doctorspecial

Can a rug make you happy?

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 08:10:21 GMT

Road to happiness.

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 17:24:31 GMT

Recent thoughts

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 12:57:45 GMT

Feeling your pain
or pleasure,
nerves make their own case.

Lovely company
over expensive drinks.

Sleep
more useful than
darkness.

Your form following
your function.

Soft winter rain
still ruled by gravity.

What we could learn from Sweden.

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 01:02:59 GMT

In Sweden nobody talks to you just because you need to talk. They don´t farm their ears out to wayward motormouths.

Please see first comment.

Enjoy small gatherings.

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 12:09:21 GMT

Did you ever notice how a game of chess becomes more interesting when there are just a few pieces on the board? Similarly, bars and restaurants with just a handful of people are often the most engaging.

Don't pollute public areas with mindless chatter.

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 19:48:52 GMT

We all have problems and opinions, but when it comes to blabbing just to vent built-up neurotic thoughts, keep your lips buttoned. The public is not your personal therapist. Keep public conversations impersonal, dynamic and interesting.

Use cold weather to your advantage.

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 16:19:19 GMT

Most serious thought takes place in cold climates or in the winter months. As shadows get longer, everything is more manageable.
Cold weather is better for the brain. Go inside and get something done.

You might ask, What about California? Didn't they invent all sorts of gizmos over there? Yes, they did, but not while surfing or running around naked at Burning Man. They toiled in a grimy garage, some dark little corner.
Coldness keeps you closer to the surface and the surface is where you want to be.

Limit introspection to twenty minutes a day.

Sun, 09 Sep 2007 16:44:33 GMT

Dwelling on yourself is often a recipe for disaster. Introspection often leads to melancholy and depression. This is because the world is a shared place. Any attempt to call it your own will end in disappointment. You have no choice but to accept the big picture with everyone in it. All small pictures get lost in the drawer or disintegrate in your wallet. Keep the self-absorption to a minimum and you will stay on the surface of your life.

Don't confuse introspection will creativity or deep thought. They have nothing to do with each other.

When it comes to interactions with people, agitate like a washing machine, stir things up, push and pull, wring the water out, keeps things moving. Other people are not an option; they are what you have to work with. If you are busy looking at yourself, you are not using the collective power of the masses. Use humanity for what it was made for and it will reward you.

Invent, don't fix.

Tue, 04 Sep 2007 19:37:18 GMT

There is no shortage of things to fix in this world. You can find trouble in every sector: pop music, toys, personal behavior. Certainly a person could spend their life tweaking troubled products and people. But constantly looking at what is broken can be very discouraging.

Instead, try invention. Forget about incremental change, make contextual change. Put things where they don't belong.

Remember, invention causes change; fixing causes smoothness. If your life is too smooth you may be fixing instead of inventing. Ask yourself: Am I getting the traction I need?

Rotate bad habits.

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 16:53:05 GMT

Everyone has bad habits.

Some are fingerpointers. Some drift mentally or physically when they drive. Some are blabbermouths. Some abuse substances. Some give their dog too much credit. Some are addicted to love or money or gambling. Some are always trying to sell. Some are constantly over-dressed. Some are always tasteless.

There are plenty of bad habits to go around. Why not spread them out and diversify. Surprise yourself.

If you drink one night, try dressing tastelessly the next, possibly followed by some bad driving.

By rotating bad habits, your nervous system maintains its elasticity and ability to quickly spark. A little maintenance will payoff bigtime.

Use the "longer near the end" principle.

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 16:31:08 GMT

Have you ever noticed how things get longer near the end. The last hours of a road trip always drive you crazy. Tubes of toothpaste go on forever once you start to roll them up. Shampoo always makes a comeback when you add a little water. I recommend using the "near the end" principle in every aspect of your life. Buy two gallons of gas at a time. Always rent houses that are on the market to be sold. Wear your clothes until they disintegrate on your body. Adopt senior animals from the humane society. Drive cars that have nothing to lose. By extending everything in your life you will never come up short.

Arrive late, leave early.

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 20:41:43 GMT

As I've said before, it's always best to start in the middle and work toward the edge. When you arrive in the middle, things are in place and you can find where you need to be. When you leave early you take some energy with you and the surface mind can jump ahead with preliminary plans. Keep moving and you'll get somewhere.

Don't be afraid to waste time.

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 04:25:58 GMT

Wasted time is a natural and organic. It is the mulch of a rich life.

Hear everything as music.

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 19:12:36 GMT

When John Cage introduced noise as music, he did us a great favor. Noise is not just beautiful, it is warm and complex. Once we appreciate the beauty of every sound, we can begin to understand the complexities of the nervous system, the gatekeeper to happiness.

Try mixing some light jazz with a vacuum cleaner. Hum along with the jackhammer down the street. Enjoy different textures and surfaces of sound. Imagine throughout your day that you are in a bed of sound, blanketed by auditory surprises and cross-purposing.

As your nervous system learns to reinterpret the world, you will feel a deep sense of comfort.

11. Work from the middle to the edge. If there is no middle, there is no edge.

Wed, 22 Aug 2007 02:49:36 GMT

Always start in the middle. That way you can go in either direction: toward the edge or backwards.

If you can't find the middle, don't bother starting. A certain amount of efficiency is necessary to be a truely happy person.

10. Dirty windows reduce glare.

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 23:44:17 GMT

Yesterday I washed my car for the first time in months. I drove the clean car for ten minutes before I was stopped and issued a minor citation. Without dirt my car was defenseless. Dirt maintains a car's immune system.

In the same way, by allowing some dirt to show, by wearing a little history, we become comfortably linear, integrated into our own timelines.

9. Be clear on what you want to attract.

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 20:48:33 GMT

To attract a hawk, tape a mouse to a stick.

To attract a rabbit, plant a garden.

8. Don't take comfort lightly.

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 14:56:14 GMT

Comfort is a place to stop, a place to gather. I recommend using the heaviest comfort that can be easily obtained: thick blankets, wads of cash, off hours, places without toil, continuous flowing mountains and rich valleys.

One way to obtain comfort is to provide off-street parking for the complete nervous system. Let all mental activity languish in motionlessness. Feel the gravity of comfort. Without a nervous system we are all a rich mulch that settles, accumulates and nurtures.

Never seek comfort. Take comfort with you.

7. A mirror is only a painted surface.

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 00:23:39 GMT

We must allow time for reflection. Without reflection nothing repeats, nothing is refined.

With too much reflection, however, things become garbled, as if they were endlessly feeding back.

If this happens, limit your mirror time to a few glances a day.

6. Plow through life like a busy intersection.

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 00:27:54 GMT

The best drivers of cars are assertive and predictable. They come up with reasonable solutions to many minor problems. They know where they are going and how to get there. If they don't, they figure it out.

I recommend running your life the same way.

Remember, without predictability, assertiveness is just lunacy. Go in one direction at a time, but don't hesitate to worm your way into the thick of any situation. Plow into the mainstream like a municipal bus. Let them know your coming and that you're too big to stop quickly.

5. Act like you own the place. People like owners.

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 15:17:17 GMT

Never approach a social situation timidly. Timidity will only lead to disappointment. Be polite and resourceful but immediately take ownership. Don't treat people like dogs. Don't be a caretaker. Don't spout cliches or try to police the area. Just own the place. Take pride and relax.

4. Don’t be afraid of being too straight. The earth, itself, is curved.

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 20:08:42 GMT

Straightness has become a complex principle in recent years with many interpretations. I like to look at it from a carpenter’s perspective. Straightness is a requirement of the job, yet no piece of wood is naturally straight and the world is, of course, curved. Carpenters compensate by making small adjustments wherever they find a lack of squareness.

Extroversion, essential to happiness and success, is a type of straightness, of linear communication.

As a way of staying straight, I recommend dividing the mind into two parts, what I call the Surface Mind and the Submind.

The submind is a workhorse, disciplined and determined. It is always on track, consumed by the mundane, but not on autopilot.

The surface mind, on the other hand, skips forward and explores future opportunities. It ventures into the unknown and creates a vacuum that draws in the submind. This cycle, based on looking forward, allows our thoughts to be overwelmingly pleasant.

3. Study the female form.

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 23:18:33 GMT

At first this principle may seem exclusionary. What about the male form? What do you mean by "study"? What about the formless? These are all good questions.

First let me say that, to my mind, the male form is not very interesting. The male form, similar to "male energy," has a jolting, stair-stepping quality, like a stock market chart. Many of the devices in our lives reflect this maleness: cars, toasters, cordless drills, computers. They are practical, muscular things, useful, but uninspired.

In comparison, the female form echos many of the most delightful forms in nature: mountains, sunsets, coffee. It has a grace that radiates like the outer edge of the soul. The circular narrative of shapes within the female form ties the past to the future and the reflected to the absorbed.

2. Let your inner tension take up the slack.

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 21:40:46 GMT

Just what do we mean by letting inner tension take up slack?

First we have to look at tension. Many people mistake tension with stress or pain. They try to live their life without tension because they think it is negative. But actually tension is a necessary and pleasurable part of our lives. It's what holds up bridges. It's what tows cars. It's lovely.

Letting your inner tension take up the slack means that you are always pulled into the next interesting situation. Make sure you provide plenty of slack to work with, then enjoy the ride when things get tense.

1. Concentrate on the surface: depth is a bottomless pit.

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 01:02:22 GMT

I was thinking about this principal today as I was working on a redwood deck. The deck is just a surface.

The pleasure of a deck is the pleasure of a finely manipulated surface. What matters is the way that it supports you, the way it pushes back at you.

By focusing on the surface any situation can be brightened. Even a blabbermouth right-wing rant can be made tolerable if perceived as a surface, a texture.

Sometimes, though, it's not that easy. You might assume that beneath the surface there is something important. But the problem with digging deeper is that you lose sight of the surface, and, at the same time, your route to happiness.

You might think this sounds like cheap surrealism. In fact, cheap surrealism, with its devotion to the complex, feisty surface, is a prime example of surface exploitation and all its benefits.

And what is so good about the surface? It is this: the surface is the one thing you can always count on. The surface is immediate and lively. It's workable.