It's that time of the year again. Ash Wednesday is tomorrow, which signifies the start of Lent. And that means it's time for me to go through another Digital Declutter exercise. I would like to invite anyone who reads this to take a break from living life online and start their own Digital Declutter.
Follow this link for an explanation of what a Digital Declutter is, as well as what rules I'll be following for my own Digital Declutter.
I hope you guys decide to give it a try. If you have any questions regarding this, you can find ways to contact me on this page, but sending an email is the best option.
Peace be with you and see y'all online on Easter Sunday.
Great video on the topic of personal finance. It was a good reality check for me as well.
Here are some of my takeaways from watching the video above:
Having wealth is not about looking rich. It's not about wearing $1,000 shirts or bag, or driving a $100,000 car. Having real wealth is about having the freedom to do what you want to do, to live the life you want to live, to take care and leave your family a lasting legacy. And you do this by not being a slave to debt.
A very interesting approach explaining why science and faith are not opposed to each other. In this video, they use the mystery of light — something that cannot be fully explained in a singular manner — as an analogy of how science and faith are two ways of understanding reality. You cannot fully explain what light is, by choosing one model over the other. And so it is with God, who as He claims in the Bible, is the light of the world.
The Three-City Problem of Modern Life — interesting read and social commentary about the lives we live today. We either live in the city of reason, of faith, or of technology. Living in one city isolates us from the rest of the world and that makes us feel incomplete.
^ This is probably only applicable to US readers, as a ROTH IRA is a specific tax-advantaged account offered by the government. But if your country has a similar offering, then some of the info might still be useful.
On Social Media
Social media is like a sandbox where you can observe mimetic theory and mimetic desires in full display.
Shortly after hearing about Mimetic Theory, which I mentioned in Journal Entry – 005, I happened to run into this podcast episode. I listened to it in the hopes that I would learn more about mimetic desire/theory, as well as find evidences of it in our modern world. This podcast episode did not disappoint.
Here are some of my takeaways after listening to the podcast:
One talking point in the podcast was René Girard's interpretation of the story of the adulterous woman brought before Jesus (John 8:1-11). This is the story where Jesus famously says, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Before he even utters that famous line though, the bible passages specifically says that Jesus looks down and writes on the sand, while the scribes and the Pharisees try to get a reaction out of him. By the law of Moses they said, a woman caught in the act of adultery will be stoned. Jesus averts his gaze and keeps writing on the sand.
So, how long does it take to form a new habit? Apparently, it takes an average of around 66 days, or 2 months, to form a new habit. That is way longer than what is normally mentioned in articles or magazines I’ve read. That means if you want to build a habit of doing pull-ups right after waking up, you need to consistently do it for 2 months straight.
After reading this essay, Peter Thiel's Religion, and finding out about the idea of mimetic theory, of us imitating others, my mind was opened up. I'm starting to see it around me. Most of everything we do is imitation. I don't quite know yet what to do with this new found information, but I'm excited to find out more about it.
This is perhaps the best sermon I've heard from Bishop Barron. In this sermon, he talks about how earthly goods and values keep us in an addictive pattern. To counter that, he talks about knowing how to “wear the goods of the world lightly.” It's an excellent sermon that ties in the first and second readings to the Gospel.
If you have an interest in minimalism, detaching from material possessions, finding joy and happiness with less, you might want to watch this. It's 14 minutes long, but well worth your time.
Yes, I'm aware that the article says 5 thinking tools, but I only wanted to focus on just one — the “Five Whys” technique.
The “Five Whys” is a technique you can use to find an answer or a root cause, to a problem, a question, a desire or a perceived need.
^ Note that this is not how Anne-Laure Le Cunff described it in her post, but this is my own take on how and when to use it.
Has there been something you really wanted or wanted to do, but could not explain why you wanted it? If your answer is yes, then this is the thinking tool for you.
Tuned in to learn more about the Wisephone, but stayed for the parenting advice and philosophical/theological discussions. Excellent podcast. Well worth the 2 hours run time.
If you are a parent of young kids and you are concerned about how distracted you are around them, then you will find a lot to relate to in this podcast.
Personal Publishing Principles — this is a great read for someone interested in creating/maintaining a personal website or a personal blog.
One good tip that was shared in that post is that a personal website/blog is the perfect place for you to experiment with your own ideas. Not everything will work out of course, but keep trying and some will.
This also tells me that if your personal website won't allow you to do that, then you probably have a professional website as opposed to a personal one.