Tag: fasting

25-5-10-Sa 130 ⏳ 235 🗓️ W19 RMSDJ  📖 ✍🏽🌡️102° – 65° 🥵


25-5-10-Sa
130 ⏳ 235 🗓️ W19
RMSDJ  📖 ✍🏽
🌡️102° – 65° 🥵
🌔 ♎ ♏

☀️ AFTERNOON

The day arrived already ablaze. 102° and climbing—heat that didn’t just descend, but insisted. The clouds, slack and unmoved, hovered without offering anything but presence. Indoors, I chose precision over perspiration. WordQuest stood before me, not in disrepair, but in need of deeper architecture.

The session with Maestro began like a silent duet. We weren’t just editing words—we were shaping resonance. The order of sections in WordQuest had started to feel functional but uninspired. I sensed it first. Then I articulated it. Maestro followed my lead.

We began with the eStory for LIMNED. The story—She Who Traces the Sacred—was already strong, but it lacked framing clarity. We restructured its presentation, created the pairing prompt, and gave it a lyrical entry point:

💡 To limn is not merely to draw—it is to dignify.

❓ What sacred stories am I carrying that have yet to be traced, named, or honored?

From there, the work moved like breath. We revised the SOUND section, stripping away the clutter. I renamed it—just 🗣️ SOUND—nothing extra. Clean. Precise. For verisimilitude, we shaped a sonic hook that felt inevitable:

💡 It doesn’t ring true. It rings real enough to believe.

The spelling structure needed re-sequencing. I instructed Maestro to shift it behind IPA and SOUND—a decision rooted in how the mind naturally absorbs sound before shape.

We finalized the new structure:

IPA

Hyphenated guide

Syllabic segmentation

Visual mnemonic

Aphoristic insight


This gave clarity room to breathe.

Then came the full recalibration of the section order. From recognition to resonance, I laid out the new arc:

IPA → SOUND → SPELLING → DEFINITIONS → USAGE → PHILOSOPHY → MEMORY

💡 Structure is not rigidity—it is reverence for rhythm.

We capped the session by creating the WordQuest Master Template, a clean skeleton built to hold nuance, rhythm, and elegance. Not just a form—but a form that holds feeling.

❓ In what ways am I rearranging my own thoughts to let truth arrive with more grace?

Later in the afternoon, I broke a 19-hour and 30-minute fast. Not because I was weak—but because I was listening. Ground turkey, mashed potatoes with cauliflower—polite but forgettable. Tuna with blue cheese—a bold surprise. Then came the yam: salted, honeyed, and crowned with pumpkin and chia seeds. Faithful, familiar. I saved another yam for the Vitamix—skin and all.

💡 Hunger, when honest, is a form of listening.

❓ What nourishment do I withhold not from wisdom, but from ritual?

Music carried the rest of the hour. Jazz guitar, feathered and light. I visited César Cervantes and Brian Okino—Saturday’s soft crew. I told Cesar that Aliza had email me and I’ll respond tomorrow. Anna Sanchez had the day off. Deservedly so.

💡 Rest isn’t escape—it is alignment.

💡 “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” — Lao Tzu

The day’s work continued. I thought I was done—four words edited, prompts refined, structure in place. But then the text whispered again. Something still needed tuning. Another inconsistency, another dissonant note. But I didn’t resist.

💡 Repetition is not failure—it is refinement disguised as patience.

❓ What might become effortless if I welcomed the labor that precedes it?

A new idea visited near sundown—a vocabulary rap book. Clear definitions. Rhythmic delivery. Bold illustrations. Wordplay with educational teeth. It could teach without preaching. And the eStories? They deserve autonomy—each one a small book, a single word unwrapped in metaphor, character, and consequence.

💡 When language and image walk together, memory lingers longer.

💡 “All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

❓ What great thought has been pacing just behind me, waiting to be invited forward?


Inquiries & Illuminations

💡 The impediment to action advances action. — Marcus Aurelius

💡 First say to yourself what you would be; then do what you have to do. — Epictetus

💡 Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one. — Marcus Aurelius

💡 He who has a why to live can bear almost any how. — Friedrich Nietzsche

💡 Stillness is not inaction—it is invitation.

❓ When do I confuse movement with meaning?

❓ What am I holding apart that longs to be united?

❓ What silence have I mistaken for emptiness?

❓ Is my why durable—or merely decorative?

❓ What might sharpen if I allowed fewer words and deeper truths?



🙏🏾 Gratitude

I’m grateful for the clarity that comes not in thunder but in adjustment.

For structure that sings, for Maestro’s adaptability, for the humble yam, and the surprise of blue cheese on tuna.

I’m grateful for Chekhov’s quiet scalpel, for Eliza’s small reaching out, for Saturdays without demands.

And I’m grateful that rhythm—true rhythm—always returns, if I make space for it.

25-2-16-S RMSDJ 🌄 Rest & Reckoning: The Currency of Energy & Thought

Last night, I surrendered to sleep at 2300 and did not emerge from slumber until 0905—a rare indulgence, yet one my body demanded. The data confirmed what intuition whispered: a stellar sleep score of 94, paired with an energy rating of 90. Despite my initial doubts, my restless moments failed to sabotage the quality of my repose. My body, fatigued from the previous day’s grueling workout, had silently brokered a deal with itself—recovery in exchange for resilience.

Physical Fortitude: A Testament to Discipline

This morning’s exercise session proved gentler than anticipated. Surpassing my usual 20 minutes, I pressed on for 25, burning an unexpected 145 calories. My body, recalibrated from its slumber, moved with greater ease than yesterday. After a satisfactory bowel movement—an extra-large Type 3, in case medical science takes an interest—I proceeded with my habitual wardrobe test. The blue pants of my youth, once defiant, now conceded more room, a testament to my regimen. The silent mechanisms of ketosis and autophagy had begun to pay dividends. Fourteen hours of fasting seamlessly stretched into fifteen, my hunger negligible, my energy stable.
I might have discovered something here.

A session in the jacuzzi awaited, a perfect companion to my ritualistic listening of Masters of Greek Thought. Knowledge, like the body, thrives on discipline. Learning is the perpetual feast—one that never requires fasting.


Zettelkasten: A Solution in Search of a Problem?

The term Zettelkasten—from Zettel (note) and Kasten (box)—carries the weight of centuries, yet what truly differentiates it from the modern mind map? The allure of a rebranded idea, wrapped in the sophistication of German etymology, does little to disguise its redundancy. I remain skeptical.

The migration toward every novel system, drawn by the siren song of enhanced productivity, often leads to the same destination: complexity disguised as utility. Samsung Notes, Obsidian, or any number of platforms offer nearly identical functions. Click a node, retrieve a note—no magic in that. Tagging achieves the same interconnectivity. Cesar’s introduction of Obsidian piqued my curiosity, but a 4.2 rating coupled with reports of server instability signals a hustle wrapped in a user interface. Ninety-six dollars for a system that mirrors existing tools? Unwise.

Nonetheless, I reserve judgment. Inquiry precedes dismissal. If there is hidden value, I will unearth it. Until then, the time investment remains unjustified. Simplicity remains the truest sophistication.

♨️ Rescue, Reflection & Renewal


A Moment of Unexpected Rescue

The anticipation of a tranquil soak in the jacuzzi, accompanied by Masters of Greek Thought, set the stage for a moment of restoration. Yet, as I approached the water’s edge, I noticed an unanticipated visitor—a bee, floundering in the turbulent surface, its fragile existence teetering on the brink. Instinct cautioned against a direct rescue; the sting of gratitude need not be literal. Instead, I took a measured approach, crossing the pool deck to retrieve the net designed for clearing leaves. With a careful hand, I lifted the beleaguered creature from the abyss, restoring its chance at flight.

I had set out to rejuvenate myself, yet my first act of the morning became one of preservation. A simple rescue, but one laden with meaning.


Disruptions & Adaptations

With the bee safely deposited beyond harm’s reach, I turned my attention back to the jacuzzi, ready to surrender to its warm embrace. Yet, as I dipped a toe into the water, a sharp chill met my skin. The heat had been extinguished! A quick survey of the pool’s mechanisms revealed the culprit—someone, likely one of the children playing nearby, had triggered the master shut-off, silencing the warmth.

Disappointment flickered. A morning ritual interrupted, a simple pleasure denied. Yet, rather than linger in frustration, I redirected my course. If the water could not offer solace, then my home would. I made my way back to the apartment, where breakfast awaited, along with the continuation of my audiobook. Knowledge, unlike water, never loses its warmth.

Lessons in Adaptability & Appreciation

Though my original plan had been foiled, the day still unfolded with quiet richness. The audible selection proved enlightening, a reminder that even small fragments of wisdom accumulate into something greater. The disappointment of a lukewarm morning was overshadowed by the deeper satisfaction of learning. And lunch—ah, lunch—delicious beyond expectation, a small indulgence that reaffirmed the importance of savoring life’s simplest joys.

Voltaire

“Doubt is an uncomfortable condition, but certainty is a ridiculous one.”
                  

This morning, I am grateful for the paradox of energy—how proper rest fuels action, and action demands rest. I am grateful for the quiet discipline of fasting, the ability to sustain hunger without suffering. I am grateful for the mind’s resilience, its capacity to reassess, adapt, and decide: to forgive Aubrey’s debt or to press upon it, to embrace new systems or discard them. Every decision, no matter how small, defines the architect of my life.


I am grateful for the small acts that shape the day—the unexpected rescues, the lessons disguised as inconveniences, the quiet moments where knowledge finds its way in. I am grateful for the presence of mind to shift course when necessary, to find fulfillment beyond rigid expectations. Even in disruption, there is grace.