Tag Archives: Joy

June 25, 2020

The Subtle Art

A few weeks ago a friend loaned me The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck (2016), by Mark Manson. I just finished it, and — while I’m not a big fan of self-help books — I give this one an Ah! rating. Manson’s approach, contrary to our modern norm, is not about finding happiness, but about choosing the pain worth seeking (and letting the happiness come through our fulfillment).

The subtle part is that not giving a f*ck doesn’t mean one stops caring. The subtle part is learning to be selective about what matters to us.

The counterintuitive part is that chasing happiness leads to misery.

31 Comments | tags: Dave Mustaine, happiness, Hiroo Onoda, Joy, Mark Manson, Norio Suzuki, Pete Best, The Beatles, The Buddha | posted in Books, Life

March 15, 2015

Death. And Life!

By Wyrd Smythe

Terry Pratchett, 1948-2015, RIP

My mom died a year ago today. Yesterday I attended a memorial service for my best friend’s mom, who died this past February. Also in February, Leonard Nimoy took a final bow and exited stage left. Most recently — just last Thursday — another star went out, and it was one that shone brilliantly in the sky for so many of us.

Sir Terry Pratchett finally got to meet one of his key characters. I like to think that, for him, it might have been like meeting an old friend — and sadly, a visitor he’s been expecting for quite a while now. We fans know that Death personally attends the passing of wizards.

And Terry Pratchett was a wizard beyond compare.

13 Comments | tags: celebration, death, Discworld, Joy, Jurassic Park, Leonard Nimoy, loss, Michael Crichton, mourning, Soul Music (novel), spring, Terry Pratchett, vernal equinox | posted in Life

August 1, 2013

Questions

By Wyrd Smythe

project work I’ve been playing with Python and POV-Ray, catching up on movies, enjoying the continued nice weather, and even getting in some reading. Yet it’s still weird how little I seem to get done considering the days are all mine. (And I still haven’t fully shaken the sense that all this free time ends at some point.)

For now, I plan to focus on project work—the previously mentioned Python and POV-Ray playing—so there may be a pause in the posting while I putter (possibly a plethora of pauses). Please stay tuned!

In the meantime, I have some questions:

28 Comments | tags: atheism, Joy, meaning, POV-Ray, purpose, Python, spirituality, suffering, theism | posted in Basics, Life, Philosophy, Religion, Science

December 24, 2012

Christmas Eve

By Wyrd Smythe

FP 12-12-24 A couple of funny things happened on the way to today’s post! The first thing is that — apparently due to having unknown Time Posting powers (or perhaps there was a passing Christmas Time Warp) — the post posted today tunneled back in time two days!

And while I’m pleased with this new-found power (I am a bit puzzled on how to wield it in the Name of Goodness), the point of posting a “Night Before Christmas” parody on the night before Christmas is — in fact — that you are posting it on the night before Christmas. (Naturally, my ruling star of Irony would insure that, with great power comes great befuddlement.)

But combined with the other thing that happened today, I choose to take this as a sign to write a new Christmas Eve post. You see, today I was Freshly Pressed!

4 Comments | tags: Christmas, Christmas Eve, Christmas presents, Freshly Pressed, Joy, Peace on Earth, Twilight Zone | posted in Life