The Rhythms Within Us
Accomplishing Things and Going Solo. --Karen
The Rhythms of Life
Waking up in the morning one of the most comforting sounds in my life was hearing people in the kitchen softly talking to one another. I could not hear what they were talking about but the soft murmuring, the rhythm of their voices told me ‘everything is alright.’
Rhythm permeates all aspects of our life.
It plays a role in how we show our feeling towards one another. Observing a couple that have been together for a long time, there is a rhythm you will observe. The trading back and forth of comments at a table with friends. Putting on coats and helping the other one with theirs is all done quietly and in sync. Even morning coffee can be a rhythmic dance of moving behind the other person, reaching around them for the mugs, and handing your partner their cup of coffee.
When we wake up we experience the daily rhythm of the mental and physical highs and troughs of life. The high the morning as we walk in to work or going to the gym. The the rhythm of winding down after a long day.
When it comes to learning we are either auditory, visual or kinesthetic learners. The kinesthetic learner learns through movement. If you have ever seen someone reading on a treadmill, listening to a podcast or book while walking chances are they are kinesthetic learners. Kids who have a hard time sitting in their seat but want to move around could be kinesthetic learners. I am a kinesthic learner and more than movement it is the background rhythm of movement that I find so helpful.
There is the ritual and rhythm of a religious service. The procession, the hymns, lighting of candles, and the kneeling and standing draws us in.
With all the noise in our daily lives, it is sometimes helpful to stand back and just feel the rhythm.
Nina, Kraus, The Extraordinary Ways Rhythm Shapes, MIT Press Reader
How the Most Remote Community in America Gets Its Mail
…the old fashioned way.
The mule train travels eight miles along a creek lined with cottonwoods, through a narrow gorge, and up a switchbacking trail carved into the cliffside to reach a hitching post at the top of the canyon, where a sign reads US MAIL DELIVERY ZONE. There, Chamberlain drops off the outgoing mail with a driver—who takes it another 68 miles to the next post office, in the town of Peach Springs—and pick up the incoming mail to deliver back to the village.
Sarah Yager, How the Most Remote Community in America Gets Its Mail, The Atlantic
Made Solid - Taos, NM
Dogs having Fun
Solo - An Important Part of Living a Good Life
There are many elements of living a good life, but the first and most foundational is to love yourself and enjoy spending time with yourself.
Go do things on your own so you learn to trust your mind and view it as a welcome companion. If someone declared, "Tomorrow you must spend the day alone" the hope is that you would reply, "That sounds like a good day!"
The person who is at ease within finds every other space larger and more enjoyable.
James Clear, Newsletter
“While we are postponing life speeds by.”
- Seneca
Oliver Burkeman, Four Thousand Weeks,
…talks about accomplishing things because we believe we must earn the right to feel good about ourself or already feeling good about ourself and accomplishing things.
He contrasts two approaches to action: the common "insecure overachiever" mindset where people accomplish things because they believe they must earn the right to feel good about themselves, versus acting from a place of already feeling fundamentally okay. The first approach is soul-crushing because each success becomes a new minimum standard, turning achievements into sources of oppression rather than joy. Most productivity advice caters to this anxious mindset, promising that enough efficient action will eventually make you feel worthy.
The alternative approach involves taking action not from insecurity but from genuine enjoyment of being alive and wanting to use your talents meaningfully. This doesn't require abandoning ambition - in fact, it can make you more effectively ambitious because your goals become expressions of existing wellbeing rather than desperate attempts to reach it. He suggests that simply experimenting with the idea that you could "just do the minimum" and still deserve a relaxed, enjoyable life can be remarkably liberating.
A Beautiful Old Chinese Typewriter.
Have a good weekend.
The Abandoned Village of Houtouwan - The Atlantic
