Stuff, Anxiety, Better Writing, Philosophy, & A Feel-Good Film

Hello friends, welcome back to Life Reimagined, a free weekly elixir designed to make you feel good and live better. A special welcome to the 85 subscribers who joined in the last week.

📦 I. Upgrades Only

Steph and I are moving soon, and that process has made us aware of how much stuff we've accumulated over the last 3 years. We came to our current apartment with two 40-liter backpacks and now have A LOT more than that.

On the podcast this week, we discussed the unexpected weight of stuff, how it accumulates, what brings and dampens joy, and how to be better consumers moving forward.

You can listen to the episode here.

One of the ideas that emerged from the pod is a new rule for 2023: Upgrades only.

Basically, we will try to limit ourselves to only upgrading items that we already have, instead of adding new items to the mix.

The idea is that this rule will create a useful constraint on our purchasing decisions, similar to how we had a rule of "buy something, donate something" while living out of backpacks. We'll see how it goes 🤞.

🧘‍♂️ II. A Tip For Reducing Anxiety

I’m very interested in free, always-available techniques to alleviate everyday stressors and anxiety. Perhaps the best tool available to all of us is learning how to use our breath to regulate our nervous systems.

One helpful breathing technique I’ve used over the last 6 months is the 4, 7, 8 method. It’s a simple protocol that takes less than 2 minutes and helps me calm down when I’m in a heightened emotional state.

You can learn how to do it with this 2-minute video from Dr. Weil.

✍️ III. Free Tool for Better Writing

Whenever I'm writing an important email or an essay and want to simplify my writing, I use Hemingway Editor, which is a free desktop app that helps you tighten up and improve your writing. It's a great tool for learning how to write more clearly.

📚 IV. Book for Learning Philosophy

Dozens of people have recommended Laozi's Tao Te Ching, the foundational text of Taoism. I've bought 3 different translations over the years, and honestly, I've never really gotten much from the book. I'm sure it's great, but it just didn't land for me.

That's why I was excited to discover the Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff. Using the character of Winnie-the-Pooh and a fun story, Hoff does a brilliant job of introducing the basic tenets of Taoism in a way that I was able to digest and appreciate.

So if you're like me and curious about Taoism but have never vibed with the Tao Te Chng, try giving Hoff's book a go.

📽️ V. Film I Enjoyed

I had an out-there teacher in high school who loved to stop her lectures mid-sentence and go to Youtube to watch Marcel the Shell with Shoes On.

I forgot about Marcel for a decade but recently watched and really enjoyed the relatively new Marcel the Shell with Shoes On documentary.

If you want a feel-good and silly film to decompress, it's a good one.

🧠 VI. Something I’m Thinking About

That's all for now. See you next Sunday.

— Cal

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🌎 Three other things you might enjoy

1. Doing Time Right: Everyone wants to get more done in less time. This course will show you exactly how to do that with the eliminate, automate, delegate, and iterate framework.

2. Foundations Looking for good books to read? Check out Foundations, a growing digital notebook with notes & lessons from 100+ timeless books.

3. Listen to the Podcast: Feel like school didn't prepare you for adulthood? The Sh*t You Don't Learn in School podcast exists to help make up for this societal failure.