philosophy throwdown

Came across a seriously mind-altering concept today, followed by a seriously motivating (and unrelated) quote...thought I'd share since it really made me stop and think for a second - which happens to be a pretty rare occurrence.

Tetrapharmakos: "The four-part cure," is the Greek philosopher Epicurus' (341 BC, Samos – 270 BC, Athens) remedy for leading the happiest possible life. The "tetrapharmakos" was originally a compound of four drugs (wax, tallow, pitch and resin); the word has been used metaphorically by Epicurus and his disciples to refer to the four remedies for healing the soul

The four part cure is as follows:

Don't fear god,

Don't worry about death;

What is good is easy to get, and

What is terrible is easy to endure

What a cure to live by. For someone who worries about the unknown, the unforeseen, the possibilities, the probabilities - this is such an inspiring viewpoint. When you read through the logic behind the four-part cure, the reasoning behind each line, the clarity with which it explains the rules for living is so simple and easy to follow- it becomes so obvious. 

The other quote I stumbled upon maintains probably the single-most motivating factor in how I live my life and make decisions every day. Despite my relatively high anxiety levels with regard to most aspects of my life, I do my best to avoid complacency, and when given the option, always try to take the risk when it makes sense, despite the potential pitfalls, because I know picking up the pieces is a lot easier than trying to go back in time and change the things you wished you'd done different. So there ya have it... Carpe Diem, babes.

"...the most dangerous risk of all - the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later."

-Randy Komisar, The Monk & The Riddle

Doing well by Doing good

Stumbled across these awesome little bitties by Layak + Jac. I'm a huge fan of piling multiple bracelets of various styles on my wrists circa 1994, so this is totally my bag. But the best part about these are the fact that each purchase of a Layak + Jac bracelet directly supports an Andean family, plus all proceeds go back to the local community - and they are effin adorable and in a bajillion colors so what's not to love, really?

Start 'em up

I decided to get this engine running again, solely for the purpose of sharing this video with the zero people that read this blog, but in the hopes that someone will watch this. Seriously, seriously incredible - I need to cartwheel off a cliff like that. I died watching this - in fact, I think it got MY adrenaline going and I'm just sitting here staring at a computer screen. WTF

I Believe I can Fly ( flight of the frenchies). Trailer from sebastien montaz-rosset on Vimeo.

The Theory of Social Validation

"When we are uncertain about what to do we will look to other people to guide us. And we do this automatically and unconsciously."
 -Robert Chialdini, PhD

In psychology there is a theory that claims that in order to be successful, and view ourselves as such, we need to know that others (specifically the "right" people for the given situation) recognize us as capable and successful for the task.

Anyone that knows me knows that I can be the most indecisive person in the world, and when it comes to major life decisions? Forget it. I will consult everyone from my mom (at least a dozen times), my friends, my boyfriend, my boyfriend's parents, my grandma, my professors, my colleagues, blah blah blah. For some reason I have always found it really challenging to just make a decision and commit to it, mainly because I like to weigh any and all possible scenarios -- really, it's a loooong process.

My recent decision to quit work and move here surprisingly required much less consultation than one would think. I surprised myself in my determination to commit to a plan and do it, knowing the possible risks, high stakes involved, and huge sacrifices I would be making. In telling people about my plans, my decision wasn't met with overwhelming positivity and support by everyone, in fact a lot of people thought it was cool, but questioned it, and likely thought I had lost it.

If nothing else, the whole event has taught me that I am capable, I can make a decision - especially a big one, like quitting my perfectly stable well-paying day job to move to an island and sling beers - and be confident in my personal success. Frankly, I'm just now learning my own personal measurements of success, and I'm not so sure I want to measure it in money or possessions. There is something to be said for finding joy and happiness in simple things...while I don't think I will ever live in the middle of a nowhere in a shack with no heat and no running water...my time here has already opened my eyes up to just how unnecessary excess is. Biking to get around, buying produce from the farmer's market, having no access to a shopping mall - it's pretty incredible to realize how much money I used to blow between Target and Rite-Aid, and for no reason, just to accumulate more stuff.

All in all, the theory of social acceptance is one that's had a constant presence in my life, and recent events have taught me that this theory, while mostly accurate, doesn't have to govern every decision we make. Sure there are people that live their lives only making the decisions they want, but then there are people like me, who seek out the advice of others, assessing all possible scenarios, weighing on the guidance received and then making a final decision.

This adventure has at least allowed me to disconnect from my tendency towards social validation. There is always room for improvement, but this is for certain a step in the right direction.

Like I always say...

'just do what feels right.'

Sage Advice

You will be the same person twenty years from now if not for the people you meet, the books you read and places you travel.

I already know the people...time to go read some books and see some places.