Ruzha

~ Veselin ~ 3 Comments

It’s good to be outside. Played some football instead of watching and took my first flower photo in over 10 days. The grass is turning yellow already.

Are there things you try to practice daily to live a more sustainable lifestyle?

~ Veselin ~ 4 Comments
Daily writing prompt
Are there things you try to practice daily to live a more sustainable lifestyle?

Here’s a rough list of things I would tag with “sustainability”

  • I try to walk 10k/day on average. It improves my mental health for a whole lot of reasons. I barely use the car so it reduces my family’s carbon footprint
  • Eat less meat. I’ve tried vegetarian but it doesn’t work for me. Less meat is still better than other options
  • I read from about 10pm to when I get sleepy. Once I get sleepy, I go to bed. In case I can’t sleep, I read more
  • I have an 8pm limit on work, even if I want to do overtime, I try not to exceed 8pm. Remote work comes with risks, one risk is blurring the line between personal and professional, and putting a strain on family
  • We adopted a liberal minimalism at home. I wouldn’t buy clothes if I don’t need them, or if I don’t have empty space in my 2 drawers. I still buy paper books though, shame on me.

Worry

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Daily writing prompt
What are you most worried about for the future?

I was an expert worrier.

However, the sense of worry got severed somehow and I absolutely don’t want it back. It’s like losing the sense of smell when you’re in a poorly-smelling toilet. Imagine living in the Bog of Eternal Stench. It smells awful but you can get used to it. The sense of worry is gone at the moment. I don’t miss it, and I don’t want it back. If I worry about anything, it’s worry coming back and going through my defenses.

I know several risks – economic, political, health, and age-related. But I don’t currently worry about them because worrying won’t change anything. I know a new thing could make me worry again but it has to be new. I refuse to come up with imaginary future scenarios that affect me in a way that matters.

Some movie references:

What makes a teacher great?

~ Veselin ~ 4 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What makes a teacher great?

The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.

— Plutarch

Looking back to what my math teacher did, she would come to class, give the new material, and then give us the hardest task from the book for this new material. We had to learn how to solve problems rather than what was in the last lesson.

I’ve not been able to reproduce anything like that with my kids. I tried teaching my first kid multiplication (or something similarly complicated) and he ran away by crawling when he was 2 and forgot how to walk.