LIFESTYLE Newsletter Vol. 3 No. 5
Nick's LIFESTYLE Newsletter
When fictional leadership is better than actual
THIS IS AN INTRODUCTION
Hello again everyone. It's been a few weeks. A historic few weeks. An exciting few weeks (if you want change). A sad few days when you know that change is paid for by the blood of the people that need it the most.
- What a crazy few weeks, right? 2020 has been amazing and I'm at the point that I literally don't know what I will do if Trump wins again. As I write this, he fired a SDNY prosecutor and held a rally telling people we need to slow down COVID testing because we have too many positive cases of it. Huh.
- Listened to a great segment of On the Media: Trump and the Christian Persecution Complex. It's about 15 mins long and well worth it. It has always astounded me when a majority position feels so persecuted.
- When our trip to Jamaica was cancelled, I planned a gaming vacation using the game Snowdonia. It has 19 expansions that take place all over the world AND WE HAVE PLAYED THEM ALL. It was one of my favorite vacations and it was nice playing the same game for 2 months instead of constantly learning new ones.
- I may be killing myself sooner due to running our 3d printer all day, every day printing boxes and accessories for board games. Of all my hobbies, this may be the rich person whitest one. MORE NEXT ISSUE.
- I bought 2 sets of Linen/Cotton sheets from Target to further my #LINENLIFE. They are so nice and make an absorbent and comfortable fabric for my Sunday night cry fighting sleep so I don't have to experience going to work on Monday. IT'S A REAL GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS SITUATION.
THIS IS THE END OF THE INTRODUCTION.
2 THINGS THIS WEEK:
ITEM THE FIRST:
THE RACIST ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM. Yeah, I'm not sure what I have to add about the world right now. I have long known that it is not my white, cis-gendered, upper class voice that needs to be heard right now as anything other than an ally. It is not enough to be not racist anymore, we must be anti-racist. I think readers in my curated echo chamber believe the same, so no need to preach. Here are a few articles I've run into over the past few weeks that I have enjoyed or learned from, and I hope you will too:
- Caught on camera, police explode in rage and violence across the US (The Verge)
- Op-Ed: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Don’t understand the protests? What you’re seeing is people pushed to the edge (LA Times)
- Why only half of Americans say they would get a COVID-19 vaccine (Popular Science)
- Will he go? A law professor fears a meltdown this November. (Vox)
ITEM THE SECOND:
NOT ME, NOT YOU, JUST US. I am amazed and overjoyed by the amount of contributions received for our LIFESTYLE UNSOLICITED ADVICE. Here is some amazing advice for ourselves, from ourselves. Good job us. Mine are the first 5, yours follow (some have been edited for brevity, style and/or to differentiate them from similar ones).
- You are not alone. You may think you are, but you are wrong.
- Your job is to prove love through your actions towards yourself and others.
- It is not how much you make. It is how much you save. Start managing money and saving as soon as you can. Not just for a rainy day (or month or two…) but retirement too.
- Things that were important in the past will cease to be important in the present. And that is ok.
- You will likely not be great. The success in a skill/talent we see celebrated is rare and special and not achievable by everyone. You can however, succeed in being a decent person, which is not as celebrated but ultimately more important.
- Don't be an age-ist. People of all ages can be important in your life for so many reasons. Make friends with 5 year-olds, 25 year-olds, 40 year-olds, 60 year-olds, 95 year-olds. Everyone has something to share at all ages.
- Do what you want. Specifically, don’t NOT do something because you think it is hard or you’re too old or too young or not smart enough or don’t have enough money or you think you’ll look stupid or you might not be able to do it or any other reason. You want to do something, then do it! Find a way!
- Go out of your comfort zone. It is hard. It is scary. It sucks. But this is how you become bigger and better and more awesome.
- Fail a lot. If you’re not failing at something, you’re not taking big enough risks. Eventually, you will succeed and it will be an amazing accomplishment once you finally do.
- Stay curious and adventurous. It makes life so much more enjoyable. Go new places, see new things, expose yourself to new concepts, explore life and keep learning always.
- Don’t plan/judge your life based on your best/worst day.
- There are things about yourself you’ll struggle your entire life to overcome. Those things may never change. Those efforts, however, have byproducts that can be appreciated. Sisyphus was buff AF.
- Feelings are just feelings. Its what you do with them that matters.
- Everyone has a super power. Try to understand yours and how you can make the world a little better with its use.
- Do your homework. Unless it’s just bullshit busy work, in which case, fuck that shit. Also, make damn well sure you can tell the difference.
- Realize that you can use your powers for evil, but actively choose not to do so.
- When changing a bike tire, make sure that the direction of rotation is correct before installing the new tire.
- Before committing to a cause/faction/religion/social norm/established way of thinking/etc., know for yourself exactly why you’re doing so and why you support it, and be prepared to explain yourself rationally and with non-skewed factual support if it ever comes up in conversation.
- Exercise critical thinking and independent thought. Don’t let others think for you, no matter how easy it makes things seem.
- Discussions are not meant to be won. If you “won” a discussion, everyone lost something they could have contributed or learned.
- Focusing on what is wrong with someone/something can be a starting point, but negativity never leads to solutions.
- Proper grammar shows you care. Pedantry doesn’t.
- Expectations lead to anxiety. Surprises lead to joy.
- Recognize people. Recognize when someone achieves a goal. Recognize when someone puts in a lot of effort. Recognize when someone pokes out of their comfort zone. Most of us just want the parts of us we show to the world to be noticed, and maybe celebrated once in a while.
- Don’t get into deep or heated discussions whilst under the influence. Wait until you have the capacity to listen.
- Don’t forget to connect with the people you care about (your partner, friends, family).
- Don’t neglect the things you enjoy doing. Find time to do them every now and then.
- You are beautiful. Stop questioning it and never doubt it.
- If people are worried about what you are doing/wearing and are criticizing you for it, it means they are unhappy with themselves and you are doing something they are either too scared to do or were told not to do. They are suppressing themselves in some way and are upset about it. It has absolutely nothing to do with you.
- Nothing is gained in this world by knocking other people down. There is plenty of room for us all. Let’s start building each other up and celebrate our differences.
- Change can happen at any time. Don’t wait until New Years or Monday or any other random date that seems like a good future time to do something. Start making yourself the you you want to be today.
- Push yourself to try new things. You’ll never grow if you never try something new. It’s scary, and it might not always work out, but sometimes, it can be amazing.
- Make your bed every day…no excuses. Why? Doesn’t matter.
- Find at least one thing that gets you excited to wake up in the morning. Doesn’t matter what it is. Job. Good coffee. Tasty breakfast. Morning run. Hobby. Whatever. Find it now.
- Keep your ceiling fan and its blades clean. Everyone sees it when it’s not moving.
- Read a lot of mysteries, to exercise brain.
- Brush your teeth in the morning and at night. You know, for everyone else in the world.
- Learn to distinguish between what you do and do not have control over. Cultivating inner peace and creating extrinsic impact come when you know the difference.
- Accept responsibility for what you say, how you act, and the choices you make. Do not accept responsibility for other people’s feelings, opinions, or behavior.
- Release as many expectations of people and events as possible. Your happiness largely depends not on how things are going but if they are better or worse than you expect.
- Wear sunscreen
THE HOPE SPOT:
It gives me a lot of hope to see just how fast shitty statues are coming down. Here. In DC. In Richmond. These tributes to slave owners, treasonous generals and colonizers are tumbling like dominoes. Sure, some will stay up and government resources are trying to keep them up, but this is a fight they will lose.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (please mark "ok to print"):
None this week, except all the homework emails.
FAVORITE THING TO GO IN MY EARHOLES THIS WEEK:
I'm doing a bit of a cheat here and giving 2 things diametrically opposed.
- The new Run the Jewels album, RTJ4. It's angry political music that is perfect for the times. RTJ has been the new Rage Against the Machine from the jump.
- This City Pop mix: Now That's What I Call City Pop Vol. 1. I've been really hitting City Pop and Future Funk hard this summer since it is so light and fun, the exact opposite of the world right now. I think I am definitely a kid of the 80's, just in Japan, not here.
WE ARE ALL HEARTBROKEN.
WE MAY NOT HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS.
IT IS UP TO US TO NOT FOCUS EXCLUSIVELY ON PERFECTION IN LIEU OF PROGRESS.
THAT IS ALL.