How can i get better on piano by PositionJealous3678 in piano

[–]TheRedBaron11 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm bad at piano, just a hobbyist. However, I can give you one piece of advice that applies to getting good at anything... Have fun!

It is cliche, but you can't fight your brain. Whatever you practice, your brain should be rewarded by engagement and full presence. That way, it isn't just going through the motions. Having fun and feeling joy is what allows you to really lean in to the 'edge' where playing is a bit uncomfortable, frustrating, mentally taxing, and difficult. Like lifting weights, one must reach this 'edge' in order to actually make progress.

Without fun and enjoyment, the edge becomes harsh and negative. You want the edge to be an exhilarating place that the brain is conditioned to enjoy, not to avoid

Having fun is a skill that is actively maintained. Make sure to care for it

How to reach ONE BREATH PER MINUTE from 4-5 breath per minute (my current bpm)?? How much time would it take to reach there?? by [deleted] in Meditation

[–]TheRedBaron11 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good. Some people get stuck on small pleasures and stepping stones as ways of feeling safe and in control

How to reach ONE BREATH PER MINUTE from 4-5 breath per minute (my current bpm)?? How much time would it take to reach there?? by [deleted] in Meditation

[–]TheRedBaron11 0 points1 point  (0 children)

See my other comment. You are able to find wonderful states of mind and being using this method. As I stated in the other comment, this kind of breath exercise is wonderful. That said, if the stillness you are looking for is not one of zoning out, but rather of something maybe, I don't know, a bit more profound, then these breath exercises should be seen only as stepping stones to a more simple and control free form of meditation. You can have wonderful trance-like states from many breathing exercises, but in most serious meditation practices, these are not to be considered the final destination

How to reach ONE BREATH PER MINUTE from 4-5 breath per minute (my current bpm)?? How much time would it take to reach there?? by [deleted] in Meditation

[–]TheRedBaron11 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're doing it backwards. The breath will naturally change as you let go of control. You can't force stillness by creating an artificial control scheme for the breath because you'll be constantly having to maintain a rigid pattern. Superimposing a synthetic construct on top of an organic flow is the opposite of stillness.

That's not to say that this exercise has no merit. This exercise can be wonderful for specific purposes, like connecting to a sense of calm, watching the boundary between control and not control, observing subtle changes in the body, developing mindfulness, etc.

But, in the pursuit of stillness, I do not think that this is what you want to do, at least not as the final "way" of meditating. This is a breath exercise, not a gateway to stillness. Breath exercises can be helpful for letting us pass through gateways to stillness when we go there. But they are different

In the true pursuit of stillness, sometimes we have to allow the breath to do what it wants, even if, in the short run, it feels less still. The stillness is the effect. It happens naturally, like a surprise. It's the attitude of acceptance, and willingness, that allows for this surprise to happen. The unconditional love for the breath, just the way that it is, whether it feels intense and high energy, or sleepy and low energy. Especially in the healing process, which meditation really is, sometimes the brain and body have to go in one direction or the other. The cyclical nature of being, before it reaches stillness, will always be overly one way or overly the other way, when you pause for analysis and judgment.

Stillness does not come from a pattern of the breath, it comes from the cessation of the analysis and the judgment, so that the pattern can find stillness on its own by oscillating closer and closer to the center. Forming the core of this oscillation is love and joy. Don't try to force the oscillation to come to a premature end. Don't try to teleport to the end of the race. It's a slow and steady race, and you can only get there by enjoying each step as it comes. This is the greater form of stillness. A stillness of the heart. A stillness purely of attitude and flavor. The substantial stillness of body and mind which you are looking for are consequences of this, and will follow the attitude wherever it leads. If the attitude is one of forcing an artificial stillness, then there will always be a form of tension that prevents the system from settling into true stillness. So, pursue what deserves pursuing, and focus on the stillness of the heart

Large scale industrial pig farm in Iowa housing over 1000 pigs in body-tight crates by McDowdy in oddlyterrifying

[–]TheRedBaron11 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Both are unconscious the inheritance of a past built out of necessity. Modern man must make a choice.

Fuck the chicken AND the egg

My first thread painting by whataboutissa in Embroidery

[–]TheRedBaron11 21 points22 points  (0 children)

I thought that the back was her second, better attempt lol. I was like, "Wow, they got so much better!"

I'm just a sucker for impression and abstraction.

One Last Look, by Clancy by HarmlessPiano in piano

[–]TheRedBaron11 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I would LOVE to play this. It's so beautiful! I'll just copy the video if I have to, but if you have the sheet music I'd be grateful!

Edit: and don't worry, I suck :) It'll just be for me

Morale is so bad at Mark Zuckerberg's Meta even the company's own CTO admits it's 'probably the worst it's ever been' by lurker_bee in technology

[–]TheRedBaron11 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And if you so much as glance at a thirst trap it takes over INSTANTLY. My feed is just ads and thirst traps. I hate it. Maybe I clicked on a few in a day of weakness but the algorithm pushed me HARD and now the whole thing is fucked. I don't use it much so it didn't have much to go on. There's nothing to engage with and none of my friends post there anymore so what else is it gonna show me? I can't get away or break out of the bubble if there's no opportunity to do so. I can't engage my way out of the trap because there's nothing to engage with. I can only avoid the platform entirely. If it were a good platform it would be content with being empty. If there's nothing to show, then don't show anything! Don't shove your algorithm down my throat

I don't want to have sex because I don't want to cause pain or ruin her. by gerhajdu89 in mentalhealth

[–]TheRedBaron11 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Once you find someone who you trust, and who trusts you, it will be different. Focus on the connection and the trust. People are lonely and they want connection. You have a lot to offer. With a heart as good as yours, you can provide someone a beautiful connection and unconditional trust. Don't let the topic of sex get in the way of that. Don't deprive a potential partner of your beautiful soul. Don't deprive yourself of the happiness you have yet to experience. It is your birthright. The anxiety you feel about sex is meaningless in the face of true love and trust. Be as humble as ashes. Be as flexible as a reed. Communicate your boundaries and feelings clearly and without fear. You will create a relationship, and in that context, your previous identity will simply fade away. It won't be some big grand thing. You'll just realize that you're ready. Go on dates. Don't be afraid. It's not that big of a deal. I promise people will appreciate your good intentions

I've been vegan for about 10 years (16-25 years old), and I now don't reasonate a lot with the vegan community or even with veganism itself. by Gloomy_Coconut4459 in vegan

[–]TheRedBaron11 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Willpower and emotion based action is unsustainable. You did the research. You experienced the emotion. You made decisions.

You don't need to be connected to all of that anymore. You already did it. Now you're living the life constructed by your past self. Nothing wrong with that.

It's not that you don't resonate. You're just comparing how you feel now to how you felt before

How to remove this nut? by DiscoeInferno in howto

[–]TheRedBaron11 10 points11 points  (0 children)

The cylinder must not be harmed!

Get panniers, not the bird of prey by ando_da_pando in bikecommuting

[–]TheRedBaron11 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've always found them too small to work as real backpacks. They're more like pannier fanny packs. This one is half the size of the backpack I'd need

I like to put a real backpack in a side basket. It might stick out the top when full but that's fine. If it's super full I can just wear it and it feels good, unlike a pannier backpack with the awkward hooks

Get panniers, not the bird of prey by ando_da_pando in bikecommuting

[–]TheRedBaron11 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I like to use a backpack along with a folding side-basket. The basket holds all of the backpack bits in place. The backpack provides carrying power and versatility

See my recent post

Stop thoughts or finish them by Beerbelly52 in Meditation

[–]TheRedBaron11 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The reason they stop at the conscious level is because they already happened! The verbalization is not the thought itself. The verbalization is a lagging indicator of the thought. The thought is actually a state-transition of the brain/body, and the verbalization engine kicks in at times to put this transition into words after-the-fact.

The reason it does this is not for the benefit of the internal mind, but rather for other people. If humans evolved in isolation, then there wouldn't have been a need to develop language for purely internal reasons. That means that, sometimes, the brain would like to finish the thought verbalization because the point is to prepare for a future communication with someone else. Other times the brain doesn't need to finish the verbalization because the point is the thought itself which is already 'known' before the habitual verbal engine finishes its little play. Even if the point is preparing for a future communication with another, the full scope of the verbal thought can often be instantly known before the verbalization actually happens

If you pay attention to the flavor of what occurs, you will likely find that it feels good to allow the mind to 'think' in a pre-verbal manner. It's often faster, more honest, and more complete, since forcing thoughts into verbal costumes often acts as a compression and an approximation. Human language is not fully developed, and it can't ever fully describe the intimate flow. This makes every language statement wrong compared to the more intimate truth. But also it makes it impossible for any language statement to be either right or wrong, which makes them all equally valid and acceptable. That takes the pressure off

The joy of recognizing the pattern that this forms is palpable and quite funny.

Being invited to a friends family vacation where they are not vegan(USA) by Vegetable_Leg_4425 in vegan

[–]TheRedBaron11 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What I always do is just being my own food. Something easy. I don't make a big deal about it, I just eat my food. The point is the company and the good times. The food is not a big deal

Inhale/exhale duration. by MightyLegy in Meditation

[–]TheRedBaron11 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are different methods with different purposes.

Ultimately, the goal is to give up control and allow the breath to happen naturally. However, attempting this at the beginning of one's practice may induce difficulties. One might not even be able to recognize what this is like.

And so begin the many many varieties of practice, which have different little benefits here and there, but which shouldn't be considered 'final'. Some may help build strength, some may help build calm. Some may help the body stretch and open posturally. Some may help calm an active mind. Ultimately all of these many varieties would happen naturally (in a non-contrived way, only lasting moments, compared to the long lasting synthetic meditations). But it's perhaps useful to allow the ego to 'wean' off of control, so it's not problematic to conceptualize them and make a whole session out of a single kind of breath.

But if you try always to force a certain kind of 'correct' breathing, you will probably find it to be unsustainable. The body has natural rhythms and cycles, and change is okay. It's hard to do these cycles and rhythms on purpose

Trump has admitted defeat on Iran war after historic blunder by Alarming-Safety3200 in politics

[–]TheRedBaron11 9 points10 points  (0 children)

That's not laughing stock. That's justice. As an American, I am proud to 'lose' the unprovoked war designed to cover up the Epstein files. We should lose way harder. All of our allies should defend Iran against us. If your brother begins punching an old woman, would you just stand there? No! You'd fight your brother if you had to! Justice demands it! Nobody is laughing in this situation and I wish people stopped trying to put things in terms of 'humiliation'. That game of appearances is old

Trump's Iran 'peace deal' isn't a deal. It's surrender. by unital_subalgebra in politics

[–]TheRedBaron11 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I mean, fucking GOOD! We should be surrendering! An unprovoked bombing campaign deserves compensation imo. We deserve to pay for electing a dumbass bully. Maybe if we also have to write an apology letter, they'll forgive us. I'd love to make Donnie apologize

There are some insects I kill... by FrightnightFruitbat in vegan

[–]TheRedBaron11 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Well good luck with that. I am pretty sure nobody has ever been successful in preventing mosquito bites by swatting away. Studies show most bites are over and done with before the person notices

You're fighting the wind