2+2=4. Remembering that is easy. But other truths? Easy for me to forget.

When we are not sure what’s going on, we react with fear and start labeling things black or white, good or bad, doomed to fail or destined to succeed. The process of labeling something because we are not sure what it is further increases the illusion of duality. Dualistic mind creates an aggressive scenario because we project a “self” and “other,” and this process becomes a cycle: the heavier the dualism, the heavier the fear.

There is not another now. If we realize that truth, we stop putting things off and engage in our life wholeheartedly.

The law of interdependence is showing us that really nothing is free; somebody is always paying for it.

When we are gentle with ourselves, we are naturally gentle with others.

Speed is the disease of our times. It’s always there and it’s very hard to extract ourselves from it… Being mindful cuts speed. Being present cuts speed. Paying attention cuts speed. If we cut speed and relax with what’s going on in our life right now, kindness and patience will naturally come about.

When we pay attention to the details of our life, we do find magic.

From Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche’s “It’s Not Us and Them” — July 2009 Shambhala Sun.

—–

Tangential:

• 2+2=5 (September 2004)
• I Flip The Board (November 2004)
• Eat Up (July 2006)

I own this URL.  I also own PimpYourWorkflow.com.  And LifeCurator.com.

Someday, I promise, I will build out these suckers.

In the meantime, pop some popcorn!

And check out my dad’s latest project, a device for helping Corvette C5/C6 owners keep their brake calipers nice and shiny and dust-free.

——-

Related:

• Correlation of 1 (June 2008)
• The Royal We Interrupts This Program (April 2009)
• How Many College Students Use Spreadsheets? (May 2011)

And in this corner, we have a high-end chicken co-operative for the most discriminating of your feathered friends:

James Ramsey, a Brooklyn architect who exhibited a modernist chicken coop with a solar-powered lighting and cooling system, said its floor-to-ceiling windows were inspired less by glass-loving architects like Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson than by ant farms. The point was to let children observe the chickens in their daily routines.

Such as? “They eat, they sleep, they lay,” Mr. Ramsey noted. “It’s pretty straightforward. I don’t think they have many hobbies.”

(From Julie Lasky’s NYT article ‘At the Furniture Fair, Sustainable Furniture Gets Playful.’)

Oh, Jamie, you kidder!

I particularly appreciate that allegedly the marketing materials describe the chicken co-op as having

4 very spacious private units with great views

(From Suzanne Labarre’s Co.Design post “For Funky Chickens Only: A $3,500 Luxury Coop“)

It apparently

stole the show at the BKLYN Designs booth.

which surprises me not.  (From Yuka Yuneda’s Inhabit post “Best of Green Furniture Design at ICFF” — Note the shape of the doorway to each of the private units! So thoughtful! So clever! So very James Ramsey!)

And in this corner, we have the most important DVD your money can buy if you want your offspring to be able to effectively do the funky chicken at their college reunion. Let’s not kid ourselves, tearing up the dance floor is a skill that, when deployed at weddings and other social engagements appropriately, can result in numerous job offers, worldwide celebrity, and great Facebook pictures.

On the flip side, inappropriate execution of the funky chicken can result in a dislocated hip, a thrown-out back, and/or a big rip in the back of your suit pants.

Avoid such a fate for your future child, and get your kids learnin’ dance fundamentals right this very moment by checking out this dance DVD for toddlers.

Heck, I may order a copy for myself.  Little sister’s wedding is in less than 90 days!

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Related:

• Tafline Laylin’s “A Solar-Powered Chicken Coop” (Inhabit.com)
• James Ramsey’s architecture firm (raadstudio.com)
• Is It Okay To Say The N-Word?* (May 2009)

* Unrelated. Whatever, I am the boss of this blog.

From Interview, October 2004 (I think):

Tom Brady: A lot of times I find that people who are blessed with the most talent don’t ever develop that attitude [of mental toughness], and the ones who aren’t blessed in that way are the most competitive and have the biggest heart.

Matthew McConaughey: So, some guys can push themselves to be as great as they can be, while other players may have more physical talent, but don’t ever push themselves to be “great”?

Tom Brady: Right. Maybe because it’s so natural for the talented ones. You know, when you’re the fastest kid in fourth grade and you play the most, you don’t have to work so hard. You go through high school and college the same way: never listening to your coaches because you’re the best. But when you get to the pros, all that stops because everybody there has talent.

Similarly, the “mediocre” will crush you if you don’t hustle.

I find this video (recommended, you lazy multi tasker) strangely motivational. [via SEOmoz] However, I also like having a life; I’m not really motivated by success as determined by income bracket. So there’s that …

Related:

• On Charity (xoxoANP.com; July 2007)
• Memo To Lesser Libertarians (September 2009)
• Get Off Your Duff! (eLearners.com, May 2011)

Eating these while wearing white dress pants:

Says Elizabeth Taylor to Firooz Zahedi in a November 1976 interview reprinted in the October 2004 issue of Interview magazine:

… my favorite colors are lavender, purple, periwinkle blue — and white.

Okay, okay; maybe not a perfect match, but not a 0% either.

Hope you’re resting in peace, Lizzie T.

Tangential:

• Adversity, polyester lavender nightgowns, and housecoats from Sears (January 2007)
• Haiku for abandoned white Crocs (June 2009)
• On leaving my periwinkle bedroom on the LES (August 2009)