Gladly living in the winter time without external heat

Living without external heat in the cold. Reflections.

Twice in the last 3 years this healthy but 67 year old male body has existed for extended periods in cold weather without external heat sources for the body, except for the occasional cup of hot liquid.

This by choice, options were available. Going to warmer climates. Moving into a heated structure. Not by way of some idealistic force of will but rather by choice of greed for optimal experience greedy choice for joy is my reason for choosing to live in the uheated cold.

This was entirely unforeseen by me. I would have thought it impossible, living in and unheated tent by choice at Standing Rock North Dakota December through February. More recently living in the excruciatingly beautiful Hills around Lone Pine at the base of Mount Whitney. Warmer Joshua Tree 250 miles south was where I expected to be 6 weeks ago.

Is my body completely happy with this choice? Almost completely but not at the beginning of each.

Unexpected lessons being learned.

A heat source is always available, exercise, movement, walking, running, ..... all medical doctors with compassion reading this are filled with Gladness. This means periodic exercise rather than the otherwise sitting in a recliner for 3 or 4 hours at a time. Instead, brief periods Of the affore mentioned movement introduced, very happily.

2. Clothing, sleeping bags, both in layers. Does my body prefer sleeping in an external heated room or appropriate sleeping bags? The former was my guess. The letter in actual fact. It is just as comfortable. The thermostat is as easily available as opening the hood or folding back the bag. And my soul loves the simplicity of it all. The sustainability. The greedlessness of it.

My body and cerebral cortex, flesh and head respectively as opposed to my soul, are a bit frustrated to say the least at the beginning of these junkets. James, this is requiring so much effort putting on or removing layers of clothing, so much time. Sadly it takes days or weeks for these two parts of my nervous system to get in the habit of this routine. But they do. And then just my soul is left to be really glad at the sustainability of, and greedlesness, of this approach.

Cycling is the sole mode of Transportation and primary means of exercise and heat for this old guy. Cycling generally for me results in profuse sweating. In the days or weeks at the beginning of such. The body and flesh do nothing but whine about this. But finally my soul says, get over it guys. And figures out that peddling at 115 watts per hour output instead of 135 heats the body nicely, moves the vehicle satisfactory,  at little or no sweat!

Joy is the answer. See recent posts and video logs on my log. The pursuit of happiness and pleasure says that these writings above and experience are idiocy, mistaken ideas, insanity. But the pursuit of joy, the optimal human experience says quite the opposite.

Oh, several other things.

And then there is this amazing thing the human body. The mystery of its adaptation too cold and hot has not yet been fully solved by me. The duration, most effective triggers, are things yet to be mastered by me. But it is quite amazing. Awakening this morning at 28 degrees Fahrenheit and then sitting and working, writing and researching, at 33 degrees my hands and body were behaving like they did in 50 degree weather 4 weeks ago. Some of that is the confidence comes from that recent experience. James, yes your toes are cold, but as soon as you decide to get up and walk for 15 minutes or run for 8, they'll be warm again. Don't worry.

Some of it is learning curve regarding sleeping bags and garments. What works best for me under what circumstances? Tonight will it be too $30 sleeping bags or one? Today will it be no upper body base layer, a medium-weight one, heavyweight, or 2?

On a different but related note, solar thermal, solar thermal, solar thermal, solar thermal, solar thermal, Did I mention solar thermal? For the heating of water, the heating of a dwelling, pre-heating of all cooking water.

And, persistence paying off, $60 boots with 800 grams of thinsulate insulation for the feet

James

Very long ears has my neighbor.

Insane light show tonight. 30 photos in archive.

See archived link above.

Video log update. Gladly captive in Lone Pine.

Most important book in the world, the other one. Great Transformation, Karen Armstrong. I'm on my first of

Most important book in the world, the other one. Great Transformation, Karen Armstrong. I'm on my first of what I expect to be several readings. Slowed by my arduous first priority of writing a review of the other most important book, great because it is not as toxic as the other books of psychology, spiritual evolution, George Vaillant.“The one and only test of a valid religious idea, doctrinal statement, spiritual experience, or devotional practice was that it must lead directly to practical compassion. Ifyour understanding of the divine made you kinder, more empathic, and impelled you to express this sympathy in concrete acts of loving-kindness, this was good theology. But if your notion of God made you unkind, belligerent, cruel, or self-righteous, or if it led you to kill in God’s name, it was bad theology. Compassion was the litmus test for the prophets of Israel, for the rabbis of the Talmud, for Jesus, for Paul, and for Muhammad, not to mention Confucius, Lao-tzu, the Buddha.…. “

Jesus religion, not Christianity, not Judaism, is lived solidarity, empathy, compassion, with all of creation. Picture

I cannot feed people that are not hungry. Neither could Jesus, or those...... >>

I can't feed people that are not hungry. Neither could Jesus, or those like him throughout history. He couldn't give living Waters to those who were not thirsty, and neither can I. What I can do is to continue to deepen the well, continue to lay out the banquet, in the unlikely event that anyone ever finds themselves thirsty or hungry. At long last maybe I am finally learning this.

Regarding our cultural yearning for a life partner. Comments to a sister.

A dear young sister shared with me the yearning that she feels to find a loving committed partner:

Those few that ever hear what I have to say must have incredible patience because what a broken record I am. I share this with you not at you but it comes to mind with what you've shared with me. Again.

I remain convinced that we are born to be, the butterfly, the Wagers of loving, for the every breath that we do reward of joy. Not happiness, more likely intense pain, but joy. But for that to transpire it seems that we need enough of a cocoon. I'm not certain of that because it seems to me there are exceptions, young Rachel Corrie for example. But for all practical purposes we need a cocoon throughout our childhood or maybe just for a couple of days. Hard to know.

My dad was that cocoon for me all of my youth.

But once enough of that cocoon has been available only a butterfly in a really sick collection of butterflies succumbs to their insistence that the Cocoon is where they want to be. And all of us are swimming in that sick collection of butterflies. 2018.

More than life itself I was convinced for my first 45 years or so that all I wanted and all I needed to survive, way more than anything else, was to be in a loving partnership. I will never know if that was true for me.

I know that it is not true for me now, and there is no one that seems to have it that I find myself envying. I have to acknowledge that it could be a function of a different hormonal mixture in me now and brain development which was not available earlier. But I see myself of today, 67 years old, in young Rachel Corrie who to my knowledge did not have such a partnership Central in her life. I see myself, my soul, the joyful Part of Me, In Jane Goodall who to my knowledge never had such a partnership Central in her life.

Again, dear sister, this is not directed at you rather you have brought it to my mind to further explore for myself and to share.

Video, colonialism documentary, 4 minutes. Must see.

Video log update. A home

Joy is the solution to life, Goodness, Flourishing, Parenting, Optimal Experience, Personal trauma..... [species flourishing].....>>>

Joy is the solution to life, Goodness, Flourishing, Parenting, Optimal Experience, Personal trauma..... [species flourishing].....

40 years I've been living on the basis of this Theory. As an executive leader in the high-tech industry it was my guiding principle. As a parent. But not blindly, nothing blindly.

My initial base of information was observing my father who did this in my view, and through him the person Jesus, and Gandhi, and King, Teresa of Calcutta and many since.

To say that joy is the answer is to say that the cure for individual or Collective cancer has been found. This Theory may be incorrect but that is the import of what it asserts, far more important than the Cure of cancer which only kills the body.

Instrumentation is beginning to exist to prove or disprove this Theory within the human nervous system but what is lacking is scientists with their hands on these instruments that have any knowledge or experience of joy in their lives so the best I can hope is that they will slowly approximate and I'm afraid like George vaillant, spiritual Evolution, totally misinterpret and Missapply the results.

Were any of the individuals I just mentioned in on this conversation they would be saying, yes, James, the above is exactly right.

If I did anything right as a father it was realizing pretty much on the day of the first one's birth, that joy is what I wanted for that child and then the second one, more than anything else. And that therefore as a father I owed to that child more than anything else that there be joy in my life as my example would be the most powerful influence I would have on that child, those children. I was quite sure that was true then, all of my study, practice, experience, life everyday since has indicated that it was.

Where does Joy come from? It is the reward provided by the nervous system when it thinks we are devoting our very existence to do something really really important for others who are in dire need. The best formula I've come up with is serving the neediest from the soul in solidarity.

[It was the solution to species survival and flourishing, but it is too late for that. But it will always be the solution to the individual flourishing even on the sinking Titanic, every breath.]

Every breath that I am given my highest priority will be on substantiating the above for myself through exhaustive study of the most scholarly information, practice, and sharing that in how I live and in what I write as best I can.

The most substantiated book on psychology in this vein is George vaillant, spiritual evolution. I'm on my 5th reading and struggling to keep my head from exploding with how much he got wrong, but he got Nuggets right that the horrible insane field of psychology has gotten wrong for so long.

At his recommendation I'm also reading Karen Armstrong, the great transformation, which among other things brilliantly presents the history of the Great inventors throughout history for ways of being individually and collectively to optimize experience, so-called religions. They have been relative failures, but there is much much much much to be learned from what they have done so that some of us can figure out how to go beyond, how to invent what was really needed.

Suicide, drugs, mountains of material things, alcohol, marijuana, wallowing in regret for depression or guilt, sex addiction, do not occur with the individuals devoted to a life of joy, see LSGIABeing.com. it doesn't happen. Inconceivable. People who are trying to be good? Yes, these things happen. But those pursuing Joy by whatever conception or none, no, it doesn't happen. These are the equivalent of the Buddhist ideal who have refused Nirvana to stay and serve.

My friend who's a brilliant artist, says that I'm not crazy. I asked her, concerned that 50 photographs a day....>>>

The archive is updated almost daily, linked above, but also here. https://photos.app.goo.gl/3javxzdVfR5utKSg8

Violence is the consequence of not waging all out Golden Rule, every breath.

To warm the one in a million Hearts, rediscovering fire.

Compassion, Empathy... Wage Loving for Joy

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1602309356537321&id=1110022379099357

Can't get no work done! 40 photographs.

Photographs at this link.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/3javxzdVfR5utKSg8

Joy is the answer. The optimal Vision in 2019 for getting there, the question. Video log

Creator, the glory.

The gifts we got from Dad, and mom. Detail.

The gifts we got from Dad, and mom. Detail.

My dad, and mom, had many gifts that we could receive.

The gift of wealthiness from my dad one of my siblings received, along with the gift of great physical handsomeness, presence, attractiveness. Wide social respect. Unlike my dad this sibling wanted the wealth to pleasure and aggrandize themself, and the esteem for themself, rather than to serve others.

One sibling received the gift of dad’s extraordinary intellect, raw intelligence, and the pleasurable intoxication from that, and none of his compassion and heart.

One sibling received almost none of his gifts, practically none, but the ability of my mom to pleasantly socially exploit others, and the so-called happiness that is insanely pursued in that way.

And two of his children received the gift of his every breath 7/24 Devotion to the well-being of those he was called to help, but each of these children did so with the populations they individually could best help. And thereby they received the gift of joy.

I am one of these last two. I did not receive those other gifts, and I never wanted them, except superficially. I wanted the gift of Joy and after 50 years Found the courage of my convictions and threw off the distractions of pursuing pleasure and have had Joy, not happiness, thank goodness, but joy every breath since. And the pain that is the stuff that devotion metabolizes, love metabolizes, soul metabolizes, and turns into joy every breath. And pain.

A deeply good soul out of the blue today made a substantial financial contribution to this mission. My reply. How did you know? In recent months the vehicle..... >>>

A deeply good soul out of the blue today made a substantial financial contribution to this mission. My reply. How did you know? In recent months the vehicle and I have developed a much more sustainable relationship. It has become really stable. But even for a stable vehicle things will go. And about 4 days ago a remaining huge vulnerability was discovered in the vehicle when the $400 transmission failed. Several nights later in the middle of the night I awoke understanding why it failed. And can take steps soon to be sure that the situation doesn't arise again. But today was spent installing that $400 object. And the weather the last 7 months has been so easy, so conducive to this solar vehicle and the journey. But not so starting 4 days ago when cold wind and rain and high wind descended. A harbinger of what I knew was coming but especially with the vehicle practically immobile I was not ready psychologically, logistically, although I was probably pretty well-equipped. So two nights at a wonderful hostel were also invested in. Your contribution came at a wonderful time. My spirits are good but as usual you lifted them higher. You are a wind under our wings. The day May Come, the day is likely to come, when I can provide such help to you. Hugs. James

Riddle. How can Family Values destroy millions of families gladly? Answer. Family is those in my tribe. Silly rabbit.

Riddle. How can Family Values destroy millions of families gladly? Answer. Family is those in my tribe. Silly rabbit.

You ARE what you consume. Cut the cr*p. Devour the good.

You ARE what you consume. Cut the cr*p. Devour the good.

White, male, Christian United States from the beginning, in fact. They don't want that to change. That's understandable. Wrong, but understandable. To be expected.

White, male, Christian United States from the beginning, in fact. They don't want that to change. That's understandable. Wrong, but understandable. To be expected.

As if deliberate War being waged on America and Europe. Global warming dramatically increases Russian land and fossil fuel asset value. At the expense of us and Europe. Destroying Brazilian Rainforest destroys us agricultural value.

As if deliberate War being waged on America and Europe. Global warming dramatically increases Russian land and fossil fuel asset value. At the expense of us and Europe. Destroying Brazilian Rainforest destroys us agricultural value.

Donny Dump. Master of unleashing our demonic spirits.

10-point plan for a future, Bernie Sanders. Article

https://www.alternet.org/bernie-sanders-lays-out-bold-10-point-plan-democrats?src=newsletter1098152

Treatment. Never ever thought of it this way before. Have you?.... >>>

Treatment. Never ever thought of it this way before. Have you?

Sure I personally have had the experience personally and observing others, how is so-and-so being treated by me or by others. You too, correct?

But last night something dramatically new and somewhat hopeful by way of being potentially very enlightening for me.

On a beautiful evening at the base of Mount Whitney in this Campground, peaceful, quite a few people taking advantage of holiday freedom. But quiet as is appropriate for such a magnificent Campground.

And then not. This extremely high tech RV pulls in, lights that almost turned the campground into a city block they were so bright. Generator blaring to power the thing hour after hour. What the f*? Pave paradise put up a parking lot.

Well I'm not ashamed of the thoughts that I had and they were not charitable. What the f* is wrong with these people? What pigs. How blind.

Again, I'm not ashamed of those thoughts. I think they're Fair. But I was also aware that there is no hope in those thoughts of mine.

For reasons I cannot recall the notion of treatment came to my mind. Spoiler alert at no point did I contemplate taking action and I didn't. Constructive or unconstructive.

But this really useful thought entered my mind for the first time in my life I'm quite sure.

What is the treatment for cancer? Frequently it is chemo, radiation, and the like. Correct? What is treatment for a sprained ankle? What is treatment for a broken leg? What is treatment for various diseases? Well, I'm not an expert in this but you and I both know that there are well-defined treatments for constructively dealing with such situations.

A new way of thinking popped into my mind maybe when I considered what was the treatment that this individual or individuals receive probably throughout their life that would create such deadness to the magnificent's around them, such inappropriate pathological Behavior? And of course the answer is the treatment that they've received probably their whole lives is the administration of stuff which has addicted them and crowded meaning and joy out of their lives. There's the remotest chance this is not the case but I'm okay with that. Almost certainly it is the case.

What is the treatment that could bring to life the dead Humanity, the dead Soul, the dead limbic system with them that otherwise would be reverencing the Magnificence of this campground at the foot of Mount Whitney?

That's the kind of treatment I need to be as well as I possibly can. For this individual? It seems clear to me that such an individual will forever be beyond my reach.

But I can't escape being treatment. Nor can you. We are treatment for the world, for ill, or for good. And this is a new way for me to understand the task ahead of me, to be as constructive and potent a treatment as possible, for the good of the individual and of creation.

James ongoing photo album archive. Did you notice? Every couple of days now the Links....

Have you noticed? Toward the top of this blog, see picture below, there are links to the photographs and the screenshots that used to be frequently posted by me on Facebook. I'm quite sure that these links work now these links. If not, please let me know? I now update the most current photo album archive in Orange below at least every couple of days. James

Frustrating and hurtful this nice man finds me, or, our interactions..... >>>

Frustrating and hurtful this nice man finds me, or, our interactions.



There are few people that are drawn to interacting with me and of that tiny population this man's hurt and frustration is pretty typical.

Some thoughts occur to me on this this morning that seemed worth capturing here. Some of it I've written before, but much of it is new Clarity and I'm grateful to this man for speaking clearly and honestly to me.

It is never my intention to hurt or frustrate, but rarely if ever is avoiding that my purpose either. Knowing the possibility if not likelihood, rarely if ever do I seek to draw people into engagement with me. Drawing people into engagement with me is left to creator, whatever creator is.

Notice. Anyone that reads this and considers the following seriously will know that they've done so because it will cross their mind that I am stark raving mad. It will at least cross their mind. Seriously.

In a way I suppose I'm called to be a tour guide, or, an Expedition leader. And a ragingly unsuccessful one at that. But in fiction so were characters like Yoda and obi-wan. And were Buddha, Confucius, Jesus alive today they would consider themselves the same, ragingly unsuccessful tour guides, Expedition leaders.

Oh, they have gigantic fan clubs, but virtually no followers, no joiners, no folk standing alongside them or even trying to go beyond. No one envies them which is all they would have wanted.

The shirt worn by me says, I serve alongside this outsider soul and it has a cross indicating that the soul is the person Jesus. Not long ago a person identified them self to me, very friendly, as a pastor, a Baptist pastor. I was reading your shirt, he said. I serve him too!.

But the shirt very definitely does not say anything about serving Jesus, but rather serving alongside, two profoundly different things. I didn't cite how Jesus told the so-called apostles that they had become friends, brothers, not servants.

Pathologically, we want to be fans, We want to be fans, we want to follow whatever that means, but we want not to stand alongside, let alone, go beyond, with all of our might!

Projection is one of the major mechanisms that we unconsciously use to protect ourselves from the frightening task of coming along side such people. We're terrified of the self measurement that that would bring on sadly never knowing that life and growth only would come about in that way.

This brilliant post came across my Facebook feed yesterday. The same idea regarding Buddha was in the very brief study I made of him several decades ago.





He was possessed by the same Madness, the same Insanity, LOL, that possessed Jesus, Confucius, and others of their ilk. And me. All experienced that they encountered what would save the world, but more importantly, what was Heaven itself on Earth. Optimal Human Experience. The most enviable way of being. The most gratifying way of being.

And no one can see it. We twist ourselves into knots using projection to convince ourselves that the immature selfishness that our culture invokes in us is what they tried to lead us to, or, that that immature selfishness and its associated pleasures is the best we can do until life after this one.

As the subject of fan clubs they have been wildly successful! As the tour guides, the expedition leaders, that they gave their lives to be, they have been total failures. Like me.

And as for me, Expect nothing other than this from me. Ask nothing other than this from me. As absurd as it must seem, I wrote yesterday of the depression I frequently feel, I experience my quality of life as more enviable than anything I see elsewhere on earth. My mission, my soul purpose, is to become a better and better tour guide exactly to that. And rarely, and less and less everyday, will I feed into the projection of others that I really think there are alternatives. I don't.

Ignore me. Detach from me. Disagree with me. But don't expect that I'm going to depart from my mission, and to, for whatever good reason, help people feel good about the alternative ways of being that they have selected. It's not going to happen. I'm not going to lie.

Article : Trump has a few weeks before the Democrats take control of the House. This may give him enough time to carry out his constitutional coup and consolidate power. Our decayed democratic institutions, including a corporate press that has rendered the working class and the poor invisible and serves as an apologist for corporate power, are detested by many Trump Republicans. Trump can rally his cultish supporters, hermetically sealed in their non-reality-based belief system, to attack and demolish the last of our democratic protections. “We have a tremendous dearth of readiness by major constituencies such as civic groups, the legal profession, the business community and academia to deal with someone who misuses his authority, power and resources,” Nader warned. “Nobody knows how to do it more precisely, relentlessly, strategically and tactically than the cunning Donald J. Trump.”....

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/are-we-about-to-face-our-gravest-constitutional-crisis/