Letting the Creativity Flow

Julia Cameron in The Artist's Way recommends getting up first thing in the morning and writing three journal pages. Recently, I saw a video from Tim Ferriss that espoused a similar idea at about 7:20 in the video he says, "three to five hour uninterrupted blocks of time are important if . . . you want to have the space to create . . . original combinations of ideas." Basically, you want to limit your inputs so your mind can create its own outputs. You want to take advantage of the time that your brain is clean from sleep and still bringing itself back together, when your neurons are still slightly separated and can more easily make random connections.

This can be really difficult. I know, I want to rollover and respond to all possible text messages, watch YouTube videos, and catch up on my Astrology for the day, as soon as I get up in the morning. I want to clear out my email as soon as I get into work. This contaminates the mind though. It unplugs us from the collective unconscious and plugs us into the machine.

Ideology kills great ideas. It makes scientists mediocre, turns pundits into hacks, and spiritual leaders become brain dead. Ideology is easy to recognize in others, but hard to recognize in ourselves. The easiest way to deal with it is to avoid it. Get up early, see how things connect. If they do, great. If not, then there's tomorrow.

Winter Solstice and Global Warming Inspired War

Today's the darkest day of the year. Mercury is in retrograde. In Western Astrology, Mars has entered Pisces. Persephone is back with her husband, and Demeter is sobbing at the absence of her daughter. It's only been four to ten thousand years, maybe it's time that she gets over it.

And that might be the case, Sea Ice reached record lows for November, since at least the 1980s. The antarctic shrunk more than usual, and the arctic did not grow as fast. Decades of war continues to spread across the Middle East and Africa. The areas around the edges of the world's deserts have been in constant conflict. The Iraq War, Boko Haram Insurgency, Syrian Civil War, the Mexican Drug War, Darfur, Somalia, Libya, Yemen, Sinai, South Sudan, the list goes on. Saying that these conflicts have nothing to do with climate change is kind of like saying the American Civil War had nothing to do with slavery. The world is heating up in a lot of ways.

Yesterday, the violence spilled over into Germany, when a man drove a truck into a Christmas market. ISIS, a group taking advantage of the Middle East violence, claimed responsibility for the attack. There have been other ISIS inspired attacks, previously: Paris, Orlando, and Brussels.

In the words of Dirk Gently: Everything is connected.

Save the environment: Move closer to work, right?

In  February of this year, I moved into an apartment in West Hartford. The move gets me closer to work, close enough that I can walk, if something happens to my car. I also have a direct connection to the Hartford Train Station by bus, which means I can get just about anywhere I would want to go. So, the the first thing I started doing, now that I've moved closer to work was to start driving back over to the other side of the river to see my friends and family. It's sort of counterproductive, but I know I make at least one trip less than I would've otherwise, which offsets my 3 mile regular commute to work, so my use of gas is at least a wash. It's really hard for me to change my life in a way that is good for the environment and my wallet.

Natural transportation and lifestyle changes seem to be the easiest way to do something positive for the environment. So, I've been working on a list of things that you can do to help the environment, which would be beneficial to do regardless of the environmental impact.

1. Grocery Bags: I get free grocery shopping bags everywhere, and they're washable, which is a big plus. Bring these along to the grocery store, some stores like Sams or Aldi or that really sketchy grocery store next to the laundromat require that you bring your own bags, anyway.
2. Drink less or brew your own: That's right we live in America, and you're getting to the bar somehow. We're not going to mention any names, but you shouldn't be doing that. Use an Uber, if you really need to go. Plus the transportation of all those glass bottles...
3. Bring your own cup: Let's be honest, paper cups suck more than the question, "What size is this?" It's a pint / medium / grande, all the other sizes imply that you have mental complex. Frankly, I think I have a mental complex because a medium in English is a large in Italian. And if I ask for a large at Starbucks by accident, I have no idea what I'm going to get. 
4. Buy in Bulk: I'm lazy. I don't want to make multiple trips. Walmart has giant bags of frozen vegetables and giant bags of rice. This is great. Plus, if you run out of money you won't starve for a while. 
5. Get on better terms with your refrigerator: Food isn't good forever. Check the frige before you open something new, go shopping, use something frozen. You'll eat fresher and save money.