{"id":3035,"date":"2017-04-21T11:54:29","date_gmt":"2017-04-21T16:54:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=3035"},"modified":"2017-04-24T10:24:54","modified_gmt":"2017-04-24T15:24:54","slug":"perfect-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=3035","title":{"rendered":"Perfect Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4qkkQIzQ4VI?rel=0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve been using\u00c2\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/habitica.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Habitica<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0for a couple of years now, using it mostly as an online tracker\u00c2\u00a0for my to-do list. On my daily schedule is a long list of things that I try to accomplish every day in addition to my actual to-do list. Here&#8217;s what it typically looks like:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"tabbable tabs-below ng-scope\">leave the house<\/li>\n<li class=\"tabbable tabs-below ng-scope\">wipe down ginger<\/li>\n<li class=\"tabbable tabs-below ng-scope\">walk \/ play with dogs<\/li>\n<li class=\"task-text\">\n<div class=\"ng-scope\">Read<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"task-text\">\n<div class=\"ng-scope\">take pill<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"task-text\">\n<div class=\"ng-scope\">Floss at night<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"task-text\">\n<div class=\"ng-scope\">Write<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"task-text\">\n<div class=\"ng-scope\">Meditate<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"task-text\">\n<div class=\"ng-scope\">exercise<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"task-text\">\n<div class=\"ng-scope\">empty inbox<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"task-text\">\n<div class=\"ng-scope\">Track food<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"task-text\">\n<div class=\"ng-scope\">chores<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Yesterday, including a few dailies that only appear once a week or so (cleaning the dogs&#8217; teeth, etc.), I managed to get them all done. It felt good. What struck me, though, is how much I put on myself to achieve every day. Now, these dailies are primarily reminders to take care of myself. I don&#8217;t tend to forget them; however, because there are so many days \u00e2\u20ac\u201d virtually, all of them \u00e2\u20ac\u201d on which I achieve less than 100% of these tasks, I tend to feel bad about myself.<\/p>\n<p>I mean, all I have to do is a few dishes or take out the garbage to get the chores check mark. Since I tend to poop every day, the reading is taken care of. I take it as a point of pride that I consistently have an empty inbox; I translate any necessary action from email into my to-do list, rather than leave it sitting there blinking at me. Getting into the habit of tracking food happened back when I was \u00c2\u00a0bodybuilding, so it&#8217;s easy enough. Not taking my pill rapidly results in suicidal thoughts, so that one maintains its life or death urgency, without hyperbole.<\/p>\n<p>There are a few I often miss, however, when I need them the most: exercise, write, meditate, leave the house, walk\/play with the dogs. Walking the dogs is a hat trick. I get three-in-one. And yet, I find myself making excuses for that simple twenty minutes. Granted, our dogs lack discipline and more than once have nipped at humans or fought with other dogs, so\u00c2\u00a0a good deal of anxiety accompanies that task.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m often caught between two philosophies. Contemporary wisdom points to an almost self-congratulatory forgiveness; that is, if I give myself a break, I&#8217;m meant to take that as a thoughtful and healthy practice. I find myself at my happiest, however, when I push myself to work harder. Right now, fight directing\u00c2\u00a0<em>Animal Farm<\/em>, I over-identify with Boxer and Clover. Arbeit Macht Frei.<\/p>\n<p>Now that I have put myself back on the path of completing all my self-work and any tasks possible before noon, my interest in video games wanes. Still, it took quite some mustering, hemming, and hawing to get myself to write even this pointless self-examination. But really, what else is there?<\/p>\n<p>My therapist suggests that I explore\u00c2\u00a0an Epicurean path: reduce conflict, emphasize joy. Since my time with BIG, I have always adhered to our motto of &#8220;Practice Responsible Hedonism,&#8221; so perhaps that will work for me. My meditations have helped me connect with the world, but my particular brand of epicureanism demands disconnection. Hell is other people, as they say, and since connection, true connection, flees in the face of socialization, I struggle to sense joy rather than conflict.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;ve been using\u00c2\u00a0Habitica\u00c2\u00a0for a couple of years now, using it mostly as an online tracker\u00c2\u00a0for my to-do list. On my daily schedule is a long list of things that I try to accomplish every day in addition to my actual to-do list. Here&#8217;s what it typically looks like: leave the house wipe down ginger walk [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p73iP8-MX","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1053,"url":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=1053","url_meta":{"origin":3035,"position":0},"title":"The good, the bad, etc.","date":"8\/19\/2009","format":false,"excerpt":"My week in list form: Closed the sold-out, critically acclaimed production of SWEENEY TODD by dying and going through the trap for some old friends who saw the show. Secured a stage combat teaching position with a local theater. Played some video games and board games and watched a little\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Ennui&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":946,"url":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=946","url_meta":{"origin":3035,"position":1},"title":"De-lovely?","date":"2\/16\/2009","format":false,"excerpt":"So, because I don't really list all the links I find, I wanted to make a little mini-blog over there --> You'll find a list of my most recent links on delicious.com. Some of it sucks. But better that it suck in the sidebar. The main focus of this site\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Ennui&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36,"url":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=36","url_meta":{"origin":3035,"position":2},"title":"A card-carrying member of the blog proliferrati.","date":"1\/27\/2004","format":false,"excerpt":"The funniest joke ever: Napoleon, Gandhi, and Winston Churchill knock on the gates of heaven. St. Peter emerges, list in hand. He looks at each of them and clears his throat. \"This is all merely a construct of the living, to mitigate their dread of the unknown. Excuse me. I've\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Found Art&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":449,"url":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=449","url_meta":{"origin":3035,"position":3},"title":"The Shape of Days","date":"12\/9\/2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Another to add to the list of dailies. The Shape of Days","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Found Art&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":821,"url":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=821","url_meta":{"origin":3035,"position":4},"title":"Koreans are good at many things.","date":"8\/26\/2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Add breakdancing and performance art to the list.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Ennui&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8,"url":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=8","url_meta":{"origin":3035,"position":5},"title":"Satisf-action","date":"6\/11\/2003","format":false,"excerpt":"If she hadn't already, Kate Beckinsale soon will have achieved fan-boy drool-cult status. I know she's high on my list; hopefully she'll keep doing things like Cold Comfort Farm. Though I suppose a talent like hers is more fully realized through convention appearances and Maxim magazine cover shoots. That sounds\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Ennui&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3035"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3035"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3038,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3035\/revisions\/3038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}