[SOC]

I don't feel like writing this. It is really early on a Tuesday morning. In two hours, I will be going to work. I just did some laundry. Been awake since 1:30 am. I can only sleep about 4 hours.

I have been battling a cold with Dayquil and hot tea with honey for the past week. I feel drained.

I haven't hit the java yet. I wonder if writing these SOC posts is worth it.

I am still considering the issue of post-minimalist emptiness or the PME as I call it now. Here's the deal. I have always seen the biggest flaw in Epicureanism as being a tendency to stagnation and boredom. Minimalism is the modern lifestyle that most approximates Epicureanism. But obviously, Epicurus must have faced this issue himself. He must have had an answer.

I see Aristotle as being the way. Again and again, I come back to that guy. I think we find happiness not in simple things but in the robust pursuit of projects. Minimalism solves problems and ends many frustrations but leaves us bored. This boredom is the PME.

We are happiest and at our best while striving for some goal. Our goals should challenge us. Devoid of these goals, our lives stagnate. You can call this stagnation "tranquility," but it sucks. What we desire is flow. Flow is everything. Without flow, we die. We become cows eating grass.

The goal of my present thinking is to take advantage of the virtues of simplicity and combine them with a life of flow. For example, the practitioners of simplicity are best represented by Zen Buddhists. Much of what they seek seems identical to what Epicurus was about. The practitioners of Aristotle's eudaimonistic philosophy would be the Renaissance people like Leonardo or a guy like Bernini. The synthesis of the two would be a group like the Puritans.

The Puritans had certain features. They were simple and modest. They worked hard. But they were voracious readers and very worldly as compared to their Catholic counterparts. Of course, they were religious which complicates things. But they eschewed hedonism in the conventional sense. If Puritans lived today, they would condemn the party people and the weekend warriors and the endless consumption. But they would be big fans of the internet. Of course, the bulk of their reading was and would be religious in nature. Other than that, they show us good habits to practice and develop.

I've been putting together three lists, and I designate them with letters. The first list is the N list. These are things that I negate completely from my life. This would be things like partying, being a weekend warrior, and the like. This is also known as my "Not To Do" list.

The M list are things I minimize. These are things like clutter, material possessions, etc.

The D list are things I maximize (or need to maximize.) This would be things like work, fitness, and academic pursuits. Basically, it means work, working out, and reading as much as possible.

The problem with minimalism as practiced by so many is that it is a one-size-fits-all approach. Minimalism works great for finances. But then, when you decide to chunk your library because all those books are "clutter," you end up making a huge mistake. Puritans were big book lovers. They consumed a lot of media but not to the detriment of their work.

As an atheist, I substitute spiritual practices with secular practices. Instead of praying, I write. Instead of reading the Bible, I read philosophy, science, and history.

The goal is to have both a simple life but a fulfilling life as well. I think the overall ethos that should guide our decisions is whether or not the activity makes me a better person in the eudaimonistic or "flourishing" sense. Despite their errors, the Puritans were a flourishing group of people. I think they pulled off that balance between simplicity and fullness.

I will continue to explore and experiment with this stuff. My goal is to become a secular Puritan. Time for coffee now.

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