Swallowtail @ Swallowtail @beehaw.org

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2 yr. ago

That "I" am pretty much just the construct of electrons flying around my brain.

If you get into mindfulness meditation a little bit, the concept of self in general shifts in really weird ways. Like I know that I am an individual entity in the world, but the sense of an individual actor or driver within my consciousness has faded somewhat. When you recognize that the thoughts or feelings that manifest in consciousness are about as much under your control as whether the wind is blowing or what the people across the room are talking about, it gives you a new perspective on life.

Not discrediting the fact that guys can be dumbasses sometimes and go in with guns blazing, but perhaps sometimes it's just people being ignorant and not a gender thing? My wife has killed multiple plants of mine (some of which I really cared about) and my dad's partner has done the same. I don't hold it against my wife because she's just not very knowledgeable about gardening and it's my hobby, and she was doing me a favor just caring for my garden in my absence.

I'm a teacher in training. We had reading "homework" over the summer for our incoming students. Their families were instructed that if their child read every day (15-30 minutes or so), and they kept track of it on a chart we sent them, they would win prizes when they came to school. I think it was something like a pizza party if they read a certain number of days. It wasn't mandatory and there was no punishment for not doing it. I thought it was a great idea.

Mindfulness meditation helps me learn to let go sometimes and stop ruminating about unsolvable problems. I really think everyone in the world can benefit from meditating regularly and learning the nature of their own mind. I chose a career that has a large impact on other people. I try to make the world a better place, be a good friend, and treat others well. I don't see a purpose in dwelling on how eventually my existence will be forgotten, because worrying about it doesn't change anything. I had an existential crisis like what it sounds like you're going through around when I turned 30 and it made me commit super hard to being the best person I can be. I am often regarded as a super driven, hard-working person by the people around me now and I grind out every day in order to not waste any of my time on this planet. It doesn't stop time but it does make it more likely I'll die content with my life choices.

Here's my advice as someone that quit drinking about 6 years ago due to my inability to drink responsibly.

Do you want to quit? If you feel like you can't handle playing a game in moderation, maybe it's time to think about quitting it entirely. If you feel like playing other genres of games will eventually draw you back into playing more addictive games like WoW, then you could think about quitting that too, it's up to you. If certain music makes you think about playing WoW and you can't control yourself if you listen to it , make a sacrifice and don't listen to it. I avoided bars for years and still don't really love being around when people are drinking. The sacrifices I make are well worth it though and I'm much much happier as a result.

Have a long, honest conversation with yourself about what you want from life and how video games fit into it. That's what I did with alcohol and realized I didn't want to waste my life on stupid shit any more and decided to quit.

This entire YouTube channel is amazing, highly recommend watching more.

https://youtu.be/1UlJ4IVVAss

https://youtu.be/aboeZMyBP4w

I built a trellis using T posts, electrical conduit, and PVC pipe and it has worked extremely well.

https://ladyleeshome.com/how-to-build-tomato-trellis-2/

It's basically this. Takes some work and some money but it was well worth it to me. I will have this for years and it performs much better than cages.

And yes, indeterminate tomatoes require pruning but it's well worth the trade-off to me to have tomatoes ripening all the time instead of all at once.

Try cherry and grape tomatoes. I've grown cherry tomatoes for the past two years along with starting grape tomatoes this year and I've had much more success with them than larger varieties. I think they tend to be more disease resistant, more vigorous, more productive, and fruit matures more quickly.

Also try growing them in bags or raised beds where it's kept away from the ground where pests can get at them easier. Another thing you can do is cover the soil around them with straw mulch in order to reduce soil splash onto the plant when it's being watered--this can transmit diseases to the plant. Pick off all the bottom half foot of leaves or so on the plant when it's big enough too to reduce soil splash hitting leaves.

I'm a politics junkie and have seen many posts like this on Reddit. If anything I'd say up to now the fediverse has been farther left leaning in my experience.

Once you become more accustomed to the needs of your specific plants, I'd recommend you start watering them on a case by case basis. Each plant has its own needs and will dry out itself and its soil at a different rate. Learn to finger test soil and look for signs of dehydration in plants. People almost always over-water instead of the opposite.

Lemmy doesn't show on a Google search and other forums are useless for information

I disagree that other forums are useless. For example, I've replaced Reddit for DIY stuff with a DIY forum and gardening questions with a gardening or fruit tree growing forum. I think it just requires more patience and digging. I will definitely admit that the upvote feature is nice for elevating the best answers though.

I have half replaced Reddit with the Fediverse and half replaced it with this exciting new discovery I made of this thing called called IRL™.

I just started grad school so this is very fresh for me.

• Practice mindfulness meditation. It helps me stay on task when I need to work and avoid rumination or letting work seep into relaxation/recreation when I'm taking a break.
• Learn to be strategic with your attention and perfectionism. For example in undergrad I could basically afford to give every assignment my all, but I've found that now there is just not enough time for that. If a task is low-stakes, try to do a good job but get it done quickly. Reserve your motivation for bigger more consequential tasks.
• Constantly work to become more efficient. Ask yourself if a task can be automated or multitasked without much loss in quality. E.g. I have to listen to podcasts for class sometimes and will play these while I am driving around doing errands.
• Take time off. There is a saying in IT that either you can schedule maintenance or it will schedule itself. That applies to your body too. I have occasionally taken zeroes on less important assignments or taken a vacation day at work just to give myself an opportunity to recover. If you are really giving your all, then there is nothing to be ashamed of in taking breaks.