I woke up quite early; it felt good to have the confirmation that the trip did not completely derail my hard-earned sleep routine; and although I was definitely not fully rested, I somehow managed to pull off some very basic yoga in the porch. That was quite nice.

morning physical work lifted by some heavy bars

The morning work was very familiar by now: another round of raking up cut grass, and then wheelbarrowing it to the nearest compost pile. It's enjoyable work, as one is not down on the knees – albeit it can be tricky to get the right back position when extending the rake – and it's quite naturally a perfect candidate for some active listening. I started the morning with Denzel Curry's ZUU; shortly after, I pivoted to Gucci Mane Trap God Classics: I Am My Only Competition, Squid's O Monolith, amaarae's Fountain Baby.

Daniele and I had a pleasant morning of work; his machine buzzed throughout, while I raked and mildly danced to some bangers. At some point, we discussed listening to audiobooks while working.

As soon as the grass gets cut and raked, Titi comes along to check on the mice.

William B. Irvine talks with Sam Harris about stoicism

After the records, I listened to a conversation in the Waking Up app, in which Sam Harris discussed a modern take on stoicism with William B. Irvine. There were some interesting ideas thrown around, like

negative visualization

negative visualization is a stoic technique of imagining a much worse present moment – being sick, having lost someone, etc. – which, if properly integrated into thoughts, will heavily contrast the real present moment, thus providing some sense of gratitude and appreciation. It feels a little heavy and morbid, but it is a powerful tool to activate these positive feelings.

the stoic challenge

(this is also the title of one of William B. Irvine's books); the stoic challenge consists of reframing any less pleasant situation in life as if it were a challenge from the stoic gods. This produces a more positive mental framework, and it feels akin to the more broadly studied phenomenon of consciously changing the attitude towards less pleasurable actions or sensations: just smiling in the face of adversity will produce a wholly different attitude when challenging it. This is a quite powerful method to make our lives easier in general.