MeatSpace Adventures

Over the past few years, I have been making a conscious effort to just be better.  I have a long way to go yet to where I would like to be, so let’s just get that out of the way now.  This isn’t someone trying to tell anyone, “Hey look at me…Look how awesome I am!”  Far from it, in fact I am hard on myself, which may not be completely healthy either, but if I thought I was awesome then there would be no need to focus on being better.  I do know that I have made some gains in some areas of my life and can see the shortcomings in all the other areas.  As I continue to work on conceptualizing this blog and my writing agenda, one of my objectives is to create a space for conversation about living a good life that is healthy and productive.  I am no expert or anything, I just hope that my ideas might add to the ideas and thinking processes of anyone who happens upon this post.

What I have tried to do is simplify my life’s focus down to three areas.  I will confess that I thrive on organization and structure because I can get way too spread out and involved in too many things that then makes it impossible to develop anything to any degree.  I want to get my whole existence down to bare minimum aspects, which in turn will strengthen my abilities, health, and character at the same time.  I am not suggesting that anyone should use the structures I use but only offer them as insights and examples.  The main point is that through simplification and minimalism, I have been able to see my own growth.  The categories I focus on are Mind, Body, and Spirit.  Each day I create goals and assess actions and outcomes based on each category.  Yes, these are broad topics that incorporate lots of life, but within each one I can minimalize my focus to the essential things I am doing and need to work on.  In my system, I create goals, objectives, and to do lists within these three categories and then journal my daily activities, thoughts, ideas, and interactions with as much detail as I can in respect to each of them as well. 

Mind

In this category, I try to focus on my mental capacity and any intellectual endeavors I am currently undertaking.  What I like about a broad category is that the contents can change.  In the past, I have been really into homebrewing and growing mushrooms for example.  Unfortunately, I am not currently doing either of these things because I am moving to England and sold my house and therefor have no space but when I was, they were in my Mind category and it made me focus on studying, learning, and building up each craft and doing them as well as possible.  I figure if I am going to put time and effort into doing something then I should do it as well I possibly can.

Right now, my top priority in life is to develop this blog and my writing skills and become a writer.  I just read a book entitled, Atomic Habits by James Clear and one point he makes that really resonated with me was that to seriously change habits a person has to change their identity.  For example, if you want to exercise and get in shape to lose weight then you should see yourself as an athlete.  If you want to quit smoking and someone offers you a cigarette your response should be, “No thanks, I don’t smoke.”  Instead of, “No thanks, I’m trying to quit.”  The first response identifies as someone who doesn’t smoke while the second one is still identifying as a smoker who is trying to quit.  It’s a subtle difference but an important one.  Clear’s point is that if you invest your time into doing something and create the habit with consistency, then you should also enhance your self-perception and embrace the identity that comes along with it.  It will help you build the confidence needed to keep working towards your goals.  I do not identify as a writer yet.  I am a lot of different things, but I do not feel like I have earned the distinction of writer just yet.  However, in my system I always put writing as the top priority of my Mind category.  I set daily goals and am trying to establish a consistent practice that will, hopefully sooner than later, materialize into me being a writer.

Some examples of other intellectual activities I put into this category are reading, chess, and jazz.  I am a compulsive reader and I believe whole heartedly that reading is essential to mental fortitude.  I like to mow down books and really consider reading exercise for your brain.  During the pandemic I read every book that Thomas Pynchon wrote.  It took me nearly two years but after that I felt like I had taken reading to the next level, and no book scares me anymore.  Last November/December during the stress and uncertainty of selling our house, I read The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky and felt at times strong feelings of euphoria and found myself completely inside the story.  It is hard to explain this feeling, but it was a great reading experience.  I am currently tackling Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternack.  I am not sure why I have this fondness for Russian novels, but I really love them.  I am also really into chess.  Unfortunately, I am not as good at it as I want to be.    I have some books that I have studied and have added different apps and forums that I can play and practice. Finally, I am really into jazz music.  Like obsessively into it.  I think Coltrane is second only to Miles Davis, but I like Mile’s quintet with Wayne Shorter better than the one with Coltrane.  Lately, I’ve really been into Jackie McLean and take my advice – add listening to Bill Evans into your life.  In my system, I document what I am reading, listening to, or how my chess is going.  I can think about and dig deeper into authors, musicians, or tactics.  I also think that the act of documenting solidifies everything more concretely in your mind.  I am not writing pages on any of this, usually a bullet list will suffice or jotting down some ideas or impressions, but instead of passively engaging in activities that interest me I am purposeful and invested.

Finally, I add into this category mindfulness, focus, and retention.  I try to think about and document how much control I have over my mind and how effective it can be.  There is a lot more that I need to do and would like to do and learn about.  I know that if I spend time exercising my mind and working at the things that will make me mentally stronger, I am moving forward and using my time and energy well.  I think that a person can put too much on their plate and I know that I feel like that at times, so it is helpful to think about what I am spending my mental energy on so that I can focus my time and effort on what I want to learn about and achieve. 

Body

Body incorporates anything relating to health and exercise.  Looking back over my life, I have not been nearly as health conscious as I should have been.  Now, in this stage of my life, I am making a conscious effort to be as healthy as possible.  I must make a confession and admit that the pandemic was maybe the best thing that could have happened to me.  I am not in any way unsympathetic to the negative impact it had on so many people, I felt the fear and uncertainty, and I certainly sympathize with everyone who lost loved ones or suffered in any way.  However, for me it was truly transformational.  During that year and a half, I was forced to work from home and being a teacher that meant my workload was extremely light.  I basically got paid to do almost nothing.  I don’t feel guilty either, I had no control over anything.  What I did do is take control of my life.  I started running consistently, locked in my diet, and I was removed from in-person workspaces that after being away from I realized were not very healthy.  What I learned through the pandemic experience is that I want to live my life that way all the time.  When the insanity stopped and the world came back alive, I made up my mind to keep pursuing a healthy lifestyle, keeping what was healthy and beneficial and not returning to the things that were detrimental and harmful. 

I love exercise!  I feed off it.  I crave it!  I need it!  My main activity is running.  It is a very big part of my life.  Running isn’t just exercise to me, it is more like therapy or Zen.  I love trail running the most.  Every day, I reflect on my runs.  I plan out my weekly running agenda.  I map out the progress I want to make in the short term and long term.  Tassa and I also do a lot of walking.  We take our son’s dog Casey on long walks in the evening, and it is honestly the best part of my day, and Casey’s too.  I am also an avid paddleboarder (SUP) and back country hiking is probably the coolest activity I have found, but that is only once or twice (if I’m lucky) a year.  Tracking and documenting how many miles I run or walk, looking at SUP data, and planning/executing hiking trips takes these activities to a deeper level because in addition to the physical activities there are also reflective and analytical elements too.  I have a nice GPS watch and can track a lot of physical data with it.  I feel like as long as I am moving then I am ok.  

In my Body section along with exercise, I am really focused on diet.  Diet and nutrition are very interesting and important subjects to me.  In 2018, I started eating a plant-based diet.  I do not like the term vegan.  I have found it to be misleading and combative for some reason.  Plus, I am not a vegan.  In the past 6 years I have eaten animal products – mainly fish and even though it is very rare that I do this I cannot be considered a vegan.  I do think it is a noble thing to strive for but for me, I am only about optimal diet and nutrition.  I will add that consuming meat has too many negatives for me, and I do have moral objections to the treatment of animals that are generally consumed in the mass production of meat and dairy products, which strengthens my conviction to not support those industries but that really isn’t relevant here and again, it is a very volatile subject that I try to avoid.  Maybe in another post.  But I can say that in the Fall of 2017, I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, my triglycerides were through the roof, and I was about 30 to 40 pounds overweight.  I went plant-based on January 1, 2018.  In March, just three months later, I had blood work done to see if there was any significant change.  My cholesterol was way down below the normal level, no more high blood pressure, the triglycerides were also well below a normal level, and I lost 30 pounds with little to no exercise.  That was just three months!  Six years later, I have lost an additional 10 pounds and continue to maintain my weight, plus my cholesterol and blood pressure are still very low.  I am getting all the protein I need from plant-based sources and most importantly I feel so much better than I did six years ago.  I keep a daily record of what I eat and how I feel.  It seems like the most important thing I can do for myself. 

I highly recommend a book that fundamentally changed my life, How Not to Die by Dr. Michael Greger.  It is a well written engaging book on how different foods affect your body and reduce your risk of diseases like heart disease and various cancers.  It is not a vegan manifesto; in fact, it talks about how to reduce your risks if you do eat meat and I feel that the information it gives is just essential to anyone who wants to improve their overall health.  One thing Dr. Greger says in his book that really resonated with me was that our bodies naturally heal themselves, which if you think about it is amazing.  If you cut your finger it will heal.  But if you cut your finger everyday over and over it will not only not heal but it will become ten times worse.  The same thing goes for the inside of our bodies.  If you are constantly digesting harmful, processed, empty calorie dense, non-nutritious foods then your insides are not able to heal or function properly, so not only does the machine that is your body not get the fuel it needs, but it is also slowly being destroyed, the impacts of which come later in the form of disease.  

I have come to the realization that if I am going to spend my valuable time on something, especially something I do daily, it should be on exercise and diet.  In my Body section, I also track my sleep, which is very important.  There are also things like core strengthening and yoga that I do not do regularly but I want to and need to and know are very important. I write them down and track them so that I always keep them there to remind me that I have more to do and more to work on.  I just started a new book called Outlive: The Art and Science of Longevity by Peter Attia, MD.  It has validated my system and reinforced the idea that I must take control over my own health and the quality of life I will have in the future.  At the very least being purposeful and reflective about your health, your activities, and your choices minimizes autopilot actions and makes what you do and eat conscious decisions.

Spirit

This is a tougher category.  I am not a religious person but like to think I am spiritual.  I don’t just want to be mentally and physically healthy, but I’d like to be enlightened and good natured too.  In this category, I think about my interactions with people, my thoughts and actions, and my belief system.  I have found that the most difficult part of this is to be honest with yourself.  Through the work I do in this category, I have come to realizations about myself and people and the nature of reality or whatever that I think have made a big difference in my life.  I also realize that I am barely scratching the surface and I am ok with that, the other two categories Mind and Body are more tangible and measurable in nature, while my spiritual growth is more subjective and abstract.  My ultimate goals are just to become a more positive, happy, compassionate, self-aware, and conscientious human being.  

I have been reading as many Buddhist texts and books on Buddhist teachings as I can lately.  It makes sense to me, and I do not consider it a religion really and I do not consider myself a Buddhist, but I do find that it helps me think about my own existence in ways that fit my personal goals.  The fundamental lessons in Buddhism are the ideas of emptiness and changing existence.  We basically live inside our minds and our lives are spent thinking about a distorted idea of the past and an imaginary perception of the future, and rarely is our mind fully focused on the present moment.  We live in constant delusion instead of focusing on the only reality which is the now.  Our attachments and emotional responses to people and things are usually unwarranted because as we move from moment to moment in the present none of that matters at all anyway.  I am grappling with this mode of thinking and my western conditioning makes it difficult to fully grasp but I think there is something in it.  I have been using the Spirit category as a space where I can think about the teachings and how they can be applicable in my conception of life as a whole and to the present moments of my life, which in turn makes me think about how to be a better person. 

So What?

The opening bass notes of “So What” from the album Kind of Blue by Miles Davis and then the subsequent modality of the song audibly represents the underlying point of everything for me – so what?  I’m not sure that I believe anything matters anymore, not in any social or meaningful way.  The past five or six years have come with the realization that the world is going to move along regardless, people are going to continue to be people and do whatever they do, and there is very little that anyone can do about anything.  I am not suggesting that acts of kindness or generosity do not make positive impacts and that people should be nihilistic in their approach to life, or that caring about people and the world is pointless, quite the opposite, however, it seems the world has become extremely convoluted and people are more and more removed from having any kind of control in the trajectory of where the world is headed.  Consequently, the world seems to be driven by the grand sum of the collective conscience of all the humans milling about right now.  This paradox brings me to the conclusion – so what?  All I can do is work on myself.  If I can become the best version of me then maybe I won’t contribute to the negative path our future can take but instead add to a more positive way.