People rely on celebrities for personality templates, which is why celebrity deaths hit them so hard. +
Remember the “married people are happier on average than singles” stat? Well, it could be that the direction of causation is actually reversed: happiness _causes_ marriage. Higher levels of serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin bring about and maintain a marriage. ;) +
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men evolved differently, that they are born with certain mutable characteristics, and that among these are life and the pursuit of pleasure.” — the American Declaration of Independence translated into biological terms +
If you care about my opinion about the Berlin Film Festival line-up and awards — except the very, very worthy La Prière — it’s a perfect image of the mentally sick asylum which is our current, past and future global society. I chose to quit +
Sitting down, closing your eyes and focusing on your breath is… relaxation. Which is fine. The point of meditation is to move beyond the confines of the illusory separate self into a stabilized state of maximum awareness (and eventually enlightenment) where you experience the cessation +
That “live in the present moment” thing? Well, you know what, it’ll become a “dead in the past forever” thing in 100 years max. Ignore human-scale time at your own risk. Oh, and the “God only knows the Plan” thing… that’s so you follow someone +
The night sky represents the myriad of opportunities you’ll never realize, trillions of galaxies, each containing millions of stars and dozens of places to go and see. A stark reminder of our limits. Speed of light vs speed of life. +
Success in art is predicated on tolerance: tolerance to stress, tolerance to the unknown, tolerance to failure, tolerance to social pressure. Some of it is built-in, hard-coded with your DNA. Some can be modified and improved with discipline training, emotional awareness / control / sublimation, +
“Not only did the Berlin violin students spend most of their time with other music students, but they also tended to date music students or at least others who would appreciate their passion for music and understand their need to prioritize their practice.” Anders Ericsson +
Here’s how to pursue your passion. First, choose the passion. If you don’t know what it is, then skip to the next step. Second: go to school. If you had a passion, the teachers will most probably beat the crap out of you, intellectually, and +
On Monday, July 26, 1971, Diane Arbus wrote the words “Last Supper” in her diary. She placed the appointment book on the stairs leading to the bathroom. She swallowed a large dose of barbiturates and, still in her clothes, laid down inside the tub. Then, +
Well, I’ve waited about a week before saying it… but the whole Brexit thing is a pathetic show of stupidity, hypocrisy, xenophobia and egotism. The good thing is that around half of real-life UKers are OKers (and that includes my friends on the island). So +
“Recent research finds that most people approach their work in one of 3 ways: 1) a job 2) a career 3) a calling If you see your work as a job, you do it only for the money, you look at the clock frequently, while +
Having kids is a weak argument for dropping the ball artistically & professionally. Kids would prefer parents they admire past their teens. Oh, and if you’re projecting your lifelong dreams onto your kids… that’s a big no-no. They won’t be correcting your own life’s mistakes. +
Beware of the current “being in the present” obsession of self-help books. The human brain evolved to model the past and future. It’s what makes us human. Don’t deny it. Embrace all 3 tenses and learn to hop around the timeline at will. +
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