taking pictures of things instead of buying them

I've seen talk of this from bloggers before - products that you would've bought before, but instead, have just taken a camera phone picture of?

To me, this is a modern day illustration of the difference between appreciating things, and needing to own them.

One is a healthy obsession, and the other is a destructive one.



Image from brian doucette

For example I really like pretty sunsets over mountains - this is a generally positive thing, because I appreciate the beauty, I vibe out on them, and I can share them with others.
I can't own them, or capture them, and I don't obsess over them. I don't spend a disproportionate amount of time scheming how I could get more of them.




Image from sling@flickr

However, I also really like carbon fibre trainers.

This is a very different kind of liking - I love them because they're beautiful, but that's where similarities end.

It isn't enough that they exist. It isn't enough that I can see them in a glass case, or on the Internet whenever I want.

I covet them, in the sense that I need to make them mine, or own them completely to get happiness out of them. This is a much less healthy kind of liking.

So what I am saying is, that using the cameraphone instead of the wallet, we can move our regard of objects a little bit from

if I owned that thing I would be happier (seldom true)

to

I am glad that things like this exist in the world.

human hibernation and not buying anything

For people like us in big western cities, everything we do, and our whole value system centers around buying stuff, or doing stuff. The very least you can possibly do, is chill out and chat to friends or watch telly. (Or pay to attend a meditation class).


Photo from mestes76


Imagine the following conversation on the tube:

"Hey John - how's it going...! Yeah (yeah yeah), not seen you in about months, isn't it? What have you been up to?"

"Oh yeah, cos I last saw you at Gin's leaving do... yeah, well after that night, I got into bed with my whole family, and we've all been asleep for the past 6 months. We got up once a day for 10 minutes to eat a bit of bread and have a vitamin pill, and we took it turns to check the heating was on. It was alright. Quite a cheap few months. Yeah, exactly, couldn't be bothered with winter."


This is what peasants in rural Russia (and in other parts of cold Europe (e.g. French alps) did until up to 1900 - quote from a New York Times article:

In 1900, The British Medical Journal reported that peasants of the Pskov region in northwestern Russia “adopt the economical expedient” of spending one-half of the year in sleep: “At the first fall of snow the whole family gathers round the stove, lies down, ceases to wrestle with the problems of human existence, and quietly goes to sleep. Once a day every one wakes up to eat a piece of hard bread. ... The members of the family take it in turn to watch and keep the fire alight. After six months of this reposeful existence the family wakes up, shakes itself” and “goes out to see if the grass is growing.”
Link to full New York Times article here.


The second lesson on buying stuff comes from Guatemalan Pedro Zapeta.


Photo from Jose Amado Peguero

He went to the US in 1996, and working on minimum wage (5.50 USD/hour), he saved 59,000 USD in the 11 years he was there. In 2006, he then tried to walk through US customs with it, intending to take the money and to buy land and build a home for his wife and children, but US customs seized the money and now he's pretty screwed with legal battles. You can read the full story here or sign a petition to help him here.

How on earth did this guy save 60,000 dollars on minimum wage? He makes a bit of a mockery of us, who earn a zillion times more, but still fall in and out of overdraft.

single-tasking please

At this old place I worked in, people would sit in meetings, looking down and typing emails while you tried to talk to them. If you stopped talking as a result - they would say "No, it's OK, I'm listening", and carry on.

This means they would be doing all these things at the same time:

1. Listening to what you're saying
2. Giving some thought to what you are saying
3. Giving some thought as to what they are writing
4. Composing sentences and typing them

Which is clearly a load of nonsense. No one can do this all at the same time.

This means that either they're not thinking about what they're writing (which means the email they're sending is largely pointless), or, they're not really hearing what you're saying (they're just scanning it to check you're not saying anything interesting). In truth they're probably doing both and not really engaging with anything that's going on at all.

If people do this in your work, you should stop, and politely say, "Sorry, I find it too distracting to talk if you're typing."


photo by ahdustin

It's important to single task, because it's important to give our full attention to things. Also, if we give everything only our partial attention, we end up in a state of Continuous Partial Attention.

This is a well described psychological state where we are unable to concentrate on anything because we are waiting for the next interruption to react to.

the state is characterised by:

• feeling on alert, stressed
• restlessly looking out (e.g. refreshing your email/rss/facebook almost compulsively)
  
• being unable to concentrate on a single task (huge increase in procrastination)
  
• being unable to think deeply or creatively (can't get in the zone)
  

It's a useful state to be in under some circumstance - e.g. playing whack-a-mole - but to be in it all the time is a bad thing, and most definitely un-Zen.

In one sense it's a microcosm of our the way we lead our lives - always looking out for the next shiny thing, rather than giving our full attention to what have (and thus not getting the most out of our current relationship for example).

research shows materialism causes lower self esteem

I saw this on the front page of Reddit (a news site):

"Researchers have found that low self-esteem and materialism are not just a correlation, but also a causal relationship where low self esteem increases materialism, and materialism can also create low self-esteem. The also found that as self esteem increases, materialism decreases."

Link to whole article on The Daily Galaxy

We've all seen those world survey studies where it turns out that GDP don't always correlate to happiness (BBC example here) but this is the first study I've seen that takes a specific example (materialism) and links to people being less happy.

It also raises the long-term VS short-term argument, which is an important reason why if all this stuff makes us sadder, why we do it at all.

be like the dog

This is great zen advice - I would much rather live in the dog's head than the cat's.

From a Dog's Diary

8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm - Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!



photo from Laurie



Excerpts from a Cat's Diary

Day 983 of my captivity. My captors continue to taunt me with
bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat,
while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry
nuggets. Although I make my contempt
for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something
in order to keep up my strength. The only thing that keeps me going
is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again
vomit on the carpet.

Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their
feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it
clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made
condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am.
Bastards!

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was
placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event.
However, I could hear th e noises and smell the food. I overheard
that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must
learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my
tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try
this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and
snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly
released - and seems to be more than willing to return. He is
obviously retarded. The bird has got to be an informant. I observe
him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he
reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody
for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe, for now..........



Photo from weebsie

totally zen'd out dudes

Have you ever noticed how so many surfers and snowboarders act so Buddhist and zen'd out? They talk about karma, they think banks and any big corporations are evil and generally buy organic.

We can all learn a couple of things from this:

Mountains and the ocean are good at reminding us how little and insignificant all our human stuff is.

This is an essential part of Zen-ness, because if you over-egg the importance of our everyday lives, you'll find it harder to it enjoy it.

They understand 'being in the zone' more than most people - that is totally losing themselves in the moment, and focusing solely on their senses as they ride.

PowerPoint presentations, cars, all not important when you are on a 70% vertical slope with a board tide to your feet. You can't think in situations like this - you can only be. This is a rare thing in our anxiety-filled modern lives.