The other day I was arguing with a friend. Maybe not a full argument, but a misunderstanding. During a break I got online and noticed a link to an interview with someone whose thinking I liked. The first few minutes of the interview told me it would help. I suggested to my friend we both listen to the interview. We did. We then immediately came to understand each other, resolved[…] Keep reading →

A reader emailed me about mindfulness and self-awareness. I mentioned to him a meditation retreat I did a few years ago and found an old post I wrote about the experience, answering another reader’s questions about the course. I did a ten day Vipassana course a few years ago. What it’s about: It teaches you a meditation technique and gives you the time and space to practice it. It’s based[…] Keep reading →

On Sundays I post the selected media I finished that week, usually books and movies, though sometimes videos or other media. I looked back at the list I finished this year. My top book is Sustainability Simplified, and not because I wrote it. I wouldn’t have written it except that I see zero approaches to our environmental symptoms that even in principle solve the greatest problem humanity faces—PAID culture, a[…] Keep reading →

This week I finished: Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life, by Arnold Schwarzenegger: I got this book expecting something to pass the time and got much more. Maybe it’s just me, but I find it easy to forget how Arnold Schwarzenegger is just a regular person like you and me who has achieved a lot. He isn’t lucky. He wasn’t born rich. He didn’t have any special advantages. He isn’t[…] Keep reading →

I’m updating My sidchas, standard operating procedures, and preferences in two ways. Cardio days First, in my 6-Day Exercise/Mindfulness Cycle, I’m changing day 6, which was “Cardio, at least 300 calories rowing or meaningful effort plogging, biking, walking, or climbing stairs.” I did cardiovascular exercises for two reasons: Since around May, I’ve been experimenting fasting on day 6. That is, instead of burning more calories, taking in fewer. Doing cardio[…] Keep reading →

This week I finished: Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World, by Admiral William H. McRaven: I saw the video of McRaven’s commencement speech to the University of Texas years ago. It resonated with me because My sidchas, standard operating procedures, and preferences include waking up, making my bed, and crossing the room to turn off my alarm within sixty seconds. Also, I had[…] Keep reading →

I’ve held back on posting this discovery since I think people might confuse it with boredom or having nothing better to do and I didn’t want to be judged, but as I’ve cut out more media, I’ve found it enjoyable, relaxing, and rewarding just to think . . . to ponder, consider, reflect, introspect, daydream, and such. I mean something different than meditating. I meditate too, as one of my[…] Keep reading →

I’ve been posting Sundays about the books and movies I finished that week. This week I didn’t finish any new books or movies, but I did a few new things. A New Vegetable for Me: Jicama I discovered a new vegetable this week, jicama: I’d never heard of the vegetable, but I saw a bunch of them in the food scrap bin when I dropped mine off. They looked like[…] Keep reading →

Kate in her words from her About page: I am a freelance journalist and a correspondent for Outside magazine based in Durango, Colorado. I cover a wide range of topics, including science, the environment, social issues, mental health, and the outdoors for magazines, newspapers and websites. I’m most passionate about tackling narratives that address challenging issues, such as deeply reported features on atypical anorexia for The New York Times Magazine, the[…] Keep reading →