How We Spend Our Lives
What holds attention determines action
William James in Psychology, The Briefer Course from 1892
Today I am reflecting on how many Reddit searches I had done this month on various topics to get the opinions of strangers to help me with. And I am reflecting on the idea that if you do this sort of thing all day long, that becomes your experience.
So when I had suspicions about my fridge holding the right temperature, I changed course and texted my friends who I believe have refrigerators in their homes to get some opinions.
My brother-in-law went the route of scrutinizing the thermometer that I put in the fridge. He went as far as to look it up on Amazon and show me a review that highlights this thing can’t be trusted. Even if you could trust it, there are many different temperatures throughout the fridge.
With the extra opinions, I realized that I am overreacting and the fridge is just fine for now.
This story isn’t about choosing to text your friends over looking things up online.
It’s about realizing that what we focus our attention on is how we spend our life.
If I spend my time looking for problems with my fridge, there will be problems.
So I ask you to reflect on what are you focusing your attention on lately?
How does it serve your long-term vision for this life, or on the flipside, how is it causing you grief?
Three Ideas from My Notebooks
The free version of Grammarly is going to shit. It has tucked basic suggestions away under premium. This isn’t a problem though as you will now have to use your brain a bit more when it highlights a sentence.
You can filter tap water quite well using reverse-osmosis which is what those machines in the grocery store do. The problem is it won’t taste great because they’ve filtered the minerals out. One basic way to re-mineralize water is to add a pinch of pink Himalayan salt to it. Ask a good barista about water and they’ll give you some info.
Push yourself out of your comfort zone with small experiments. If you want to try a cold shower, then start the water at medium and move it to cold once you’re in there. If reaching out to people for networking scares you, then say hello to people that don’t give you anxiety first.
All of the ideas going back to May 2023 are now located in The Ideas Index:
Get the templates to log your own three ideas every day here.
Listen to The Origin
In The Origin, Elliott Fienberg masterfully employs the swelling guitar technique known as Frippertronics to craft a captivating journey through sound. The ambient landscape unfolds slowly, inviting listeners to lose themselves in its depths. Each layer builds upon the last, creating a rich tapestry of textures that ebb and flow with hypnotic grace. The result is a transcendent experience that transports listeners to a realm where time seems to stand still. The Origin is a testament to the artist's skill in harnessing the power of sound to evoke emotion and evoke a sense of wonder.
or listen on Apple Music or Amazon Prime.
Even though I work for the cosmos, paid subscribers to the Sunday Bagel support this work by giving me reasonable yet effective donations. They are being sent a bonus meditative video version immediately after this email.
Last week’s tune is called Crater of the Moon. Watch this sunrise video that goes along with it:
Time for the bagels! Thanks for reading and listening, and I’ll see you next week 🍀
Elliott