Take a swipe at it with a single feather – 2nd April 2020

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Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful that we will go out today to take our cats to the vet.

Krishna descends to this planet every 8.6 billion years and this purpose is stated in Bhagarad-gita and we have to accept it as is; otherwise there is no point in trying to understand it!

Swami

To-do list

  • Finish one more lesson
  • Start that course – now is a good opportunity ½

I taught Bruce today though actually, I didn’t really teach him anything. We ended up talking about Chinese history and how things repeat themselves. I should try and talk to more people – though I don’t really need a high quota to be happy, I have to be aware that I don’t cut everyone off.

I talked with Hayden for a little while today too. He seems to be doing okay under the conditions of the lockdown in Australia.

I watched some of Joe Rogan’s interview with Andrew Yang about Universal Basic Income and I’m starting to consider Hayden’s attitude to work may serve him well in the future, maybe at least not wasting his time and energy on a career that leads nowhere or is made redundant by technology and automation. He still needs to master himself in self-motivation and hard work for himself though.

I’m still confused about my own direction in continuing teaching at the moment. If we move to online teaching it will remove one of the things that I enjoy about teaching and that is the connection I have with the students.

And why waste time working hard when this virus could just stop me dead at any time? If we have only a year left, do I want to spend it in the frustrations of this teaching system? But I guess I shouldn’t be thinking like that (and I am still, very slowly, preparing lessons).

We got that attitude! – 30th March 2020

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I am so happy and grateful for my books and my newfound pleasure in reading.

Everybody now has at least two cars, two television sets and a haunted look in their eyes. In short – we are happy.

Albert Umber

To-do list

  • Finish going through book list ✅
  • Start Logic course
  • Carry on – clear emails, close tabs, sort CDs ½

Thursday now – we took the cats to the vet in the city for vaccines. It was good to be out if only very briefly and directly – no dilly-dally.

There’s talk of having to teach our classes online in the new semester – not sure how well that will work and not sure how enjoyable it might be. A challenge – but is it a challenge I want to take? I suppose I would still like to be doing something – let’s see.

Amy has been even more vocal about not wanting to stay here anymore and I think she will go to Oz as soon as it’s feasible again and we’ll get our heads around moving back there. We can’t really do it until Cap and Tigger have gone though – taking them back isn’t really possible.

We got that attitude! – 29th March 2020

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I am so happy and grateful for the wind because whilst it may be blowing the smoke in our direction, it is also helping to blow it further away

I’m just this big open field, waiting for the rain.

Henry Rollins

To-do list

  • Continue with lessons ½
  • Finish TCRAH upload and promote ✅
  • Tidy up laptop ✅

Tuesday now, no new report. Not much thinking going on. Not in the mood for thought-provoking reading or listening – just entertainment. No end in sight for this shutdown.

We got that attitude! – 26th March 2020

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I am so happy and grateful for the fruit and vegetables still growing in our garden.

Across the far-flung kingdom, religious practice helped manage the loyalty and production of the peasantry.

The King Never Smiles

To-do list

  • Record and plan new TCRAH ½
  • Sort some CDs ✅
  • Use new book to plan lessons ✅
  • Meditate

Now is Sunday. Time and effort have dissolved. I finally managed to start putting together lessons – now that the deadline has passed! Inspirations have to be followed at the appropriate time.

We got that attitude! – 25th March 2020

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I am so happy and grateful for our clean terrace this morning.

You do not have to lead an interesting life in order to understand how atoms move, but perhaps you do need it to understand what moves humans.

Branko Milanovic

To-do list

  • Record and plan more TCRAH
  • Sort some CDs
  • Write one lesson plan
  • Get back to squats and meditation ½

A lazy beery day. I’m still not really enjoying alcohol much these days – it interferes with my ability to read, write and watch (and follow) TV. I should just drink at social occasions but of course, there are none of those currently. So, anyway, I didn’t get much of anything done today.

We got that attitude! – 24th March 2020

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I am so happy and grateful to be motivated to help Amy this morning. We did an hour cleaning the terrace and it was fun.

24th Mar 2023 – A disadvantage of having a relatively big house and garden is the time to maintain and clean it. When I moved to Australia and started doing more adult things (!), Bronwyn and I lived first in an apartment before relocating for work to a house with a garden. We thought that would be great – so much space to do with what we wanted. I soon discovered that that space did what it wanted with us.
As we were renting there was no real connection with space that made me what to spend too much time keeping it together.
Even now I would rather pay someone to do our garden work. I wonder how much of a step it would be for me to hire a cleaner for indoors? Somehow I just can’t imagine that unless I was incapacitated. Even considering this kind of thing is a privilege I am thankful for.

You are a human-in-training and that making mistakes and having slips of integrity and mediocre moments are a part of life, not unforgivable sins.

Dan Millman

To-do list

  • Record new TCRAH first thing ✅
  • Sort some CDs
  • Write one lesson ✅

Spent some time actually doing things today. The days go quickly either way. A few weeks ago I was motivating myself with challenges and now I feel, with more time on my hands, less challenged and therefore less motivated.

I like this feeling because I may get less done but what does it really matter? I had less time before because I was working so it was important to allocate time to getting other things done. Work can be rewarding but starting to feel unnecessary. Luckily, I’m in a position financially where it’s not a big issue.

27th Jun 2024 – I don’t know exactly how I was feeling when I wrote this because I feel almost the opposite now. I don’t enjoy not having anything in particular to do. I’m good at filling my time but feel much more motivated when time is limited.