An elaborated 1 John 2:15-16 with some eye toward Ecclesiastes 11:9: Have desires of the flesh, but do not love those desires. Have desires of the eyes, but do not love those desires. Possess things, but do not love the pride of possession or estate.

Have desires of the flesh. Have desires of the eyes. Possess things. But do so lightly. Instead of loving them, love YHWH your god, and love your neighbor as yourself. 🧘‍♂️

Note to self: Discretize everything. It will maximize concentration, keep you from hurrying, and keep you from losing sight of God. 🧘‍♂️

Circumvent Google’s default search results page—including its new, unwelcome AI results—and return to a simple list of blue links. 💻

I stand with carbohydrates. 🍞

Give and receive. Don’t take.

“You almost have to give your happiness up to accomplish your goals” (Mike Tyson).

Welp, that settles it: A single game of Civilization VI on its fastest speed (other than battle turns) took me 10.5 hours. I will never play it again.

Do what you’re doing. Don’t worry about the rest.

The first chapter of Judges is all about how most of the tribes of Israel failed to drive out the Canaanites and other non-Israelite peoples from their inherited land. It’s just like yesterday and Civilization VI.

Just be grateful.

You said it was a long-term plan. So why start now?

— Éa

Do not talk about your hard feelings after 9 PM. Maybe not even after 8 PM.

For the joy!

By which I mean to answer questions such as: Why do anything? Why work? Why make music?

Resolved: One creative goal at a time. Current goal: Legalize backyard hens in College Township.

Step one in any anti-racist agenda: Refuse to speak in terms of race. Skin color? Pigment? Melanin? Yes. But “‘[r]ace’ itself is just a restatement and retrenchment of the problem” (Ta-Nehisi Coates).

Air: the original social medium.

Living unanxiously mindful of your own certain death is probably salutary. Living unanxiously mindful of the certain death of those you love might be even more so.

Become love plankton.

“With.”

— God, in answer to another round of “What should I do?” or “How to decide what to do?”

Resolved: a solo screen sabbath from sundown Saturday through sundown Sunday.

Resolved: No weekend DiamondBack work unless it is explicitly required by logistics or by my supervisors.

If you find yourself upset about your inability to connect with your family and their penchant for gluing glowing rectangles to their hands or laps, don’t try to pry them away. Instead, charm them away by doing something with all your might à la the ceiling tiles in the Upper Room. It can something serious, something silly, something musical, something mundane, it can be something that you think will attract them or something that you think won’t. Just do it with all your might. Dancing. For the glory of the Lord. They’ll join you.

The important part for me in leisure is a deliberate decision to engage and stay engaged. “…do it with all your might…” Remember the lesson of the ceiling at the Upper Room.

What should leisure be? Creative contemplative, fun, generous, fascinating, playful, relational, involving the body. Two kinds: still and active.

What am I bad at? Deciding what specificlaly to do when it comes to leisure.

Why? Lack of practice.

How to solve? Practice.

Do you mean it’s going to take discipline? Yes.

When you’re in a place, do the things the place was made for. For instance, if you’re at a roller rink, go skating; don’t try to get things done on your computer, even if you can. If you’re at Highland Regional Park in Johnstown for Sullivan’s bike race, do bike race or park things; don’t try to get things done on your computer.