The obligation to repay enormous student debt, plus the financial realities of having a family and a fantasy of distant retirement, has placed $$$ in the front of my mind. Money has become a goal in and of itself. Ideas are measured in its terms, as are activities. Cost, risk, and potential reward.
I'm done with that. I learned a lot about finance, business, and discipline and rules to live by have emerged from the knowledge. I'm not driven by greed, so having a monetary focus feels more like a survival exercise (as in, induced by fight or flight). Already my brain feels better. But what will fill that gap?
Five money tips for anyone:
1. If she (or) he costs too much, she (or he) is not worth it. Get a dog instead. Puns intended.
2. Do not pay a premium to advertise for someone else. The alleged image boost that brand name clothing provides is not worth the price markup. Nothing says sucker like an Armani logo on your glasses. Quality, however, is always worth the price. Some name brand stuff is of higher quality, and I allow for that. But, really, how much better is a Calvin Klein t-shirt than the ones at Target?
3. A degree is for employment. You are paying a lot of money to be someone else's employee. If you are business-minded, skip school altogether and get selling. And never stop learning and reading and building skills. I say this as someone who has a doctoral degree.
4. Have you ever met a materialistic person who wasn't also a jerk?
5. Diversify. Not just stocks, bonds, and cash, but also look to invest in your community.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Thursday, February 6, 2014
What I'm Reading Today: Meditation 101 (HuffPo)
What I'm Reading Today
Nowadays you're meditating like a paddle surfing Silicon Valley executive. You may become an enlightened one, a being beyond flesh who has transcended suffering, attachment, and bacon. Or, maybe you'll just lower your blood pressure a bit. Or maybe you'll master your brainwaves like a short run Spiderman villain.
The HuffPo's latest meditation bit, Meditation 101: The Neuroscience of Why Meditation Works, is even less helpful and less science-y than their usual shovelware health articles. The article refers to both brain waves and MIND STRENGTH (not my caps), citing a psychotherapist for the basis of why meditation works, neuroscientifically. Though lacking much of a progression, or even a thesis, the article seems to suggest that daily five minute mantra meditation sessions will change your brain waves, thus leading to MIND STRENGTH (again, not my caps). Apparently, slowing brain waves means slowing thoughts (which is not what the science says). Slower thoughts means more time to assess and choose which thoughts to take. I guess the assessment thoughts are moving faster than other thoughts, otherwise the whole enterprise would grind to a halt. How else would you be able to assess and choose which thoughts to take unless your assessing/choosing thoughts are immune to the effects of slower brain waves?
This sort of silliness is not helpful in the promotion of meditation or other means of self-knowledge, healing, and coping with stress.
Nowadays you're meditating like a paddle surfing Silicon Valley executive. You may become an enlightened one, a being beyond flesh who has transcended suffering, attachment, and bacon. Or, maybe you'll just lower your blood pressure a bit. Or maybe you'll master your brainwaves like a short run Spiderman villain.
The HuffPo's latest meditation bit, Meditation 101: The Neuroscience of Why Meditation Works, is even less helpful and less science-y than their usual shovelware health articles. The article refers to both brain waves and MIND STRENGTH (not my caps), citing a psychotherapist for the basis of why meditation works, neuroscientifically. Though lacking much of a progression, or even a thesis, the article seems to suggest that daily five minute mantra meditation sessions will change your brain waves, thus leading to MIND STRENGTH (again, not my caps). Apparently, slowing brain waves means slowing thoughts (which is not what the science says). Slower thoughts means more time to assess and choose which thoughts to take. I guess the assessment thoughts are moving faster than other thoughts, otherwise the whole enterprise would grind to a halt. How else would you be able to assess and choose which thoughts to take unless your assessing/choosing thoughts are immune to the effects of slower brain waves?
This sort of silliness is not helpful in the promotion of meditation or other means of self-knowledge, healing, and coping with stress.
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