lynxmuse

[lynxmuse]

The chase is on! :D

#canadian lynx #lynx #cat #kitty #feline #nature #meow #snow #chase time is play time!

[lynxmuse]

Mindfulness Moment

I saw these signs hung at the DOX museum for contemporary art (read this left to right – not all were hung that way but the one I took a photo of had it in this kind of ‘reverse’ order):

I like them, as it reminds us of something most important:  just having a particular thought doesn’t make one a ‘bad person’.  Or make one anything, really.  It’s just a thought.

And we thought about all sorts of stuff, don’t we?  But they’re just thoughts, thoughts that are almost always shouted out by our calculating selves, and therefore concerned only with the narrow focus of things that the calculating self always gets all uppity about.

Things and thoughts that often can be quite nasty, or harsh, or callous, or cruel, or any manner of ways that do not match the desires of our authentic selves.

Which can be quite disconcerting!  We might ask, “Where did that come from?”  Leading to, “If I am having these thoughts, do I believe this?  Is this who I am?”

To which:  No.  It’s not us, it’s just that little voice in our head.  It’s just the calculating self on loudspeaker.  So we can thought it, and we can even think it.*  But it’s who we choose to be and how we choose to act that speaks of and to our character.

And as such, thoughting or thinking about touching art is total fine.  Just keep it there, in your thoughts, while keeping your hands by your side as you drink in the art before you.

… oh, also, as a bonus, it’s probably a productive thing to get those concerns of whether certain thoughts make us a ‘bad person’!  Because if we have the concern, we are at least mindful of that voice and of those impetuses and impulses and are able to recognize that they don’t relate to who we are and who we want to be.  Being worried about being a jerk (or worse) is a good step to choosing paths that will avoid being that.

* Inside of the distinction between true thinking and not just thoughting.  We can think about all sorts of things, and it’s likely good to do so, to play in the mental sandbox and choose that which is authentic and productive and empowers and enlivens and supports us and those around us.

#mindfulness #art #philosophy #ontology #possibility #transformation #thinking #thoughting

[lynxmuse]

by powree

#disney #robin hood #maid marian #fox #marian hood

[lynxmuse]

  The United States Post Office of Fort Worth, from an era where valuing each other was more prevalent. By Wyatt C. Hedrick.

#architecture #building #design #creating space #community #post office #usps

[lynxmuse]

Tea time!

by sasamaru

#zootopia #disney #movies #nick wilde

[lynxmuse]

Mindfulness Moment

Sometimes it feels better to not try at all than to risk failure.

Sure.  Failing hurts.

But what does it cost us to be this way?

How small do things become?  How limited?  How familiar? 

How deadening?

And what’s our experience of life inside that?

Might the hurt of failure, or the avoidance of such, be mostly just a false flag?

It doesn’t have to be skinny branches.

Or grand consequences type things.

Just stepping out, trying out, exploring out, risking out…

Creating wonder for us all…

And reveling in all the feels of being alive. 

#mindfulness #philosophy #ontology #possibility #practice #fear #stagnation #creation #wonder

[lynxmuse]

A great video breaking down Jean-Michel Jarre’s awesome album Equinoxe! It’d be great just from this person’s excitement alone, but having the various music theories and techniques and tidbits highlighted by someone in the know just makes me appreciate and love the album even more. Plus it’s cool to see how what JMJ pioneered in the late 70s continues to inspire and influence in the music being produced today. Well worth a watch!

#jean-michel jarre #music #art #equinoxe #cool #Youtube

[lynxmuse]

Delightfully peaceful.

#canadian lynx #lynx #cat #kitty #feline #nature #meow #snow #nap #purr

[lynxmuse]

Mindfulness Moment

So I’ve heard that story/statistic about how “one in four/five young people want to become social media influencers” and my first thought was to reactively roll my eyes.  Which even on the face of it is kind of a weird reaction on my part, as it’s not like “being famous” is all that new of a desire, even as a profession.  (I mean certainly, especially given my flair for the dramatic, becoming a well known and loved actor or statesman or whatever would not be something I would shun at all.)

But beyond that, I caught part of an interview with Taylor Lorenz who said something that I was totally not expecting and that really shredded my preconceived (eye-rolling-inducing) notions and expanded my context.  When she asked young people why they wanted to become a social media influencer, many of their responses were along the lines of “so I can get help when something goes wrong.”  As in, “if my parents lose their house, I will be able to ask my followers to help,” or “if someone in my family needs medical care, I can ask my followers to donate to ensure they can get care.” *

Which… again, was not something I had considered.  But with the growing economic precarity that has been set up as the status quo through wealth extraction and income inequality, it’s actually a rather astute strategy.  They are simply seeking security for their adult life that is not available in the “ordinary” and often-called “proper” channels.  In the absence of fair, reliable, and institutional social care, your social circles are all you have left and therefore online attention becomes a very valuable form of currency.

Their influencer desires aren’t (entirely) coming from a place of vanity – they are coming from a place of disquiet and uncertain existence.

* I should point out that she was talking to people in the USA, where healthcare is the leading cause of personal bankruptcy, even for those who are fortunate enough to have some form of health insurance.  Thus the concern for a health emergency to cause financial ruin, and/or the concern that a family member will suffer without proper treatment due to an inability to afford it.

#mindfulness #ontology #influencers #community #politics #policy #money #governance

[lynxmuse]

Nick wants you to know that he does, indeed, have a lovely and fluffy belly.

by kinoshita jiroh

#zootopia #disney #movies #nick wilde

[lynxmuse]

The Convent of Saint-François, rebirthed by studio Amelia Travella Architectes.

#architecture #building #design #creating space #adaptive reuse #copper #cool

[lynxmuse]

Here comes the lynx superhero, flying in to save the day! :)

#lynx #cat #kitty #feline #nature #meow #purr #supercat #why just pounce #when you can fly!

[lynxmuse]

Mindfulness Moment

This one is a bit interesting and worth a read (and I think would lose a lot in trying to summarize, so I will encourage reading it in full) about traditional Inuit parenting:

The article does occasionally frame things as “teaching rational thinking”, which I’d say might be missing the point a bit – it’s less about “rational thinking” (vs non-rational thinking?) and more about teaching both mindfulness and something I’ve advocated here before, that of integration.  Because it isn’t about ignoring your anger (or any emotion) or about making your feelings and emotions bad and wrong and then trying to stuff them far away and be some pure logic being.  Rather, it’s about being with those emotions and allowing them to be, without also becoming them.  You are being whole and complete and experiencing it all… and then you choose.  Choose what your authentic self wants, choose what will be the most productive in the moment, or choose any which way.

And choice is great, as often a lot of the frustration/anger/etc we feel rush forward in any given moment might well not be proportional to what’s really required in that given moment.

Beyond all that, the whole different perspective on teaching and upbringing from the article was cool to read and a neat angle on things.  I love it.

#mindfulness #philosophy #ontology #possibility #practice #parenting #inuit teachings

[lynxmuse]

Gotta watch where you're stepping there Mr fox, else you'll go for a wilde ride!

by geekfox

#zootopia #disney #movies #nick wilde

[lynxmuse]

The adaptive reuse of Pyramid of Tirana, from its old dictator roots to a new community oriented use. Complete with slide that recalls its use by the local kids during its abandoned days!

The Pyramid of Tirana by MVRDV and iRI

#architecture #building #design #creating space #community #adaptive reuse

[lynxmuse]

Lynx tush! Nubby tails and floofy paws all on display!

#canadian lynx #lynx #cat #kitty #feline #nature #meow #purr #snow #floof

[lynxmuse]

Mindfulness Moment

“I don’t need you to love football [soccer], I only need you to love something that brings you together with others whose love is pointing in the same direction.

For me, that’s football, but for you, it could be crochet, or Jane Austen, or distance running, but to be bound up with friends and strangers alike is the human condition, and to be in community is to be, for me, anyway, more fully alive.”

— John Green

(And as the welcome line on my blog reminds me, “Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.”)

#mindfulness #love #philosophy #ontology #practice