Science and Art

"Concentrating only on the usefulness of science is a bit like celebrating music because it is good exercise for the violinist's right arm." — Richard Dawkins "Brief Candle in the Dark" page 233.

Whole 30 Diet Experience, Cinnamon Rolls and Beer

One week into the Whole 30 Diet with my wife.

As promised this diet can change my sense of life and open up new levels of self awareness. What a wonderful tool for self examination!

What is new and shocking is that I see even more vividly than ever how the magnitude of how sugar and alcohol capture my imagination and drive my attention. I've been using them to distract myself from the "terror of the situation."  This isn't a new insight because I've been observing the varieties of distraction and misuse of my imagination for 5 or 6 years, or longer. 

What is NEW is that I had not realized the size of this distraction compared to other things that occupy my attention.  It seems really huge, compared to valuable choices of conversation, reading, working or exercising. I see and feel magnitude of my attraction to city life driven by the potential varieties of pastries, and beer. 

What do I mean by imagination?

Imagination that is the " … power of fantasy, which takes the place of a real function. When a man dreams instead of acting, when his dreams take the place of reality, when a man imagines himself to be an eagle, a lion, or a magician, it is the force of [imagination] working in him."  reference this blog post.

Blogging for Me

I have the feeling when I read my old blogs that they seem so inane! It is discouraging. But should it discourage me?

The other concern is repetition. I write down an insight, and much later I record a similar insight. I have forgotten the insight from the first time it came to me.  This is not a new discovery either. In the days of paper I used to list my "new insights," "awarenesses," etc. as they occurred.  After a couple of years of doing this I reviewed my list and was amazed to discover how many times I had listed the same insight more than once, and each time it seemed "new" to me.  Later I found a line in one of Karen Horney's books about this phenomena.  She said it was a result of not fully integrating and insight once it is achieved. It is important to dwell with and explore an insight to make it stick.

The biggest barrier to learning is thinking I already know.

The most recent example of this was gained by reading Rita Mulcahy's Project Management Guide. Because I thought I already knew, as I skimmed through the PMBOK over the last few decades, I never took the time to think about what I was looking at.

Rita's book helped me to recognize all the things that I had never articulated. The shadows and shapes in the room of awareness that I rely on without knowing what I am doing.

It is putting on a new pair of glasses, or a new set of eyes. Suddenly I have words for what I had no words for.  Suddenly I see what's missing and won't accept excuses for why it is missing!

I regret? all the years I spent in the "rabbit hole" of IT skills, and the "crisis of the moment."
Now at least I can live life as it is meant to be lived.

The key to fuller awareness is in my hands, do I have the courage to use it?

Education

I found a great tutorial online, http://learnpythonthehardway.org/book/ex0.html.
The author, Zed A. Shaw, says:
"A major part of this book is learning to research programming topics online. I'll tell you to "search for this on the internet," and your job is to use a search engine to find the answer. The reason I have you search instead of just giving you the answer is because I want you to be an independent learner who does not need my book when you're done with it. If you can find the answers to your questions online then you are one step closer to not needing me, and that is my goal."
....
"If someone tells you to stop at a specific exercise in this book or to skip certain ones, you should ignore that person. Anyone trying to hide knowledge from you, or worse, make you get it from them instead of through your own efforts, is trying to make you depend on them for your skills. Don't listen to them and do the exercises anyway so that you learn how to educate yourself."

I love this author's attitude!

What amazes me these days is the number of "young" people I deal with who say, "teach me," in response to my advice to read the book or play around with the concept until you master it.

Language of My Body

Just as there is a language for communicating with our animals, e.g. dogs.

There must be a language for communicating with my body.

A great example is the urge to go to the bathroom, to pee.

I drive a long distance, drinking coffee.

I come to a place where there is a restroom.

My body, suddenly lets me know, it is time to go.

The door to the rest room is locked.

I try to tell my body with words, thoughts, images that this doesn't work, wait.

My body won't hear it.

Yet it does recognize that the opportunity should be there. 

Communication is happening, it is just as not refined as speaking to a person.

Bio Feed back

One of the most interesting new experiences for me at my advanced age of 59 it discovering the feedback that my body gives me.
I wake up in the morning, and I don't want to exercise.
I sneak up on the exercise slowly, wash my face, shave, start stretching on my yoga mat …
Soon I am doing the full work out, pushing my self to failures, embracing the cold early morning air before sunrise, letting my self imposed deadline for starting my job for the day slip by because I am working out!

And my body gives me the feedback to keep this going.

Then on other days, I find the my body wants to do stuff, so I listen to what my body has to say, "exercise," "study," "do chores." and I find that my life is so much smoother if I cooperate with my body.
On the other hand, my body does need to be trained in much the same way I have trained dogs in the past.
The parallel between my body and a dog is amazing to me.
Reward it and it works.