“Interestingly, we instinctively chase after pleasure believing it to be the source of sustainable happiness. Many of us spend most of our time and energy chasing pleasure, sometimes enjoying flow, and once in a while, we think about higher purpose. We should be doing the reverse. This is the most logical path towards sustainable happiness, at least in relation to our work.”
Source: Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck—Why Some Thrive Despite Them All
“One of the minimalist home values... was rest. Another minimalist home value is seemingly the opposite: work. But not frantic work. Peaceful, purposeful work. Efficient, effective work.”
Source: The Minimalist Home: A Room-by-Room Guide to a Decluttered, Refocused Life
“not enough experience
I have so much e x p e r i e n c e
it would make you choke”
Source: you ate popcorn in my house of grief: transgenerational poetry
“it’s not a free choice when you depend on it”
Source: you ate popcorn in my house of grief: transgenerational poetry
“Neoliberalism insists that if we work hard enough, we can earn as much money as anyone else. Of course, the concept of meritocracy is integral to neoliberalism and erases the reality of capital itself, that capitalism is not just material capital but also, importantly, social and cultural capital. Without these forms of capital, (p. 77) one cannot, in fact, “succeed” in a capitalist culture. One obvious example is the art world, where one can only have their work shown in a gallery if they have connections to that gallery (galleries do not, for the most part, accept unsolicited submissions). All the cash in the world can’t create the generations of social connections of a middle-class family, whose circle might include art collectors, gallerists, critics, and artists. It is also the values and unspoken rules of the ruling class that distinguish who is allowed in and who is not.”
Source: The Melancholia of Class: A Manifesto for the Working Class
“It’s hard to have patience, especially when you aren’t actually sure what you’re waiting for. Have you ever felt ready for the next thing, but not sure what that thing is?”
Source: You Are Here (For Now): A Guide to Finding Your Way
“Notice how not even once were we told to just bow down and worship God via song for our entire lives. Yet our churches are nearly addicted to making this the high point of spiritual formation and worship. And let me be clear, this is important and true. But, at least in Genesis, it's not primary. Or another way to put it is, yes, we are called to sing to God but that singing happens through our vocation, not our mouths. Worship at the beginning of the Bible primarily was centered around the job God gave us. Our job was to make, cultivate, create, build, steward, and tame. That is the original mission, the original mandate.”
Source: Take Back Your Family: From the Tyrants of Burnout, Busyness, Individualism, and the Nuclear Ideal
“How in the hell could a man enjoy being awakened at 6:30 a.m. by an alarm clock, leap out of bed, dress, force-feed, shit, piss, brush teeth and hair, and fight traffic to get to a place where essentially you made lots of money for somebody else and were asked to be grateful for the opportunity to do so?”
Source: Factotum
“Most workplace governments in the United States are dictatorships, in which bosses govern in ways that are largely unaccountable to those who are governed. They don’t merely govern workers; they dominate them.”
Source: Private Government: How Employers Rule Our Lives
“By Enjoying the Process, we can stretch that awareness out so that it's no longer only a moment, but covers the whole thing.”
Source: The Tao of Pooh