Yes, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME. I believe that everyone should celebrate the day of their birth. I believe that everyone should become aware of their own uniqueness as a basis for contributing to the collective wisdom of homo sapiens.
I was up at about five this morning and followed my usual morning routine. As the coffee began to awaken me, I quickly found interesting articles to read. As I document my activities for my special day I will link to these articles and make a few comments.
The Top Three Criticisms of Atheism by Benjamin Cain Aug 3
(1.1) The rational rejection of theism is arbitrary, because reason depends ultimately on faith.
(1.2) Atheists are hypocritical for overlooking the irrationality of secularism.
(2) Atheists err when they mistake theism for religion.
(3) Atheism is incoherent — the atheist is committed to technoscientific advances, which are meant to create God at the limit of secular progress.
I generally agree with the points this article makes.
Shape Yourself Into The Perfect Weapon Against The Empire by Caitlin Johnstone Aug 3
You must know yourself and understand your inner landscape, so that you understand what makes you tick. If you understand your inner dynamics, you can understand how you’ve been fooled in the past and could be fooled in the future (and most importantly how you fool yourself), and you’ll understand how other people are fooled by powerful manipulators as well.
This is a writer that I have recently discovered and quickly found worth reading. I shared this article on a private facebook group, InterSpiritual Agnostics, highlighting the above quote. I added a question: Is this okay to post? I think it is a spiritual message because it advocates personal transformation. But it also is political and revolutionary. Later in the day I noted that I had received thumbs up and some love from the group Admins. I also received one critical comment which I ignored, not worth engaging with.
Confidence tricks by Andrew Little and Matthew Backus 7 August 2020
To better understand the problem of communicating scientific knowledge to the policymakers and the public, it helps to divide the difficulty of questions into three levels. Level-one questions are those that anyone with even modest expertise or access to a search engine can answer... Level-two questions are those where only the most qualified experts have something to say... Level-three questions are those where even the best experts don’t know the answers...
This article addresses one of the big challenges that we all face. I would add that, in my opinion, level-three questions are interesting and important and numerous. I am interested in efforts that attempt to create a new narrative that meets this challenge.
At around 6:30 Pat got up. As she sipped her first glass of water, I joined her in the living room and we chatted for about 45 minutes. This has become a pleasant routine for us during the coronavirus crisis. Her next activity was a one hour walk on our treadmill on the back terrace. I continued reading the above articles.
At around 8:45 it was my turn on the treadmill. For several years I have been thinking about doing something special on my 69th birthday. I have lots of ideas pop into my mind, many which, thankfully, fade away. But this idea persisted, running 69 minutes on my 69th birthday. At one time it was part of a bigger idea, a fundraising activity supporting the cause of mental illness in the local Mexican community. I had in mind an Open House while I ran with pledges to the cause tied to my performance on the treadmill. I shared my idea with three Mexicans who each have some profile in Lakeside. All were supportive of the idea. None of them ever followed through, which was very disappointing. But just as well as the coronavirus crisis would have forced cancellation of such an event. And Pat would have been relieved as she would not be comfortable with my latest grand plan.
I had thought up a clever, attention grabbing name and tag line for my fundraiser: 69on69, no, no, no, not that 69, this is a fundraiser! I probably would have needed to explain the innuendo to Pat and she would not have liked it. I may still face this when she proofreads this article for me.
But I still wanted to do the run even without an audience. Eleven days ago I incurred a slight running injury and I was not confident I could achieve my goal. Yesterday I ran for 30 minutes as a test. This morning I decided to give it a try. I am goal oriented but decided not to be disappointed if I failed.
I started running with slight pain in my left buttock. After running for about 15 to 20 minutes the pain lessened a bit which encouraged me. After about 30 to 35 minutes I felt my body working harder, breathing harder, heart rate rising, all normal. I looked at my timer for the first time at 49 minutes. Running now took more effort and the pain in my buttock was intensifying slightly. But I knew that achieving my goal was possible. By the 58 minute mark it took determination to continue. Then the timer read 63...64...68...AND...69!!! Yes!!! Very satisfying!!!
I ran at a pace of 10.5 kph resulting in a total distance of 12 kilometers. Already I have a new idea in my head, 70in70. The change from on to in has significance which I will explain next year unless this idea fades away.
After showering I quickly made our fruit, yogurt and granola breakfast. I quickly ate. I had a scheduled activity at 11.
Collective Presencing w/ Ria Baeck
Join Ria Baeck lead a Collective Presencing practice: Collective Presencing, an emerging human capacity. What becomes possible when we are truly present together.
This activity is presented by The Stoa and I have been checking out some of their offerings from time to time. I was disappointed that Ria Baeck herself was not present. I have her book high on my reading wish list. There were ten people in attendance plus two co-moderators. I thought the 90 minute session was worth my time but I am ambivalent about my future attendance.
Next Pat and I had coffee together on the front terrace. We enjoyed an extra birthday treat, sharing a large chocolate bar. After that, Pat undertook an activity at my request, which I will describe in a separate article.
I phoned my mother. She immediately said she was thinking of me, exactly what I expected. Mom thinks about each of her children every year on each their birthdays. She once told me that she thinks of me every day. How lovely! It was probably true at one time. She sounded good, remarkable for someone past their 100th birthday. She was pleased that the nursing home where she lives is again allowing visitors. My brother Bill came yesterday and does so every week when permitted. But I hear her common complaints. She is bored and her days are long. She laments that her children are not close. She laments that she has no relationship with some of her grandchildren and great grandchildren. But she was very pleased that I called and so was I.
Next I did some writing, this article.
It is now the morning of August 8th and I am finishing this article.
The rest of my birthday was mostly spent watching TV - the 102nd PGA Championship, Erin Burnett Out Front on CNN and the Toronto Raptors. By the third quarter of the basketball game, I was beginning to feel very tired. The Raptors were losing badly and this morning I noted that the final score was 122 to 100. I went to bed at about 10.
Overnight my computer shut down and I lost the results of the activity I had asked Pat to do yesterday, an attachment styles quiz. Discussing this during our chat this morning, it seems she missed her reading assignment. I decided to scrap this little project for now.
Yesterday I could not have described my Collective Presencing experience very well. This morning I described it to Pat in detail with considerable clarity. Yesterday I was too overwhelmed and I needed time to process it. I suspect that my unconscious did that overnight in a way that my conscious mind could access, an experience I have had many times over the years. Pat is a good listener and I very much appreciated our chat this morning.
My body feels about the same as it did yesterday morning. It seems that my run yesterday did no damage. But I will give it a rest for a few days.
All things considered, August 7, 2020 was a very good day in my life.