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Four thousand weeks

leebyron.com

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Re: Four thousand weeks

#191

Post by matwood »

narrator wrote: post #105
p1esk wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did this for a few years and I’ve never read my diary since. I’m not sure I ever will, let alone anyone else. Thinking some more about it, it’s pretty clear I mostly did it for comments (livejournal.com).

If you kept your diary secret and wrote it for yourself, it would probably be more useful.

I agree. And also easier to be truthful. I write down events with no intention of ever going back (not that I won't), and the act of writing is helpful. In many ways I re-experience the event and get more out of it - good and bad.

Re: Four thousand weeks

#192

Post by matwood »

gernb wrote: post #137
lakeshastina wrote: post #60

There are a few ways people take such a message - yes, life is precious, be conscious of what we invest our time in. This part makes sense. Yet, it is worth asking, what makes for a meaning life? What makes the 4000 weeks worth it? For some, they chase wealth, power, career success, get one's name recognized, etc - these are milestones to be achieved. Things to accomplish. Others will say, such accomplishments are no…

I don't think I agree that relationships are shallow. Sure some are but not all of them. And even the ones that aren't deep can be extremely meaningful. For example, being a good teacher and influencing your students in their lives (teaching them something, inspiring them, etc...). Those seem meaning full to me, unless you're a nihilist. I think a life full of connection is generally better than one with no connectio…

> I don't think I agree that relationships are shallow.

I agree. The older I get, the more important they become. And I say this as a person who is generally comfortable alone.

Of course not every connection is deep, but that doesn't make them any less meaningful.

You're spot on about teaching/influencing others, and you don't have to be an actual teacher. Just giving advice and/or helping others when asked (and sometimes when not) is a bigger deal than I think many realize.

Re: Four thousand weeks

#193

Post by matwood »

sk1pper wrote: post #89

Man, yeah, I feel that; I just don’t have enough time to do everything I want to do. - me, laying on my couch and mindlessly browsing HN There are things I want to do that I legitimately don’t have time for, even though I have time to browse HN. Or at least, I won’t make time for them, because they’re quite time consuming. I want to learn Japanese, make my own top-down RPG, get a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu. Build some c…

I don't know if you currently do BJJ or are only thinking about it, but I started when I was older, and may never get a black belt. But, I have moved up over the years and know that my belt color changing or getting a stripe on an existing belt doesn't suddenly make me a different person. After chasing goals for so long, BJJ is an amazing reminder that it really is the journey that matters. It's shaped me to be a better person regardless of an arbitrary belt color.

Re: Four thousand weeks

#194

Post by sAbakumoff »

lakeshastina wrote: post #60

There are a few ways people take such a message - yes, life is precious, be conscious of what we invest our time in. This part makes sense. Yet, it is worth asking, what makes for a meaning life? What makes the 4000 weeks worth it? For some, they chase wealth, power, career success, get one's name recognized, etc - these are milestones to be achieved. Things to accomplish. Others will say, such accomplishments are no…

My stance is to tell "go fck yourself" to anyone who offers me suggestions on how to live my life.

Re: Four thousand weeks

#195

Post by sexy_seedbox »

oliverjhyde wrote: post #181
k__ wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The site forces me to use a calendar widget to input my birth date. I have to scroll over 30 years back in time by months.

At least on android you can tap the year and get a year ticker/roller input. You definitely don't need to scroll month by month.

This is what's frustrating with Google's Material Design. If tech-savvy users like me can't even find or know that the year is clickable, what hope do most non-technical folks or seniors have?

Re: Four thousand weeks

#197

Post by unity1001 »

lakeshastina wrote: post #60

There are a few ways people take such a message - yes, life is precious, be conscious of what we invest our time in. This part makes sense. Yet, it is worth asking, what makes for a meaning life? What makes the 4000 weeks worth it? For some, they chase wealth, power, career success, get one's name recognized, etc - these are milestones to be achieved. Things to accomplish. Others will say, such accomplishments are no…

> But it is worth reflecting, a few years from now, what really is the difference between a dream you had a few days ago, compared with an experience from, say 10 years ago? The difference is very little

Depends on the dream and the experience. I can recall many dreams and many experiences in breathtaking clarity as if they were actual photos. Compared to photos, these also carry sentiment, meaning and they have impact.

Re: Four thousand weeks

#198

Post by tayloramurphy »

jamesgill wrote: post #73

No. The point is not to focus on time, or calculating how much of it you have; the point is to live in the present and step out of time. Forget it. The past is only in your mind. The future does not exist. The only real thing is right now . If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present. --Lao Tzu

Have you read the book this tribute is based on? It doesn't focus on time as much as you're implying. More that it tries to cultivate a deep understanding that we essentially are time. I'm not doing the concept justice here, but I read the book twice last year and find this tribute a good reminder of the ideas and suggestions in it.

It's worth a read, but perhaps it found me at the right time in my life.

Re: Four thousand weeks

#199

Post by jcpst »

The site is pretty. However, I do not get the same message from this site as I do from the book it’s based on.

When you get farther into the site and it’s telling you what you should be doing… no thanks. That comes off as prescriptive and condescending to me. I did not get that from the book.

I found the book to be more of a thoughtful reflection on “the productivity trap”. Also the pace at which the book introduces and moves past existential dread is much smoother.

Re: Four thousand weeks

#200

Post by tayloramurphy »

leebyron wrote: post #87

Site creator here! Thanks to all who spent some time reading and scrolling through. I’m happy to see such great discussion here, and gives me some confidence the excerpts pulled were the right ones to get the core ideas across.

Thank you for making this! I read the book twice last year and it made a deep impact on me and my relationship to basically everything. The book, coupled with coaching has greatly improved my life.

Your site is a great summary reminder of the key points and it brought me back into the experience of reading the book.

For folks reading this, I do recommend reading the book since the website is just a taste of the book. It's lessons may hit different not having gone through the full journey.

Thanks again for making the tribute!

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