k_soul_search

This blogpost is hard to remember and needs a better title. It touches on health, tcost and $cost.

— blessing or curse

• #1 The fact that I have low appetite for some addictive bad food (like sugary drinks or alcohol, fried finger foods, coffee) is more a blessing than a curse, esp. for long-term wellness through retirement
  • I want to enjoy raw veg more. This is a blessing for sure.
• #2 The fact that I don’t derive so much (addictive) pleasure from e-gaming[1] or gambling is more of a blessing than a curse.
• The fact that I don’t derive so much pleasure from sight-seeing is more a blessing than a curse at this phase in my life. Sight-seeing costs time and money. The consumerist mass media portray it as high pleasure but I only feel something cheap and shallow. I find more pleasure in nearby natural sites like east coast.

If and when my appetite or libido stops responding naturally, then something is wrong in my “system”. It would deserve medical investigation and early intervention. More of a curse than blessing.

However, in 2021 I started noticing that I have stopped responding strongly to enticing commercial foods. Not sure how irreversible. I feel it is a blessing than a curse.

— [1] e-gaming … I see my son suffering when he feels that his classmates all have more gaming time than he has. I can see he really enjoys some of those games, and he wanted to improve his hand-eye coordination to match his cohort, so he could derive as much pleasure from the same game as his cohort.

For me, I find that pleasure second-class, inferior, unappealing … Virtual means fake to me. I feel extremely lucky.

These games cost money and health.

These games also costs hours and hours of disposable time. Many young men actually regret (rmSelf) spending that much time, even though their xpSelf probably had a good time.

Here’s a stark contrast. As I stroll into my fat-n-happy career phase, my carefre ezlife, I want 8~9 hours of sleep a day, not 6~7. (I also want to spend more hours with my wife.) This is completely wholesome and life-enhancing. The xpSelf and rmSelf are in agreement.
— movies
As I age I derive less pleasure from movies and TV dramas (cf grandpa). This trend now feels more like a curse than a blessing. ERE author also said that he derives less pleasure from a fancy restaurant meal as his cooking skill improves.

— creative arts, as an minimally-acceptable r-ikigai [human interactio, but no pay, no socialValue, no talent]
I want to derive more pleasure from creative arts such as music making, visual art making and writing.

They can be solitary or social.

Note most of these have limited commercial value and require a lot of learning.

I think this can be valuable in retirement.
— Dancing, singing… not creative but more health benefits.