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The unbearable joy of sitting alone in a café

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Re: The unbearable joy of sitting alone in a café

#301
This article reminds me of my favorite John F. Kennedy quote: "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."

There are three classes of people likely to be found alone:

  * Geniuses.
  * Psychopaths.
  * Psychopathic geniuses.

Re: The unbearable joy of sitting alone in a café

#302

Too many negative comments here. This is just someone discovering something new and sharing it very excitedly. Almost 6-7 years ago, I read about a 30min challenge to sit upright without doing anything in a chair challenge. That changed how I think about distractions. If I had written about it, there surely will be people who would just like here say... What is so crazy about it? I do that all the time... To me, this…

Stillness isn't only enjoyable (for some), it's incredibly valuable. Stoicism and Buddhism both talk a lot about it and they're not the only ones. I make a point of sitting comfortably and doing nothing with no stimuli for 5-10 minutes every morning. Inevitably when you're still with no distractions, your subconscious starts surfacing various thoughts. There is a random element to what pops into your head, but there…

I do this in the sauna at my gym. 30 minutes with no talking, no phones, no screens. Just your own thoughts, and sweat.

Re: The unbearable joy of sitting alone in a café

#303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems very likely to me that the sensations experienced during exercise are highly variable among individuals. I say this because my experience is very different from yours: I get a very perceptible "high" once I get into the rhythm of a good workout. Think mild euphoria, mood lift, and general feeling of "rightness" in my body once it's been well wrung. This only happens if I'm in decent shape, though. If I've fa…

A friend told me he was addicted to running because he literally got high from it. I said, running hurt for me. He said it used to for him too. I asked how long until it stopped hurting. He said 2 YEARS!!!! There's no way I'm going to run for 2 years on the hope that one day it will stop hurting and get enjoyable.

I've done weight training for about 5 years now. It's not fun. I definitely get no "high" from it. But I do like the results.

Re: The unbearable joy of sitting alone in a café

#304
Nice read, but the "Unlike most of my friends, who visited Japan in 2025." is funny to me. I go to a bakery/cafe next to me every day, before work at around 8am over here. And all regulars are there by themselves, and sometimes with their family members. Half of the clientele in almost all non-trendy cafes are solo sitters as well.

When I discovered the whole "doing things alone" stuff a decade ago, it felt like a pressure was lifted off me. It's been good. It brings me extra joy when I take people to places that I frequent as well, it just feels like I'm introducing them to my own little spots. Hope you enjoy more of it!

Re: The unbearable joy of sitting alone in a café

#305
post #151
post #59

That's a beautiful writing style. Feels like there's some Anthony Bourdain in it :)

It feels like the average LinkedIn post, down to the paragraph breaks used as emphasis. I find it incredibly grating.

Indeed. It's utterly dumbfounding how many people seems to find this terrible writing (and thinking) to be good

Re: The unbearable joy of sitting alone in a café

#306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently Wetherspoons is British? Never heard of it. Now I'm curious to the characters inside, got some memorable anecdotes?

It is a chain of very cheap pubs, often known by the abbreviated name "spoons". It's the sort of place you can go at 9am and see people having a full English breakfast with a large glass of wine. It's people who want to drink a lot of alcohol for not a lot of money, but not quite at the point where they're buying very cheap cider (which is always alcoholic in the UK), and sitting in the park with it. There's a veneer…

> pro-Brexit (the founder is very anti-EU and publishes an in-house propaganda mag to that effect), pretty right wing, heavy drinkers

That's a massive stretch. In my experience, the common denominator with Wetherspoons is it's somewhere people go for the cheap drinks and food. You get people of different backgrounds, age ranges and political beliefs going to Wetherspoons pubs (including plenty of apolitical people). The only undeniably true statements is that Tim Martin was pro-Brexit and there was anti-EU material in the Wetherspoons magazine around the time of the Brexit referendum, but beyond that it's not an issue that's particularly high profile anymore, it's not part of daily conversation like it once was, many people have moved on from discussing it.

Re: The unbearable joy of sitting alone in a café

#307

I didn’t quite understand why sitting alone in a café makes you a weirdo (is it an American thing?), but the piece was very well written. We all should learn how to be without electronics for every now and then, accompanied only our thoughts. It is good for the soul. I think the important part is leaving your phone and other devices home. Be alone, without even a possibility of connecting (apart from the old-fashione…

No, it's a thing everywhere to be honest. People are their with their friends and you are the only one alone. Without phone it would be too cringe, even with phone its cringe. I behave as if though I'm texting someone. It's the societal weight of being the one who is alone.

other people there have no way of knowing what your situation is. maybe you were with your friends just before they came in, or maybe youre meeting someone but theyre running late. most arent even going to be paying that much attention that they would notice, and even if they do theyre going to forget about you a second later because they have theyre own things to be worrying about

Re: The unbearable joy of sitting alone in a café

#308
To me, this story is one of a person discovering the freedom found by unplugging:

  On the second day, I decided to leave my phone at home, so 
  I lived those two hours to the fullest. I didn’t take any 
  device that could connect me to the internet or to other 
  people.
By consciously relinquishing the ability to electronically connect, the author was able to connect with the moment and thus find joy in it.

Re: The unbearable joy of sitting alone in a café

#309

Too many negative comments here. This is just someone discovering something new and sharing it very excitedly. Almost 6-7 years ago, I read about a 30min challenge to sit upright without doing anything in a chair challenge. That changed how I think about distractions. If I had written about it, there surely will be people who would just like here say... What is so crazy about it? I do that all the time... To me, this…

Stillness isn't only enjoyable (for some), it's incredibly valuable. Stoicism and Buddhism both talk a lot about it and they're not the only ones. I make a point of sitting comfortably and doing nothing with no stimuli for 5-10 minutes every morning. Inevitably when you're still with no distractions, your subconscious starts surfacing various thoughts. There is a random element to what pops into your head, but there…

Agree. And another way in Hinduism is - mantras. They kind of reset you brain. Saying them kind of helps you observe everything around you with ease. Suddenly, you connect with your body and surroundings. It helps you especially when stressed and anxious situations. I don't know the word in English, but it makes you achieve ekagrutha. My fam says the word is concentration. But not sure if it is the exact translation.

And you have the added benefit being to able to pick the god of your choice that resonates with you and recite their mantras.

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