How to live
Yugen 002 / August 23, 2024 / Seville Airport
I’m a big fan of acronyms. They are a great way to simplify concepts into something easily memorable—unless you’re Dory from Finding Nemo.
The other day, while walking, I found myself thinking about how much I like the word calm (yes, I know, it sounds a bit silly). But in that moment, I discovered a really interesting acronym within the word:
Compromise. Attitude. Longevity. Mission.
At first, I thought, “I’m a genius.” But yes, I know—very far from reality.
Still, I believe it’s a good way to define how I strive to live. If you look up the definition of calm in the dictionary, you’ll find something like this:
“Not showing or feeling nervousness, anger, or other strong emotions.”
That state of calm is something most of us find appealing, right? It should be our default state.
Strong emotions, while powerful, are addictive. They create a roller coaster effect, designed for short bursts, and in the long term, they can harm us.
This is where my acronym comes back into play. It’s the approach I use to find more calmness in my life.
When you compromise in your relationships and with the things you do, you gain the power to make the world a better place. You take on the responsibility to be better, to be consistent with your principles, and to face conflicts with honesty.
In the end, you’ll feel a sense of inner rightness, free from negative emotions because you’ve left them behind.
Problems will arise, no doubt, because life is unpredictable. But with the right attitude, you can handle whatever comes your way. You’ll find solutions rather than complaints. You’ll feel your life is malleable, something you can shape and play with. You’ll realize that the gap between you and your desires is often closer than it seems.
And when you fall, you’ll know there’s always a way to rise again.
Approaching life with longevity in mind shifts your focus from short-term goals, like getting in shape for the summer, to long-term ones, like playing with your grandchildren when you’re 70. Taking care of your body, your sleep, and your overall well-being brings energy and vitality, allowing you to live life to the fullest. Your body rewards you by giving you the rest and resilience you seek.
When everything inside you is functioning properly, you’re able to focus on what’s outside and appreciate life’s beauty more easily.
With all this in mind, you’ll find yourself with a mission every day. You wake up with the intention of doing something that makes you feel valuable. The size of the task doesn’t matter; it’s the importance you assign to it that counts.
By adding CALM to your life, you’ll find yourself feeling more grateful and happier than before. Life doesn’t have to be perfect. But these four principles are like polishing the edges of a table. When the edges are smooth, even if you hit the table with the same force, the pain will be less harmful.
That’s because you’re stronger, more resilient, and better prepared for whatever challenges come your way.
P.S: I’m stealing the title for this newsletter from the amazing book How To Live.
Today’s recommendations
- Notes Against Note-Taking Systems. Taking notes has become a second job. And I am totally against it. I think the act of taking notes should be a much lighter act.
- ParkNotes. If you are a big fan of taking notes by hand, you will like this channel. And related to the first link, both introduce the concept of the commonplace, which I think is the best (and more practical) solution for those who want to take notes without going crazy.
- Death of the Follower & the Future of Creativity on the Web. This talk by the founder of Patreon is so good. He talks about memberships and the concept of true fans in today’s world. If you’re a creator or want to become one, I highly recommend it.
We already have 40 spaces in Creare
Marga and I had the idea of taking this project very slowly. And making it free for everyone. It’s a way to give something back to all those who have ever recommended a wonderful place to spend a few hours.
That’s why we’ve been gradually gathering locations (more Marga than me, I won’t lie to you), and right now we have 40 places available around the world. Each one more beautiful than the last.
If you like the project and think it might be useful to you at some point, I recommend saving it to your bookmarks. It costs nothing, and it’s always wonderful to visit a place that has been lovingly and tastefully decorated.
Aside from this, another thing I’ve been working on this week is creating a template like the one we designed for Creare, but with the idea that others can easily create their own directories of places.
It uses Airtable as the database, and everything is explained in the documentation. This is still a super early version, and in the future I will talk more about some of the choices I made to make the template this way.
If you have any questions about it, please write to me, and I’ll do my best to help you.
If you like this, you can subscribe to Yugen, my weekly newsletter where I talk about my projects and various topics related to creativity, health, and living independently.
You can unsubscribe whenever you want. No hard feelings here.