Weekly things

Optimisation, placeholders and wordlessness

Things to read

• ICYMI: Some things on Vipassana

• Optimisation will not save you by

  Magdalene J. Taylor
  of
  Many Such Cases

• Placeholders of life by

  Anu
  of
  Working Theorys

• Why the world can’t afford the rich

• How I taught myself to go to sleep from

  Rosie Spinks

A thing to try

• Moments of wordlessness — while I don’t think a ten day silent meditation course is a must-do for everyone, I do think many can benefit from moments of wordlessness in a day. Walking without earphones in. Allowing for pauses in conversation. Commuting in silence. Wordlessness allows us to hear ourselves, but also find reprieve from the pressure to be always consuming.

  
  (Relatedly, I enjoyed this rather wry piece on how we won’t be able to consume all the art/entertainment/everything we want to in our lifetime and that’s okay. I noted this question from Keenan: “When was the last time you truly, deeply, unabashedly connected with something and you didn’t say a single word about it?”)

A thing to ponder

Otherwise
by Jane Kenyon

I got out of bed
on two strong legs.
It might have been
otherwise. I…