Tag: technology

I saw it on the internet…

I recently stumbled upon a quote that I thought was amazing, as I read it kept getting better and better and by the end, I thought to myself  “This is worthy of a blog post”

“‘I’m bored’ is a useless thing to say. I mean, you live in a great, big, vast world that you’ve seen none percent of. Even the inside of your own mind is endless. The fact that you’re alive is amazing, so you don’t get to say ‘I’m bored.’” ~ Louis CK

Boom. That’s what we millennials like to call a #truthbomb, That’s wisdom that you can build an entire life around. Scratch that, it’s so good you could build an amazing life and then put a couple more layers of awesomeness over top for good measure.

To say that 2020 is shaping up to be a raging five-alarm dumpster could be the understatement of the century. Going out and exploring the world right now is out of the question but we can certainly do some things to expand our mind.

The golden age of communication.

568 years ago Johannes Gutenberg invented the movable type printing press and the golden age of communication was born. The big problem was way back in the 1450s about 10% of the population of Germany and England could actually read what was on that paper. Fast forward to 1820 and only 12% of the entire world’s population could read, we are doing exponential better now as in 2016 the world wide literacy rate was 86%.

Access to the written word may be closing in on 600 years old but for the majority of the worlds population, the ability to understand it isn’t much older than your great, great grandparents.

The spoken word on the other hand is as old as time, we’ve been gathering around the fire, telling stories and teaching lessons in between bites of Woolly Mammoth and that was between 30,000 and 40,000 years ago (no need to fact check, I consulted google.) 

The Second Golden age of communication.

I remember going over to my friends house in early 2005 and him going on and on about how cool this new site he found called youtube was. I asked some questions and came to the conclusion that I wasn’t nearly as impressed and probably wouldn’t use it much, boy was I wrong about that. Youtube has changed the world and how we learn, sure there’s cat video’s and this seven-second master pieced that never stops being funny https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9ifVx9yZbY but there’s an infinite amount of valuable lessons to be learned for FREE!!!  How often do you say this ” I wonder how I could fix… I bet there’s a youtube video on it.” I’ve never had a time where something didn’t come up.

Call to Action

Video’s and tutorials

Are you a horrible cook, looking for quick and easy recipes that feature a bunch of vegetables??  Check out this link https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/ and get after it. Sure you might eat some mediocre versions of these dishes for a while but eventually like most things you will get better if you keep working at it. Your waistline and wallet will thank you as well.

Audiobooks

I love books but I don’t have the time or patience to read them. You can sign up for an audible account for $14.00 a month or check out your local library as they often will have free audiobooks that you can check out digitally.

Here’s a few suggestions for your summer listening.

Hemingway – The old man and the sea. Donald Sutherland narrates this version and its amazing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9BNaJ48j00 Hands down this is my favorite book of all time it’s short but packs in a ton of valuable life lessons.

Steinbeck – The winter of our discontent and America and Americans are both lesser-known works from this prodigious American author but they are my two personal favorites.

Podcasts

I’m pretty sure there’s a podcast out there for every single topic of interest that you could imagine. Of all of the tools that have helped transform me into who I am today this one has had the largest impact. Here’s the best part! Besides the price of an internet connection, these are completely free.

How many times have you listened to that same old song or wasted an hour listening to talk radio while in the car? Don’t think you have enough time to listen?  According to Harvard Health Watch, the average American spends 101 minutes in a car every day. Why not use some of that time to learn, remember there is no finish line in life.

It has never been this easy to gain access to information that can truly have an impact on your life. So get out there and start taking advantage of all of the wonderful things that exist on the internet.

Cut the cord and unplug…

June 3rd was international running day, a day to lace up the sneakers and hit the road for a few miles of exercise. Running when you really think about it is much more then a sport its a basic human movement that we have been utilizing since the begging of our species. Sure a sweet pair of running shoes and the awesome jams that your phone is laying down are a huge help but isn’t ultimately necessary for you to get from point A to point B. But what are you missing out on when the world is being drowned out by yet another distraction.

I’m not sure how long I’ve been on the no head phones team but its been a long time and I would like to offer up a few reason why you may want to join us weirdos.

  1. situational awareness. I don’t know about you but I think headphones have two sound levels, off or maximum volume. And when your blasting your jams at 10 the chances of you hearing anything else going on in the world is almost nothing. Furthermore I know that I have ran right through a minor intersection and had a few close calls with cars when I was so engulfed in my song. I know what your thinking “but music makes my runs go by so much quicker because I’ve got something that distracts me from what I’m doing.” Think about that one for just a second.
  2. This ones stolen from David Goggins. What are you going to fall back on for motivation when the cell phone isn’t there or runs out of battery. It’s really easy to get psyched up when your jam is on, I wish that every time I was feeling a little drained coldplay’s sky full of starts would start blasting right at the point where the beat drops. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPRjCeoBqrI ( 1:10 in is what I’m talking about) There’s definitely going to be times in life when the goings are going to be tough and popping in the ear buds is not going to be an option. Wouldn’t that run around the neighborhood be a great training ground for learning how to push through a challenge?
  3. And most importantly. How much time do you get in a day where you aren’t being lambasted with pictures, videos and advertising messages? I’m willing to be it isn’t much, the good news is my answer is probably very similar to yours. So the question becomes when do we have time to contemplate our existence, work through our day to day and global issues and just let our mind wander like a 4 year old? You may not be surprised by my answer but it’s when were out for a walk or run.

Running for me is way more then exercise it’s a cathartic time where I let my mind wander and ask and answer the questions that are front of mind. I think I’ve probably said this before but i’m almost certain 90% of what you’ve read on this blog has been hashed out while pounding the pavement. I am fully convinced that if I was listening to the punk rock station on Pandora we wouldn’t be doing this together on a weekly basis.

When we have that constant digital distraction in our lives its very easy to lose sight of the beauty in the everyday world. I cringe to think how many sunsets, neighborhood cats and toilets that have been repurposed as planters that I’ve missed in my life as I blindly ran towards an arbitrary finish line. https://www.instagram.com/p/CAv4zc7hmk8/

I really believe Ferris Bueller said it best “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”