing code and writing documentation and presentations and a number of other things. What sucks is when you are in the flow and something takes you out of it. It can take 15 to 20 minutes to get it going again and any further interruptions just keep delaying it.
I know that I have experienced this before but I need to get back into it before something goes awry. Do you practice it?
 
Are any of you aware of “state of flow”?

Yup. A life goal is to practice it in all things... it's the state of being fully present in the moment. Even if you're washing the dishes LOL. I've experienced it alot, moreso after starting my Taoist journey. I've experienced it playing, hiking, cooking, walking the dogs...

This subject could be a whole thread unto itself!
 
Yup. A life goal is to practice it in all things... it's the state of being fully present in the moment. Even if you're washing the dishes LOL. I've experienced it alot, moreso after starting my Taoist journey. I've experienced it playing, hiking, cooking, walking the dogs...

This subject could be a whole thread unto itself!
Then let’s do it because right now I desperate to upright that tea kettle in my life that has fallen downstairs into the depths of hell. I can’t focus I am scattered like shrapnel. I have a lot on my plate right now but who doesn’t!
 
I know that I have experienced this before but I need to get back into it before something goes awry. Do you practice it?
That is an interesting question. I never thought about practicing it. I think of it more as preparing the environment that allows it to happen. I plan to spend some time with something and remove as many future interruptions as possible. That allows me to have the focus time I need to get into the flow. I like how @ruger9 said it. "It's the state of being fully present." I find that doing a little prep work ahead of time helps that happen.
 
For example, you shouldn't be thinking about your list of chores while doing your chores: if you're washing dishes, you should focus on washing dishes, don't be thinking about raking the leaves or going food shopping. Flow is sort of the opposite of multitasking.

And "preparing the environment".. that's a good way to put it, to "help you" get there; there's a great quote by Charlie Parker: "Learn it all. Then forget everything and just play."
 
Do you prepare your mind as well?
I try to clear my mind of any thoughts that may be weighing on me. That way I have room for what I am about to step into. Starting whatever it is that I am about to do is also part of clearing the mind for me. I am replacing any other thoughts with the details of what I am doing. Even with all of this, there are times where I just can't get there.

I had a time when I was going to do some recording. I had a lot of issues with the software on my computer and by the time I got through applying all of the updates and getting the software all working again, I had nothing left. No matter how hard I tried after that to create something I came up empty handed. That is when I know it is time to walk away for the day. I can sometimes power through things like this and still get there but this particular day I knew it wasn't going to happen no matter how much time I spent trying.
 
For example, you shouldn't be thinking about your list of chores while doing your chores: if you're washing dishes, you should focus on washing dishes, don't be thinking about raking the leaves or going food shopping. Flow is sort of the opposite of multitasking.

And "preparing the environment".. that's a good way to put it, to "help you" get there; there's a great quote by Charlie Parker: "Learn it all. Then forget everything and just play."
The opposite of multitasking is another great way of putting it! It is about focus on the task at hand.
 
Do you prepare your mind as well?

That exactly what you need to prepare; you actually practice it by doing it. Buddhist monks will tell you meditation is one of the ways you prepare your mind for being fully present. It's ironic because alot of people think meditation is emptying the mind, when it's actually the opposite: it's hyper-focusing the mind: that's why you pick something... a thought, a sound, and think ONLY about that; hyper-focusing on one thing keeps the mind from scattering and thinking about a million things.

You've done it yourself, many times, I'm sure. Learning a new piece of music or technique: you are hyper-focused on that one thing, there is no "outside world" at that moment, it's just you and the music. That is a form of meditation, believe it or not. Flow happens when you get so good at the technique that it becomes second nature, you become like that in everything you do.

There are all kinds of meditation: sitting mediation, Tai Chi and Qi Gong, playing a musical instrument. Actually I'll go back to that: if you have learned a song so well you don't have to think about it, that's the first step. But if, when playing the song with the band, you are playing the song automatically but thinking about what you have to do the next day, that is not flow, not meditation. You know when you blow through a solo perfectly, and after you realize you did it perfectly, but also that you weren't even thinking about it? Because you weren't thinking about anything? That's because you were fully present with the music; you weren't thinking, period. You were just doing. That's flow. Zen. Mindfulness. It has many names throughout the ages.
 
Some might find this a little silly, but this video helps explain and demonstrate the idea.

Sorry guys, wrong video... see below.
 
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