cross-posted from: https://wolfballs.com/post/11152
by the title they mean basically abandoning things that are overwhleming you that it may be difficult to ever get to: lists of books you want to read, tabs you haven't read, non-critical emails or notifications that have gone unread, unfinished projects, etc.
I stumbled upon this blog post which I may not entirely agree with (he suggests just throwing a broken washing machine out... well, at least can you donate it somewhere, if you can?)
https://critter.blog/2020/09/24/declare-bankruptcy-and-dont-be-ashamed-of-it/
Have you done this, or what do you think of the idea?
mayonesa@wolfballs.com 3 years ago
This is like Christian forgiveness or Buddhist non-attachment: when something or someone is out of your control, detach and move forward elsewhere.
sj_zero@lotide.fbxl.net 3 years ago
I've heard an interesting theory that Christianity and Buddhism are ideologies for people at different stages of life. Christianity is about action, going out and doing things. Buddhism is about winding things down, detaching from the world so you're not suffering as you age. Christianity, by contrast, just tells you that your entire lifetime on earth is an extended childhood before your eternal life in the kingdom of heaven.
Personally, I don't think either attitude is good for an entire lifetime. I wrote to my son in "The Graysonian Ethic: Lessons for my unborn son" that he needs to build something, and tempered that with recognition that life is long. I went through each decade and gave my view on what happens, from early childhood until the end of your 20s where it feels like you'll live forever and nothing you do will ever have consequences, to your 30s, 40s, and 50s where you continue to grow and build, and then from your 60s onwards where you're relying on the things you've built to take you through to the end of your life. Life has phases, and as you age your priorities need to change.
Frankly, I don't think our contemporary generations have a problem of setting too many goals. I think what I see looks like people taking carpe diem too seriously and not setting goals, not making achievable plans to accomplish those goals, and not taking actions to execute those plans. Then they foolishly fall into demand socialism when the nothing they've been up to accomplishes nothing and they blame people who did something for their own problems.
mayonesa@wolfballs.com 3 years ago
Schopenhauer had a riff about how there were different philosophies for the different decades. I remain unconvinced. I tend to see Buddhism and Christianity as like rest areas on the Grand Canyon: you can see the beauty, but you can't see the whole thing.