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Most lives are lived by default

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Re: Most lives are lived by default

#61

Post by grecy »

jonnycoder wrote: post #56
grecy wrote: post #25

At age 27 after working as a Software Engineer since graduating, I could see the writing on the wall. I was "Jamie" as described in this article. I made a conscious decision right then to turn off the "Life autopilot switch" as I call it. I quit my good job, sold all my stuff, and spent 2 years driving 65,000km from Alaska to Argentina in my little 2 door Jeep. It was a life changing experience, and I was shocked whe…

I was in your situation at 27 and I am a software developer, but I took a different path. At the time, I was doing great in my job and learning a ton but I started focusing on things, anything, outside of work. I started saying yes when coworkers would ask if I wanted to go out, or go snowboarding that weekend. But even as I obtained my post-college friendships, I still kept focus on personal growth and figuring out…

Thanks for the kind words.

I agree 100% that finding hobbies and pursuits is very important to overall balance and piece of mind. I'm addicted to snowboarding, camping, hiking and pretty much everything else outside. On my trip I estimate I camped in my tent 500 nights of the 667.

I'm a keen moose / bison / caribou hunter here in Northern Canada, and I fish every year for Salmon in Alaska, and lake trout around here. Fishing within 30 meters of a grizzly bear is something else :)

I'm actually just about to write up our recent moose trip, where we canoed a remote river for a week without seeing another person, or signs of people. We got a 58 inch moose on that trip. It will be on theroadchoseme.com when I get around to it.

Re: Most lives are lived by default

#62

Post by philh »

jpdoctor wrote: post #22
acabal wrote: post #2

I don't like these kinds of posts, because they suggest that happiness is something just within our grasp, if only we did the exact right thing to grasp it. In this case, it's suggesting happiness comes in part from questing to find major change X in your life that will change everything. But I think that's actually the cause of a lot of unhappiness. It's a perpetual "grass is always greener" situation. Say you go on…

> I don't like these kinds of posts, because they suggest that happiness is something just within our grasp, if only we did the exact right thing to grasp it. Also, it is written by somebody who purports to understand happiness for a sizable fraction of people. At least he causes happiness in a large number of people who laugh heartily at such a self-centered approach.

> it is written by somebody who purports to understand happiness for a sizable fraction of people.

Why does that seem strange? There is a large body of research into human happiness. I haven't looked into it closely, but I would be surprised if it completely failed to generalise. It seems completely reasonable to me that someone could suggest "if you act like this rather than like that, you'll be happier" and be right about a majority of people.

See for example: http://lesswrong.com/lw/bq0/be_happier/

(This is a seperate question from whether the author of this particular article knows what he's talking about. I do not take a position on that.)

Re: Most lives are lived by default

#63

Post by Domenic_S »

sukuriant wrote: post #55
alaskamiller wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm about your age and I did the same thing in my early 20's. I chose the Marine Corps instead of college as my way out. After, I still didn't have enough so I chose adventures, sold everything, kept nothing to continually indulge in my wanderlust instead of sitting in a cube. But... And I say this with as much love as I can muster to a stranger that I see as a kindred spirit. But... What did you find at the end? Was…

I think you're assuming a little too much here. I didn't read his journey, I admit; but what I saw him as doing was making a single trip to try and clear and focus his head to something that's more than the blank routine. He said nothing of what he's doing now, just of what he did once. There, I think, is the big difference. A lot of young college students in Europe, from what I understand, go backpacking over much o…

> so he could then do that when his journey was over.

So what's he doing now? I don't think the wiki is paying rent... I could be wrong.

Re: Most lives are lived by default

#64

Post by dfc »

neumann_alfred wrote: post #50
ef4 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree completely that happiness comes from within. And yet there is a duality that has always struck me as important, though hard to explain: it's easiest to be happy when you're striving toward a goal you believe in. But you need to keep your sense of self, your ego, non-attached to the outcome of the striving. That is, you need to invest yourself 100% into doing things that are important to you, but remain detach…

Marc Aurel: If something in the exterior world makes you discontent, then it is not that object which troubles you, but rather your judgement of it; yet to blot out this judgement instantly is within your power. And if your dissatisfaction is based on the condition of your soul, who can prohibit you from correcting your views? Likewise, if you are discontent because you are not doing what seems reasonable to you, why…

Who is Marc Aurel? I found one link making it seem that "Marc Aurel" was actually "Marcus Aurelius" and had a citation referencing Meditations. But google could not find that quote in any translation for Meditations. The "that's Marc Aurel for ya" makes it seem that he is a well known writer/thinker so maybe I am way off base thinking its Marcus Aurelius.

Re: Most lives are lived by default

#65

Post by grecy »

Domenic_S wrote: post #63
sukuriant wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're assuming a little too much here. I didn't read his journey, I admit; but what I saw him as doing was making a single trip to try and clear and focus his head to something that's more than the blank routine. He said nothing of what he's doing now, just of what he did once. There, I think, is the big difference. A lot of young college students in Europe, from what I understand, go backpacking over much o…

> so he could then do that when his journey was over. So what's he doing now? I don't think the wiki is paying rent... I could be wrong.

It's not, unfortunately :) I'll keep working on it.

I'm back working in an office. I'm really enjoying the routine, having a place to live, go to the gym, cook good food etc.

I have no idea what the future holds, but that's how I like it :)

Re: Most lives are lived by default

#66

Post by pnathan »

grecy wrote: post #54
alaskamiller wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm about your age and I did the same thing in my early 20's. I chose the Marine Corps instead of college as my way out. After, I still didn't have enough so I chose adventures, sold everything, kept nothing to continually indulge in my wanderlust instead of sitting in a cube. But... And I say this with as much love as I can muster to a stranger that I see as a kindred spirit. But... What did you find at the end? Was…

Thanks for the great insight. I agree on the whole with what you are saying, though I'm wondering why you choose to describe what I'm doing with my life as "running"? I'm not running at all, I'm just looking around for the purpose of learning and adventure. I have nothing to run from. > What did you find at the end? Was it nothing? Because that's what I found. I wasn't "looking" for anything, other than to enjoy my l…

I don't think the Puritan work ethic came out of debt; it came from the sanctification of work.

Re: Most lives are lived by default

#67

Post by adamdavis »

dfc wrote: post #64
neumann_alfred wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Marc Aurel: If something in the exterior world makes you discontent, then it is not that object which troubles you, but rather your judgement of it; yet to blot out this judgement instantly is within your power. And if your dissatisfaction is based on the condition of your soul, who can prohibit you from correcting your views? Likewise, if you are discontent because you are not doing what seems reasonable to you, why…

Who is Marc Aurel? I found one link making it seem that "Marc Aurel" was actually "Marcus Aurelius" and had a citation referencing Meditations. But google could not find that quote in any translation for Meditations. The "that's Marc Aurel for ya" makes it seem that he is a well known writer/thinker so maybe I am way off base thinking its Marcus Aurelius.

> The "that's Marc Aurel for ya" makes it seem that he is a well known writer/thinker so maybe I am way off base thinking its Marcus Aurelius.

Why would you think that you're off base? From what I gather Marcus Aurelius is a well known* thinker/writer - just ordered a copy of Mediations for myself after reading this post and comments.

* edit

Re: Most lives are lived by default

#68

Post by grecy »

pnathan wrote: post #66
grecy wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the great insight. I agree on the whole with what you are saying, though I'm wondering why you choose to describe what I'm doing with my life as "running"? I'm not running at all, I'm just looking around for the purpose of learning and adventure. I have nothing to run from. > What did you find at the end? Was it nothing? Because that's what I found. I wasn't "looking" for anything, other than to enjoy my l…

I don't think the Puritan work ethic came out of debt; it came from the sanctification of work.

Could be. I have no idea where it came from or why.

I'm very interested in what it means today, and how I choose to incorporate it into my life. That's why I really enjoy learning from people that follow it to a large extent, and those that don't.

Re: Most lives are lived by default

#70

Post by dfc »

adamdavis wrote: post #67
dfc wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who is Marc Aurel? I found one link making it seem that "Marc Aurel" was actually "Marcus Aurelius" and had a citation referencing Meditations. But google could not find that quote in any translation for Meditations. The "that's Marc Aurel for ya" makes it seem that he is a well known writer/thinker so maybe I am way off base thinking its Marcus Aurelius.

> The "that's Marc Aurel for ya" makes it seem that he is a well known writer/thinker so maybe I am way off base thinking its Marcus Aurelius. Why would you think that you're off base? From what I gather Marcus Aurelius is a well known* thinker/writer - just ordered a copy of Mediations for myself after reading this post and comments. * edit

Because I never heard anyone refer to him as Marc Aurel in any of my philosophy classes and could not find any references to "marc aurel" on the internet. The familiarity of the statement made it seem like "marc aurel" was a household name. I also could not find the sentence in any copy of Meditations I found on the internet.

Fyi: you can grab a copy of Meditations from a number of classics sites on the internet:

http://classics.mit.edu/Antoninus/meditations.html

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