by Jamesscotthenson | Dec 21, 2016 | Blog
This year brought a lot of changes in my meditation practice
as it has shifted from never-miss daily formal sittings, to one of more
informal techniques and a constant awareness of awareness. Literally anything
can be an exercise in mindfulness once you have a solid foundation, and
opportunities for meditation are everywhere.
This isn’t an excuse not to practice. It is a way to
incorporate your practice into every moment of your life.
Here are the 5 resources that stood out to me this year.
Sam Harris. I understand that he is not the popular with
everyone, but there are very few people who can articulate the principles and
practice of a mindful lifestyle better than he can. I am not sure there are
many more articulate people anywhere in our popular consciousness if I am
honest. Here are a few of his contributions:
His podcast,
Waking Up with Sam Harris #4: The Path
and the Goal – A Conversation with Joseph Goldstein, and the
follow-up #15
– Questions Along the Path. The first two podcasts on his feed are useful as
well – Mindfulness Meditation and Looking for the Self, respectively.
His book, Waking Up: A
Guide to Spirituality Without Religion
Vivid
Awareness: The Mind Instructions of Khenpo Gangshar. This and the
next are both from the Tibetan tradition of Dzogchen, which I like very much
once I strip away a lot of the more elaborate belief structures.
Flight of the
Garuda. Remember, there is a lot to strip away here.
These short videos from The School of Life (everything they
do is pretty great).
Burke on the
Sublime
Wu Wei
The Love of
Rocks
The Mind
Illuminated. It would be difficult to find a more complete guide to
meditation and mindfulness than this book, it feels like a full Masters level
class in itself.
Not from this year, but my teacher’s book is always worth
mentioning. This was my first real introduction to this world, and is one I
still refer back to. A great first step if you want to learn more:
Soul-Centered:
Transform Your Life in 8 Weeks with Meditation by Sarah McLean.
There are so, so many resources for mindfulness and
meditation right now. This is good, but also means there is a lot of garbage.
Sift everything you hear and read, including anything I
recommend.
Have a great day.
by Jamesscotthenson | Dec 20, 2016 | Blog
This was super easy, except for narrowing it down.
I like documentaries a lot. I think it is really cool
to be allowed inside these little pockets of life around the world.
Literally everything is interesting if you will let it be.
Anyway, my 5 documentaries. This year.
Welcome to Leith.
This blew me away. I usually watch things in 4-7 sittings, but I watched this
the whole way through all at once. And right when I was headed to bed also.
White Separatists/Supremacists (real ones, not the way we are calling everyone
who disagrees with us that right now) move into a small town with the intent of
moving more and more people in to take over legally. The town, understandably,
pushes back and it all hits the fan. Super fascinating people involved.
Happy People:
A Year in The Taiga. I watch this over and over. Trappers who live
in Siberia and what their lives are like. So cool to see how they live and how
they survive. Werner Herzog is my favorite filmmaker.
Afghanistan:
The Great Game. I wouldn’t have gone out of my way to watch this,
but I found it to be incredibly absorbing. I left with a tremendous
respect for Afghanistan and the lengths its people will go to to be free. A
very cool history.
Tony Robbins:
I Am Not Your Guru. I don’t care what people say about Tony Robbins,
I dig the guy. I don’t fall in line with everything he says, but I think his
desire to help others live fuller and happier lives is legit. Plus, he helped
me feel a lot better about how I talk to people.
Planet Earth:
The Complete Collection. We live on an amazing planet, everyone
should watch this.
Just like the other two, tell me about the good
documentaries you saw this year.
I will go watch them.
by Jamesscotthenson | Dec 19, 2016 | Blog
I had a hard time coming up with 5 movies I watched at all,
and an even harder time picking 5 I saw for the first time this year.
I tend to re-watch movies I have already seen rather than
risk an hour and a half on something new.
I am really bad about getting halfway through a movie and
quitting.
The blog about documentaries. tomorrow will be better.
Most of the time, I just have television shows I have
seen multiple times on in the background so I can work on stuff. Looking
through my Netflix history I saw The Office, Parks and Rec, The Inbetweeners,
My Name is Earl, 30 Rock, Breaking Bad, Peaky Blinders and It’s Always Sunny
(twice this year alone), but very few movies.
So anyway, the best of sparse offerings.
Rams.
I got to watch this while I was tube feeding my cat. More on that in a few
days. I have no idea why, but this movie was completely engrossing. It may have
something to do with being a close depiction of how I would like to live.
Mad Max: Fury
Road. Blood and steel and fire and trucks. If that doesn’t grab you,
this may not be for you. Also, Tom hardy is my favorite actor.
Creed.
I had very low expectations going in, but I ended up loving this one. It’s the
standard Rocky movie for sure, but also an effective restart to keep the series
going. Barbara cried. A lot.
Dope.
So much fun. A good kid gets caught up in drug trouble, all set to a 90’s
hip-hop soundtrack. Has a remarkably good heart to it.
World of
Tomorrow. Terrifying and beautiful, all in 16 minutes.
What are the best movies you saw this year?
For real give me some ideas.
It should not be this difficult to come up with 5 in 12
months.
by Jamesscotthenson | Dec 18, 2016 | Blog
I used to really enjoy all the year-end wrap up stuff on TV,
but I have gotten to be so far out of the loop over the last few years that I
don’t even try anymore.
So, I’ve decided to make my own lists. Today, since they are
my favorite thing, books.
I’ve been super fortunate with good books this year, so it
was hard for me to narrow it down to 5. Here’s what I got though. I even
included links because I am an internet genius now.
1) Sapiens: A
Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. This wasn’t just my
favorite book this year, but one of the best books I have ever read. I see it
being something I go back to again and again, probably every few years. A
fascinating look at the origins of humanity and the forces that drove us to
where we are now. I can assume some people will criticize it as being overly
Functionalistic, but this does not necessarily compromise the book in my
opinion.
2) The Obstacle
is the Way by Ryan Holiday. Encountering Stoicism has been amazing
for me, if for nothing else than suddenly giving me a name and established
framework for the shift in thinking that changed everything for me about 5
years ago. Beyond this, a philosophy this old has plenty of reading and study
to catch up on. I like Holiday’s take on it, it seems to be the most accessible
and applicable presentation we currently have.
3) The Bone
Clocks by David Mitchell. Despite a descent into some pretty
heavy-handed preachiness in the final section, this book is an amazing read,
and possibly one of the more ambitious books I’ve ever read. I don’t want to
say too much about the plot itself, because discovering it as you go is one of
the best parts, and is something that will drive you to read much longer than
you should.
4) Meditations
by Marcus Aurelius. If you’ve read this blog or looked at my
website, this isn’t a surprise. The personal journal of the most powerful man
in the world, and someone people regarded as a living God. Surprisingly honest
and humble for all that.
5) Hard-Core: A
Life of My Own by Harley Flanagan. I actually blogged about this here.
Go read that if you want to. Or, just buy this book.
Honorable Mentions
I lied, here are some more.
• The Ocean at
the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
• The War of
Art by Steven Pressfield
• The King in
Yellow by Robert W. Chambers
• On Writing by
Stephen King
• Blood Meridian
by Cormack McCarthy
• Dimension of
Miracles by Robert Sheckley
• On the
Shortness of Life by Seneca the Younger
• The Buddha and
the Borderline by Kierra Van Gelder
• Radical
Acceptance by Tara Brach
• The Razor’s
Edge by Somerset Maugham
There, I’m done.
Leave a comment and tell me about some books I should read
next year.
by Jamesscotthenson | Dec 17, 2016 | Blog
“What if both people in the movie picking situation are
adamant about seeing the other’s movie?”
So sometimes other people are nice, and we’ll wrap up with
that.
Here’s me being honest: this is probably the hardest part
about dealing with other people for me.
I don’t mind difficult people.
I kind of like them.
I struggle allowing other people to do things for me. I
don’t really like letting them acquiesce and give me my way by letting me pick
the movie or the restaurant or whatever.
Learning to accept kindness from others is one of the central
parts of being in relationship, and it is odd that so many of us have a hard
time with it.
It may also be odd that there are plenty of people who are
perfectly okay with only receiving kindness and rarely returning it, but we’re
ending on a positive note.
So, take a moment and think of something nice you’ve done
for someone else. Picture the look on their face, maybe the excitement they
showed. Remember what that was like for you, how good it felt to offer that to
someone else.
This is what you are stealing from other people if you
cannot accept kindness or sacrifice from them.
There is a further element in all of this though, one that
may be even more important.
There is no way around the fact that doing things for others
puts us in the driver’s seat of the relationship, especially if it involves
listening when they need us to, or helping with deeper issues and struggles.
There’s a reason counselors cannot be friends with clients
immediately after termination of the counseling relationship. Information has
been shared in one direction for the duration of their relationship and this
creates a problematic dynamic in that one person knows a lot more about the
other.
Think about this in terms of not letting others help us with
things or not letting them in on what we are struggling with, while listening
to their problems and struggles. It creates the same imbalance, only without
the formal boundaries and structures that make a therapeutic relationship
valuable. It can also create a sort of debt that shifts the way the
relationship plays out. Many people do this on purpose.
Ask yourself why you struggle to accept kindness from
others.
Is it a pride thing, a power thing or a lack of worthiness
maybe? Maybe you just aren’t used to it. Whatever the reason, let the people
you love do nice things for you.
Then shut up and pick your movie.
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