How I use my Bullet Journal — a great practical guide to using a bullet journal.

#InterestingReads #BulletJournal

An idea: instead of just keeping old blog posts lying around, why not print them and turn them into a self published book? Then you can store them in a bookshelf at home.

This idea was somewhat inspired by this post by Kin Lane.

#Blogging

God never gives you a dream that matches your budget. He's not checking your bank account, he's checking your faith. ~ Mark Walhberg

#Quotes #Spirituality

Selective Ignorance is when you pick and choose what you want to focus on or what you want to learn, instead of taking in everything that's available out there. You want to consider doing this, because we don't have time to learn everything. So, you have to be selective. It is as Ness says, a form of intentional knowledge.

Source: Selective ignorance: cultivating intentional knowledge in a chaotic world

^ This is also a great way to help avoid information overload.

#AvoidingInformationOverload #DigitalMinimalism

One of the best things I've learned a few years ago: I don’t need to have an opinion on everything. There are things that are beyond my control and it’s pointless to wallow in them. Having an opinion on everything is like paying attention to something that didn’t ask for your attention.

Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/CRFQkXanEd5/?utmmedium=copylink

#DigitalMinimalism

https://john.do/today/ — seems to be was good advice for starting/restarting a blog. Unfortunately navigating to that page seems to elicit some warnings on the browser, so browse at your own risk.

Anyway, my takeaway from this was: Writing is all about putting down your imperfect thoughts and ideas into paper. This allows you to reflect on your thoughts and ideas, and then go from there.

#Blogging #Writing

Series: #JournalEntry Tags: #InterestingReads #BulletJournal #Blogging #Quotes #Spirituality #AvoidingInformationOverload #DigitalMinimalism #Writing

“We lost!”, my son said as he finished 10th place in a Mario Kart race. He said this happily by the way, in a way that only a child could ever do. This is what we lost when we grew up. We lost that childlike innocence. We lost the ability to see the world through the eyes of a child. We lost the ability to be happy in any given moment like a child could.

The question I have is, how do we get it back?

#Reflection

I noticed that I write down notes with the expectation that I'll be publishing them in the future. This causes me to write longer, fuller sentences in an unconscious attempt to make my notes ready to be published with minimal editing.

I think this bogs down my note taking process. Instead of writing down notes for the purpose of referencing them in the future, I write down notes with the purpose of stringing them all together into a future blog post. I think that if I stop writing “ready to be published” notes and instead go back to writing notes just for myself, that will make my digital garden a lot easier and less exhausting to maintain.

#NoteTaking #DigitalGarden

After taking down my public digital garden, it was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I cannot explain it. I didn't realize it had that effect on me. Maybe this was another case of oversharing on my part, similar to what happened with my previous Journal Entry series.

#DigitalGarden

Saying I don't Know Is Okay — when you're in a meeting or job interview and somebody asks you something you don't know the answer to, instead of faking an answer, you can say, “I don't know, but I'll find out and follow up with you”.

#Work

hobbies for the hell of it — excellent read on seeing hobbies for what they are; an activity that brings you joy.

#InterestingReads

Monday Master Class: Rapid Note-Taking with the Morse Code Method — great note taking method from this blog post.

#NoteTaking

I just realized, with my digital garden now offline, I don't have to put in too much effort making sure the references and citations in my notes look polished and ready to be published online. I can leave them as a link if I want to and worry about attribution later on, when I actually have to publish something online. In the event that the note doesn't even make it into a published post, then I ended up saving time not having to add a polished, proper looking citation that wasn't even needed in the first place.

#DigitalGarden

Most good choices feel like sacrifices in the present, but reward you with something good in the future. Most bad choices feel good in the present, but has potentially devastating consequences in the future.

#Reflection

Using the Zettelkasten method for taking notes, as opposed to the basic “save the notes in a searchable format” method, is like going the micro-services route as opposed to building one big monolithic app. Both still work. And both have their own advantages and disadvantages.

#NoteTakingSoftwareDevelopmentAnalogy

In the end, this shadow is but a small and passing thing. There is light and high beauty, forever beyond its reach. Find the light and the shadow will not find you. ~ Bronwyn, Rings of Power, Season 1 Episode 6

#Quotes

The truth sets you free — Interesting take on the truth setting you free. It is not the truth that sets you free, but the Truth Himself (the way, the truth and the life He said) is the one who sets you free.

#Christianity

I was contemplating trading in my old Nikon D3200 for a newer mirrorless camera, like a Nikon Z5. However watching this review made me realize, that the D3200, being the cheap entry level camera that it is, would be a good one to let the kids use if they want to explore photography. Instead of letting them try out photography on a newer, more expensive mirrorless camera, let them try it out on the D3200.

#Photography

Finally figured out how to use an if statement on an Excel spreadsheet. It basically works just like a ternary operator in programming. If condition is true, return first value, otherwise return the second value.

Source: IF function

#Excel

What's the point of working out, or taking walks, or trying to be active, when I'm not even losing weight?

For those days when you have that question on your mind, here's a different perspective: All that walking and working out and moving around, is what's stopping you from gaining all that weight back. You might not be losing weight now, but you'll be in a much worse state if you decide to stop living an active lifestyle.

#Reflection #HealthAndFitness

What I'm liking about note taking apps with the bi-directional linking option (like Obsidian), is that it helps me avoid writing redundant information. It does so because it allows me to simply add a link to another note from the current note I'm on. It kinda supports the “Don't repeat yourself” principle of software development.

#NoteTaking #NoteTakingSoftwareDevelopmentAnalogy

Series: #JournalEntry Tags: #Reflection #NoteTaking #DigitalGarden #Work #InterestingReads #NoteTakingSoftwareDevelopmentAnalogy #Quotes #Christianity #Photography #Excel #HealthAndFitness

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.

7 Tips to Stand Out And Land The Job — has great advice for job interviews.

A Roth IRA is one of the most powerful wealth building tools that the average person can use to become extremely wealthy... — good info on ROTH IRA accounts.

^ 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.

Staying off social media while you know all your family and friends are there, is like missing out on a party that you're invited to, a party that goes on 24/7, every day of the week and year.

Some people, actually most people, can't resist the urge to join the party. That's because we humans have this need to connect and to belong to a tribe. That's what the creators of social media figured out and made use of. It is one of their crowning achievements. They've fabricated this need, this desire, to be online all the time, to browse the news feed and like and comment on every single interesting post that comes our way.

Parenting

My kid just texted me 🌭 — great tip on the use of family code and passwords. I didn't even know this was a thing.

Perhaps the reason teens isolate themselves when they're overwhelmed instead of coming to us... — seems like great parenting advice on not shutting out your toddler when they're having a tantrum.

The Research Behind Picky Eating — it looks like, the more you pressure a child to eat something (like say veggies), the more they will not want to. And it doesn't just stop there. Research seems to indicate, that if you continue forcing this issue, the kids will end up not liking the food even when they turn into adults.

Quotes

Sometimes to touch the light, you must first touch the darkness. ~ Galadriel, Rings of Power, Season 1 – Episode 5

This might just seem like a good quote to be shared online, but I think it is a deep theological observation. Have you ever wondered why wherever there's good, there's evil? Wherever there's light, there's darkness?

It's because evil is a parasite that latches on to the good.

Now read that quote again and hopefully you'll gain a new appreciation of it.

Spirituality

Choosing to follow Christ means choosing exile, but the flip side to it is that the key to living a joyful and happy life, is to follow God’s will. So by choosing exile, you still ironically find the path to living a joyful and happy life.

Feeling stressed out? Feel like you can't keep up? Feel like you're drowning in anxiety? Talk to God and lay it all out on Him. If you put God first, then everything else will fall into place.

Misc

I finally have a reason as to why walking in nature is better than say, walking in a parking lot, even if that parking lot is surrounded by trees.

Before you read my reason, just know that I am a car guy.

Taking walks in a parking lot makes me look at cars, which then gets me thinking about my car, and wondering why is it that I'm driving an old car, when I could be driving something new like this one over here, or that one over there. Walking in a parking lot basically has the potential to distract me with thoughts of wanting to buy a new car. That goes away when I do my walks in nature, because well, what am I going to think about, wanting to buy a new tree?

One of life's mysteries is this itch, want, need, to buy new books even while the number of unread books in my bookshelves keep on increasing.

This is why I'm putting a lot of effort into clearing out my online to-read list, as well as dropping a lot of the RSS feeds I follow. If I want to make progress with reading all the unread books in my bookshelf, I need to let go of reading all these interesting articles and blog posts on the internet.

Tags: #JournalEntry #Bookmarks #PersonalFinance #SocialMedia #Parenting #Quotes #Theology #Spirituality #Christianity

Interesting Reads

The Hard World and How to Restore Mercy to a Merciless Age by Dr. Tod Worner — Excellent analysis of the culture and times we live in today. We need less outrage and more mercy.

In Favorable Conditions Never Come by Cal Newport, I ran into this quote by C.S. Lewis on distraction and seeking knowledge:

“We are always falling in love or quarreling, looking for jobs or fearing to lose them, getting ill and recovering, following public affairs. If we let ourselves, we shall always be waiting for some distraction or other to end before we can really get down to our work. The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable. Favorable conditions never come.”

Here we go again with an example of the same problem — distraction — but just in a different form back then.

There will always be distractions in life, especially when you’re working on something important. The question is, do you let yourself get distracted or do you get your work done?

Quotes

If you can't figure out how to be kind, figure out how to be quiet. ~ Toby Mac

Hope means hoping when things are hopeless, or it is no virtue at all. ~ G.K. Chesterton

Reflections

In Matthew 12:38-40, the Pharisees ask Jesus for a sign. Jesus says that no sign will be given, except that which is similar to the one given in the story of the prophet Jonah. He says for three days and three nights the son of man will be in the heart of the earth. He is speaking of course of His death on the cross.

To anyone looking for a sign from God, chances are none will be given. Not only because Jesus said so in the scriptures, but because the sign has already been given 2,000 years ago — when Jesus died on the cross for humanity and rose from the dead on the third day.

If short burst training/high intensity interval training routines are more effective at burning body fat, then I don’t need to go on long bike rides to burn fat. I can go on shorter rides that are higher in intensity.

Videos

Here's a great video on how to load a bicycle into the back of your car without having to take off the front wheel.

I never realized I was doing it wrong. I needed to load the rear wheel first, so I can just slide it into the car. It also makes it easier to take the bike out later.

Tags: #JournalEntry #Christianity #Quotes #Reflections