Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How Much Of Life Are You Actually Living?

pluginid.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 37 posts

Re: How Much Of Life Are You Actually Living?

#11

Post by tdavis »

rottencupcakes wrote: post #6
radu_floricica wrote: post #2

Not what I expected, but it was nice.

I mean, I guess this article is true to some degree. But, really, if by 'doing the dishes to do the dishes', doing the dishes takes me twice as long, I don't want to do it that way. I'd much prefer to rush through it in half the time, to spend the other part of the time 'really living,' doing something I truly do enjoy or want to do.

Heh, you're missing the point. There is no difference between "the dishes" and "really living". To suggest otherwise would be to suggest you don't control everything the dishes are and aren't. Which would be silly.

Re: How Much Of Life Are You Actually Living?

#12

Post by randallsquared »

bdr wrote: post #4

I can say that when I'm writing code, I'm writing code. Reading HN, checking email, etc., don't have the same feeling.

Yeah, one of the things that makes me write code less is that when I'm really coding well, I'm oblivious to most other things, and after a few hours I surface without much memory to show for what I've been doing. It's like I'm less conscious if I'm really in the zone, and that's scary, so I find excuses to put it off or just do a little here and there. Fortunately, I'm a lot better at breaking things down into "a little here or there" than I used to be. :)

Re: How Much Of Life Are You Actually Living?

#13

Post by tdavis »

The irony is he tries to make a Zen point by saying "people are doing X too often" or "people are doing X wrong" which is entirely impossible, of course, because people can't do anything "too often" or "wrong".

They're already doing precisely what they want at the exact interval they choose! Zen isn't teaching anything better than what we have; it isn't an improvement. Technically speaking, Zen isn't teaching anything, period. But that's the point.

Articles like these are good indicators that a person is starting to "get" Zen, a little bit. And that's great. Good luck Glen, and congratulations on choosing to live more in the moment. And congratulations in advance for whatever reality you choose to create next :)

Re: How Much Of Life Are You Actually Living?

#14

Post by voidpointer »

Sounds a bit like what I was told this guy wrote about: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0525948023

Haven't read it or anything like it yet. Nevertheless, the idea that one might be caught up in planning and looking forward and forgetting the joy of the moment about that doesn't sound too far fetched to me...

Re: How Much Of Life Are You Actually Living?

#15

Post by abstractbill »

tdavis wrote: post #11
rottencupcakes wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, I guess this article is true to some degree. But, really, if by 'doing the dishes to do the dishes', doing the dishes takes me twice as long, I don't want to do it that way. I'd much prefer to rush through it in half the time, to spend the other part of the time 'really living,' doing something I truly do enjoy or want to do.

Heh, you're missing the point. There is no difference between "the dishes" and "really living". To suggest otherwise would be to suggest you don't control everything the dishes are and aren't. Which would be silly.

I guess I'm missing the point too then.

The article seemed to be pointing out that it's up to you whether you decide to make doing the dishes an enjoyable activity or a chore. The point rottencupcakes seems to be making is that this might be true, but if doing the dishes in an enjoyable way makes them take longer, then he'd rather just not bother and get them done faster while not enjoying it.

This makes some sense to me. Sure, I could find a way to make every activity pleasant - there's always some way in which you can find satisfaction in any task, no matter how menial. And yet I still prefer to spend time figuring out how to just avoid or minimize those activities when I can.

Re: How Much Of Life Are You Actually Living?

#16

Post by gcheong »

abstractbill wrote: post #15
tdavis wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Heh, you're missing the point. There is no difference between "the dishes" and "really living". To suggest otherwise would be to suggest you don't control everything the dishes are and aren't. Which would be silly.

I guess I'm missing the point too then. The article seemed to be pointing out that it's up to you whether you decide to make doing the dishes an enjoyable activity or a chore. The point rottencupcakes seems to be making is that this might be true, but if doing the dishes in an enjoyable way makes them take longer, then he'd rather just not bother and get them done faster while not enjoying it. This makes some sense t…

It's not really about making the activity of doing the dishes pleasant but rather experiencing the act of doing the dishes fully - being mindful of every moment of the experience of doing the dishes both pleasant and unpleasant. It doesn't have to take longer either - you can rush through them and experience that as well it just may be harder to do that.

Re: How Much Of Life Are You Actually Living?

#19

Post by staunch »

bored wrote: post #17
bdr wrote: post #4

I can say that when I'm writing code, I'm writing code. Reading HN, checking email, etc., don't have the same feeling.

I think you may be confusing what the author is saying with "flow."

Or, maybe flow is just one of the few times we already do what the author is talking about?

Re: How Much Of Life Are You Actually Living?

#20

Post by dmm »

emontero1 wrote: post #8

As with most things in life, too much of anything is generally a bad thing. If one constantly lives in the moment, forsaking entirely the idea of a future and its implications, then the chances of amounting to anything in life are greatly reduced, since the ability to look forward and hope for a better reality are tightly entwined with the concept of planning. How can one develop both personally and professionally wi…

Planning for the future is an aspect of the present moment.

Kind of like children. They are our future but they exist now, in the present moment.

Post reply on HN