Saturday, February 15, 2025

There and Back And Back Again

 I am back.

The trip was good, successful both from a professional sense of meeting people and learning things and a personal level of getting to see more places that I have not been.  I am bit tired still and sincerely wondering which day it is and which continent I am on - in the 22 days I have been on three of them - but a couple days of sleeping in my own bed have worked wonders.

I have even more travel material as grist for the mill (I will be writing of travel forever, it seems), but below are a few snapshots of places I went.

In Basel, looking East towards Switzerland

The Rhine

Roman Theater - Augusta Raurica (Kaiseraugust, Switzerland)

Temple - Augusta Raurica (Kaiseraugust, Switzerland)

St. Elizabeth's Church - Basel, Switzerland

Basel Town Hall - Built 1508-1521

Fountain - Basel, Switzerland

Basel Münster - Built 1091-1500

Stained glass window - Basel Münster

Butter Pretzel (It was delicious!)

Countryside - Bavaria

Friday, February 14, 2025

Essentialism (VI): A Brief Application

 Before we launch into the core of what Greg McKeown recommends in his book Essentialism, I thought it might be useful to show a brief application that I made in my own life.

As you may have gathered from some of my recent updates, I have effectively been on the road (whether for Iaijutsu training or business) for 3.5 weeks.  One of the challenges this presented (just beyond the complete disruption of my sleep schedule) was the fact that I wanted to keep up on my posting on this blog.

Why?  Well, one could state it is just "a goal" that I set for myself (it is), but there is another potential outcome:  The application of Essentialism.

Using the three buckets that McKeown suggests:

1)  Am I passionate about it?  Yes, I am passionate about writing and words (and languages and reading, which are extensions of words.

2)  Am I good at it?  I would say "the jury is still out on that", but I will choose to believe that people commenting and people reading my posts indicate some level of talent.

3)  Does it meet a pressing need?  Again, I could argue "To Be Determined".  But at least for me, it meets a pressing need to work through my issues and communicate, if nothing else.

If it meets those three, then how do I get to the Essentialism portion?

The first was easy enough:  I simply made writing a priority in the weeks leading up to my original departure.

The second - making performance of the Essentials as easy as possible - was something I had started on, but made better.

As I referenced at the beginning of the year, I have developed a writing "schedule" that guides me as to what I will write on any given day.  That was the first part.  The second part was developing a writing blog.

For each type of writing, I created a sheet within a larger spreadsheet - Open Postings, Travel, The Collapse, Essentialism, A Year of Humility, and an Administrative tab for those postings that I know I will do ever year (holidays and so on).  Within each sheet I entered the days that that writing would have to be published along with "Title" and "Complete" columns  Then, I started plugging in titles and color coding posts for my departure:  Green for completed (along with an x in the "Complete" column), yellow for have to write before I go, and Orange that I have to plan upon my return.

As I started to focus my writing on these particular periods of time, other things made themselves apparent for "automating" the process.  For example, uploading pictures for travel writing takes a long time; if I can upload multiple posts of photos focusing my next period on writing is easier.  Also, writing multiple entries in a similar type of posting can go more quickly than going and coming back:  the bulk of The Collapse Trial was written in a single 1.5 hour period.

As a result, by the Wednesday before my departure everything was complete; I only had to recheck things for spelling and editing (ever my downfall), but I could "go away" with the sense that I had met a commitment to my readers and myself to post something every day.

(If you are wondering, this is the last of those posts.  Tomorrow will be a post-trip one.)

Is this precisely the application of Essentialism? I am truly not sure - after all, that "Meets a real need" portion makes me wonder.  But deciding it was important, eliminating what was less important, and then finding ways to reduce barriers as much as possible certainly left me with one less thing to worry about on my travels.

Now, if I could only find a way to translate this into longer prose...

Thursday, February 13, 2025

The Collapse CLXXIX: Deliberations

12 October 20XX+1

My Dear Lucilius:

I know, two letters in the same day – in this case, it is late in the evening. Pompeia Paulina has gone to bed and I left here with her notes and my own thoughts. Over everything hovers the thought that tomorrow, I must judge.

I wonder, Lucilius, if this is what every judge has felt over the course of time as they face down the fact that they will have to render a verdict. A sense of doom – in the old sense of the world, a heavy pressing fate – lies over me this evening. It seems to even bend the light from the lamp and fire, colouring everything with a weight beyond what is normally present.

It is clear – or at least clear to me – that the Cataline acted in what he perceived as self defense, I believe for that of his wife. It makes a certain kind of horrible sense: an older man, taking advantage of a need, now realizing he needs to take care of loose ends, knowing that in this small community with increasingly strapped resources that the killing of one or two people whom almost no-one would miss would be of little concern or note. And certainly at the end, his wife had done nothing to deny that she thought her husband had taken advantage of the situation.

And yet...And yet, Cataline clearly confessed to the killing. He made no denial of the fact. And a death is a death.

Was it justifiable? What is necessary? No-one seems to have seen the deed itself, only the results of it.

In other times, likely we would have had witnesses all about and video records on smart phones recording the whole thing. We have none of that now, just the attestations of man’s characters versus the attestations of man’s actions.

And a ring. And a dead body. And a story which, if true, is both vile and likely being played out in a dozen different ways in a hundred different places. Always, the powerful prey on the weak, and there is always someone to take advantage of a situation.

Why, Lucilius, do times like these always seem to bring out the basest in us?

Your Obedient Servant, Seneca

Wednesday, February 12, 2025

2024 Turkey: Göröme Open Air Park (II)

 More views of the churches and associated dwellings of Göröme.


You can ascend to enter; likely there were no rails in the day.



A side view of the interior of a church from below:






Tuesday, February 11, 2025

2024 Turkey: Göröme Open Air Park (I)

 The region of Kapdokya was well known in the late Roman and Byzantine periods as being a center of Christianity.  From the 3rd to the 13th Century A.D. this was a stronghold of Byzantine Christianity, being a region of churches and monasteries.  The Cappadocian Fathers - Basil the Great (A.D. 330-379), Gregory of Nyssa (Basil's brother, A.D. 335-395), and Gregory of Nazianus (A.D. 329-389) are all associated with this region (one of their biggest contributions was helping to more fully develop the doctrine of the Trinity.


This region (now called Göröme in Turkish) was a center of that Christianity; the area contains 60 churches, 45 refractories, and hundreds of burial sites.  The different churches and refractories were carved into the volcanic stone.







You are able to enter many of the carved churches; sadly pictures of the interiors and their frescos are not allowed.



The entrance to a church:




Pictures of the interiors of some of the churches (not mine):

Crucifixion from the Church of the Buckle (Source)

The Rock Chapel (Source)

Sunday, February 09, 2025

A Year Of Humility (VI): Falling And Humility


Some of my greatest falls have resulted in the greatest recognition of the need for humility in my life.

Tying to last week's post that the humble are more aware of the snares of the Devil, those that have fallen into vices and been redeemed are not only conscious of their unworthiness to be forgiven, but the fact that they may have been saved from greater sins and vices.

I look back on some the greatest falls of my own life.  Inevitably, had I continued down those paths they would have ended up in far worse circumstances.  The damage that happened when I finally fell was devastating enough; the damage that could be done had they continued would have been even worse.

Humility keeps me from these things.

Every time that idea, that thought, comes up and somehow in my mind the thought starts to form "This time it will be different" - every time, humility reminds me of what happened the last time and how prone I am to fail.  And that I would do so, given the chance.

In that sense, perhaps, humility is less for me than those I care about.  Like a driver that knows that driven drunk can wield a broad a deadly path and chooses to pass, we can save those around us untold hurt and brokenness by remaining humble and reminding ourselves how great a forgiveness we have been granted.

Saturday, February 08, 2025

Friday, February 07, 2025

Essentialism (V): The Core Of The Essentialist

So what then is the Core of the Essentialist, the thing that Essentialists should be about?

McKeown starts with some basic mindset assumptions:

1)  Individual choice:  "We can choose how to spend our energy and our time."

2)  The prevalence of noise:  "Almost everything is noise, and a very few things are exceptionally valuable."

3)  The reality of trade offs:  "We can't have or do it all...Once we accept the reality of trade-offs, we stop asking 'How can I make it all work?' and start asking the more honest question 'Which problem do I want to solve?'"

How do we get to this point of  decision?  There is a simple, three step method that McKeown proposes.

1)  Explore:  Discerning the trivial many from the vital few

To do this, the Essentialist explores and evaluates many options before committing to any one of them. In fact, they explore more options than the Nonessentialist to make sure they make the right choice.

The Nonessentialist

(Source: Essentialism, p. 21)

The Essentialist
(Source: Essentialism, p. 22)


As mentioned before, this is a combination of "What do I feel deeply inspired by?", "What am I particularly talented at?", and "What meets a significant need in the world?"

An important point, says McKeown, is that "We're not just looking for a plethora of good things to do.  We are looking for our highest level of contribution: the right thing the right way at the right time."

2)  Eliminate:  Cutting out the trivial many

Once we have decided on that vital few, we need to eliminate the trivial many.  To do this, we need to acknowledge that we will say "no" to someone or something.  And it is not just the saying of no, it is "about having the emotional discipline necessary to say no to social pressure."  

Given the reality of tradeoffs, we cannot choose everything - but if we do not choose for ourselves, others will choose for us.

3)  Execute:  Removing obstacles and making execution effortless.

To most, says McKeown, execution feels like something hard and difficult, something we have to "make happen".  Essentialists are different:  "Instead of fording execution, Essentialists invest the time they have saved into creating a system for removing obstacles and making execution as easy as possible."

Essentialism
(Source: Essentialism, p. 241)

Years from now, suggests McKeown, we may have many regrets - but he believes Essentialism will not be one of them: "What would you trade then to be back here now for one chance - this chance - to be true to yourself?  On that day, what will you hope you decided to do on this one?"

Or, as quoted before, "Tell me, what is it you plan to do/with your one wild and precious life?" (Mary Oliver)

Thursday, February 06, 2025

The Collapse CLXXVIII: Trial Day 2

 12 October 20XX+1

My Dear Lucilius:

The crowd that met us at the storefront was just as large as the previous day; apparently the potential death of a man rated above almost any other activity that could be going on. In fact, I did not wonder if there more people than the day before.

Cataline, Terentia, and their advocates took their places. The crowd settled into the chairs they had brought or rested against the walls. I did note, somewhat disturbed, that Young Xerxes had apparently found even more men I recognized vaguely, armed with sidearms.

The Advocate for Cataline rose. He had only two witnesses to call, he said. The first was Cataline.

Cataline approached the chair and swore the oath. He looked exhausted, the tired of a man who had been pushed to the brink and then almost over.

The questioning commenced.

In short order, his Advocate had established that he was from a Southern State and had come to this part of the world for several years during the Summer for employment in the Summer tourist activities that had supported the economy of this region of the world for years. He and his wife were caught off-guard by the switch in the economy and had slightly overstayed their window of departure until departure was impossible, or at least to go anywhere in the vehicle they called home. They had lived with the others in the RV park, forming a sort of society within the society, making things work.

Did he know the man he was accused of killing? Not really, no.

Did he go to his house to confront him? He did, yes. And did he go back to the RV park, followed later by Terentia’s husband? Yes, he did.

The Advocate looked him clearly in the eye. “Did you kill him?”

Cataline looked through the walls at a sight none of us could see. “Yes”, he sighed. “Yes I did”.

The courtroom erupted. Terentia was crying and screaming, what appeared to be her children from the witness stand yesterday crying out “Murderer!” and “Justice”. The contingent from the RV park, sitting behind Cataline’s table, were bunching into a knot, looking for all the world as if they intended to rush the witness chair and grab Cataline to get him out. Only by the dint of the banging of the gavel and judicious shouting and pushing by the bailiffs did the courtroom come back to a modicum of order.

When the courtroom quieted, I did something that surprised even myself: I raised my voice. “Let that happen again” I thundered “and everyone will be out of this room”. This seemed to register, at least a bit.

The Advocate looked at Cataline again. “Why did you kill Terentia’s husband?”

Cataline shook his head and refused to speak.

The Advocate turned to the Fashionable Woman. “Your witness.”

The Fashionable Woman had no questions, just a slow smug smile.

Cataline returned to his chair, looking as destroyed as a man could look.

The Advocate called Cataline’s wife to the stand.

She sat in the chair, a willowy young woman with the same aura of sadness that Cataline wore. Did she know the deceased, the Advocate asked. She slowly nodded her head. How did she know him, he asked with a gentleness he had not used on Cataline.

Because he was her lover, she replied.

The courtroom erupted again. The gavel banging brought it back in line, this time, although Terentia continued to scream and cry until the Fashionable Woman forcibly pressed her down in the chair and whispered ferociously in her ear.

The story came out in drips and dregs, covered in tears. Terentia’s husband had approached her in the Spring. He knew their position: away from all, without a manner of living or income. He was willing offer her a level of sustenance – for a price.

And so – because there was no other option – she paid the price.

The argument had come, she said, when Cataline finally understood what had been happening. Enraged, he went to confront Terentia’s husband, then left before things got out of control. Terentia’s husband had followed him back to the RV park, gun in hand to solve the problem he had created. The two had argued and struggled.

The kill, she said, had been in her defense.

The Advocate nodded. “Your witness”, he said to the Fashionable Woman.

The Fashionable Woman sauntered – I have no other word – up to the witness chair. “A convenient enough story” she said. “What evidence do you have to back it up?”

Cataline’s wife slowly reached into her pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a ring. “Show this to her” she said, pointing to Terentia. “He gave it to me. She will recognize it.”

The Fashionable Woman took the ring – a large, diamond encrusted thing – and took it to Terentia. She looked at it, her eyes in disbelief. “My wedding ring” she finally managed to sputter out. “He told me he had taken it to trade for food….” her voice trailed off, looking at Cataline’s wife.

The courtroom was silent, only the tears of Cataline’s wife and the uneven breathing of Terentia filling the room.

The defense rested without another word.

It matched the silence and sadness of my heart for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Your Obedient Servant, Seneca

Wednesday, February 05, 2025

2024 Turkey: Paşabağlari Örenyeri II (Fairy Chimneys)

 More pictures of the Fairy Chimneys:





The feature in the background is the Chapel of Saint Simon.  The chapel is inside the rock.



Sadly, the chapel is currently closed:


These are around the outside:



Looking up at the chapel:


The stairs would be a bit for anyone:


This was at one time a police booth:


Another chapel - in this case, one we could enter: