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How you guys spend your free time and weekend?
- Thread starter Retroworldnews
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Work, walk the dog, watch hockey, online gaming, visit my dad, visit my mom in her nursing home. Go to niece and nephews baseball or hockey games
I read books, (real books), listen to music (on my iPod, or my computer's iTunes, or the radio), read the FT, The Economist, The Guardian, take walks (a recent but relatively healthy development), drink coffee, and see sundry friends for coffee/wine/beer and conversation.
If I am by myself: take a walk, take a drive or bike somewhere new, text friends, find things around the house to declutter, sit back with a beverage enjoying the outside view, or play Sudoku on my phone.
Right now I am passing time by being in Macrumors reading till I get tired enough to fall asleep.
Right now I am passing time by being in Macrumors reading till I get tired enough to fall asleep.
I go to work around 7 am. I'm an air conditioning technician. I do installation, repair, and the buying and selling of air conditioners. I leave around 5 pm. I come home. I eat dinner. I spend time with the kids. At 9 pm, I either watch the YouTubers I follow closely at home, or I go out with friends to watch the death races on the highway. I come home around 1 am. I read the Quran, go to sleep, and prepare for tomorrow
Lately I’ve been caring for my three sick children and myself which has taken all my spare time but when I do have it, I enjoy reading about the Magna Carta & US Constitution, US Politics & our international impact, societal rot & cultural insanity within western society. Testing/breaking rules when I can as a measure of cultural rigidity & acceptance (or lack there of)is entertaining. All excellent topics to mull over in one’s spare time.
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You just received the "I didn't realize I could shape my face this way!" Award.
Kudos!
As for passing time:
I am extremely busy with becoming a proficient Secondary science teacher. I am also at the end of the first Semester of my MAT Degree Program.
I also find that I have almost zero down-time moments in my Day.
My posting history @MR may belie the assertion that I have no idle-time; but one must definitely find their outlets, and enjoy what time they have
When one of my kiddos states "WTH! Only ten minutes left till class ends?!?", I am gratified that I finally found a means to employ them to pass the time at accelerated pacing.
What draws your eye? What interests you? What do you want to do? How can you do this?
a) answer the previous Q's
b) ask another four
c) formulate an equation (combining both)
d) solve it, to completion
A person should never, ever find themselves faced with even one second of boredom....
It doesn't have to be frequent; but, it does have to happen, and that means - as you get older (more mature?) that you have to work at it, and take care to nurture those friendships that do mean something to you and add immeasurably to the quality of your life.Some people get the good ones
As it happens, I am an introvert by temperament, with a relatively high tolerance for my own company; moreover, I am rather solitary by nature.
However, notwithstanding that, I love the (relatively rare, certainly, a lot less frequent than when I was younger) times I actually do meet up with the people I like, care for, and whose company I enjoy.
In reflection, I am reminded of the fact that our children are not regularly taught mindfulness.
I really appreciate your statement (and modeling) of the concept.
I spend my free time listening to or playing music, for hours. I hope that will remain true in the future, although I suspect I will have more consequential priorities when I enter the workforce and live on my own (cooking, cleaning, grading if I become a teacher, etc.)
I read a lot of spiritual books — everything from Nisargadatta to Osho to Eckhart Tolle to Tony Parsons.
While studying Buddhism some time ago I came across a teaching by an eighth century wise man named Atisha, called the nine point contemplation on death. He basically said, you don’t know when death will come, and when it comes you can’t take anything with you from this life, except your level of spiritual attainment. So there is nothing more important than the spiritual search.
So I retired from working, decided to live from my savings and care for my parents while I seek out answers to the eternal questions.
While studying Buddhism some time ago I came across a teaching by an eighth century wise man named Atisha, called the nine point contemplation on death. He basically said, you don’t know when death will come, and when it comes you can’t take anything with you from this life, except your level of spiritual attainment. So there is nothing more important than the spiritual search.
So I retired from working, decided to live from my savings and care for my parents while I seek out answers to the eternal questions.
I used to be into computer games, I was a lead programmer for a AAA development studio. But all of that dropped away after a few years of studying Buddhism. I stopped playing games altogether, the urge to watch tv vanished, I stopped reading fiction and instead became comfortable with my own silent presence.
That was about ten years ago. My path left Buddhism after I noticed that there was a tendency for serious practitioners to become monastics and start renouncing normal life. I returned to studying Osho, who I remembered saying things like ‘celebrate life, dance, sing, and meditate’.
Along with Osho, I picked up many other modern mystics, and things keep dropping away. The news, interest in finances, all kinds of things. My life has gotten simpler.
That was about ten years ago. My path left Buddhism after I noticed that there was a tendency for serious practitioners to become monastics and start renouncing normal life. I returned to studying Osho, who I remembered saying things like ‘celebrate life, dance, sing, and meditate’.
Along with Osho, I picked up many other modern mystics, and things keep dropping away. The news, interest in finances, all kinds of things. My life has gotten simpler.
I heard Eckhart Tolle's name mentioned in a conversation recently, along with the book The Power of Now. What do you think about Tolle and his book?
It’s a good place to start the search. I’ve read Tolle’s The Power of Now several times, and he approaches core topics like mind, the now, and the role of the body in sound ways. I like Tolle, he is approachable for Western audiences, maybe more so than Indian teachers like Nisargadatta who were popular in the Seventies. He also has the benefit of still being alive!
One thing I’ve heard said about Tolle is that his seminars and retreats are expensive. That’s probably true, he doesn’t make his time available for free, and he is popular. But this also encourages people to think of him and his time as valuable, I really think it is only reasonable. It’s only a problem if you can’t afford it.
Tolle has the virtue that he has only written two books of note, he has resisted the temptation to go on and on with variations on his themes. The Power of Now is the core book, while A New Earth covers much the same material but is written in a different style and a different emphasis.