How quitting yoga (might) make you happier, healthier, and wiser

Yoga was a great source of happiness in my life and I think it helped to keep me in good health for several years.  Yoga also provided a wonderful community and a challenging flow activity.  Until it didn't.

What would Schopenhauer do, in his spare time?

In the book The Wisdom of Life, Arthur Schopenhauer raises the question of how to spend our free time.

Leisure, that is, the time one has for the free enjoyment of one's consciousness or individuality, is the fruit or produce of the rest of existence, which is in general only labour and effort.  But what does most people's leisure yield? - boredom and dullness; except, of course, when it is occupied with sensual pleasure or folly.

 

Can a pet lover become financially independent?

The cost of health care for pets is rising fast, maybe even faster than the cost of human health care.  That doesn't surprise me. In the past few years, our golden retriever Jake had multiple surgeries and chemotherapy to treat (unsuccessfully, in the end) intestinal cancer.  Our cat Nacho also had a round of chemo to treat (successfully so far, fingers crossed) an intestinal cancer.  But Oscar is truly the grand champion of pet care: an exploded kidney, ongoing ideopathic cystitis, and a random freak out that led to an emergency midnight MRI that showed a normal cat brain.

Interesting fact: cat MRIs are performed in the same machine a human MRIs, but they are scheduled at night, presumably because human patients don't like to share the waiting room with kitties.  Go figure.

And then there was the sex change.  That's right, Oscar is a trans-kitty.

Minimalism and the junk drawer

Our junk drawer resides in a butler's pantry adjacent to our kitchen.  Well, one of our junk drawers.  We placed others at strategic locations around the house, but this one is the most photogenic.

A good enough life

There is no shortage of advice on how to live a good life.  Minimalists recommend jettisoning virtually all of your possession.  Tidy people suggest a similar strategy, but they think it is wise to thank everything they toss away for its faithful service. Reducing your possessions to a tidy little pile makes them easier to fit in a tiny net-zero house.  Financial independents argue that the good life requires eliminating as many purchases as possible (and drastically reducing the costs of necessary purchases) to save a higher percentage of their income and eventually live on their investment returns.  Vegans are saving the planet (and lowering their cholesterol levels) by cutting all animal products from their diets.