Keeping Nick honest

Got to admit, I really do appreciate Srinath’s way of communicating. It has been immensely helpful to read, consider, and put into practice.

Reminder to self:

Oh yes and in the meantime, in between PCE’s you practice the actualism method to the best of your ability - ‘consistently enjoying and appreciating this moment of being alive’, investigating obstacles to enjoying and appreciating. You can also investigate what is keeping you from self-immolation. This is a fascinating process to be enjoyed as much as possible to - not something to be endured or cussed because self-immolation has not happened. It is this fascination that will pull you ‘out from control’ prior to self-immolation for a longer or shorter period. Getting the Word Out - Actualism - Discuss Actualism

Reminder to self:

Also frustration is a sign that you are trying to get ahead of yourself and getting too expectant. Slow it down. Go back to feeling good if you get frustrated and simply enjoy wherever you are. Sensual delight will be very mild at first. The trick is not to discount those early subtle impressions but to appreciate them, as this what will form the basis for the next level of enjoyment and appreciation - and on and on it ramps up. 15 minutes is quite a short time to have a PCE in. See if you can have more time without putting pressure on yourself. Josef PCE Practice - Journals - Discuss Actualism

1 Like

Just a short update.

Never have I been so aware of my proscrastinating tendencies. I procrastinate all the time. But I’m becoming friends with this part of “me” to the point where it’s comical and actually slowly becoming the habit to point it out to myself more and more. Sometimes just saying “procrastination” is enough to then see myself tap back into pure intent. It is making more sense these days why it’s been said that 100% of me needs to be behind the direction of self-immolation because I realised it definitely isn’t 100% at the moment. Haha! Still the happiest path I’ve walked/am walking. Weirdly though, all of these little realisations feel like amazing progress as I move in that direction.

I had something click recently. Due to strong habit, I will often resort to some sort of “default” setting that isn’t happy and harmless. Sometimes a dour mood or maybe some weird equanimous mood, which doesn’t seem happy and harmless as I’m habitually trying to “cope” with some agitating sensation always in my chest. I had the thought that there is actual energy being spent within the body on propping up any default setting. Realising that I’m expending energy willy nilly on these now seen as mindless and fruitless endeavours, I decide to spend it on being happy and harmless. This seems to work for me immediately in moving that “energy” towards being happy and harmless and me as the feeling being approximating actuality as much as I can. It helps also with the procrastinating as any default setting does seem to lead in that direction. I am now waking up in the mornings and more than not, my first thoughts will be about actual freedom.

It is indeed a fun path.

1 Like

Is there something about procrastination and pure intent that are mutually exclusive?

When I procrastinate, my mind is doing everything BUT tapping into pure intent/being sincere/ being naivete/questioning why I’m feeling shitty/bored etc/enjoying being alive, being happy and harmless. So yes, my current definition of procrastinating and tapping into pure intent are mutually exclusive. What is your view of procrastinating and pure intent being mutually exclusive?

1 Like

I 'spose I don’t see why procrastination prevents one from enjoying and appreciating. Or being happy and harmless. Or how it might stop one from asking HAIETMOBA.

I often procrastinate and get along fine with the rest of my day, sans whatever responsibility I told myself I had to do. Currently I have a big batch of Amazon returns to take care of but I’ll be strategically procrastinating it until Friday so as to maximize the amount of free time I have between now and then (There’s a reason Friday is better). If something pops up on Friday I’ll likely put it off until next week.

Two weeks ago I had to move and I procrastinated packing up my house for so long that I had to hire movers to do it. It cost me extra money, but saved me from back-breaking work and they packed up better than I would anyway.

In a few parts of the Actual Freedom website, Richard admonishes procrastination, in the context of self-immolation. But he’s also a “dirty” little procrastinator himself per his story about his Pottery Exhibition.

Now, with ceramics there is normally a five-to-six week lead-in time (due to the process of making, carving, drying, first-firing, glazing, decorating, and second-firing) yet the days became weeks until, despite the frequent reminders and promptings of my then-wife, only three weeks remained before the big night.

And three weeks was the absolute minimum time-span; if the eighty-odd pieces were not formed today then the afore-mentioned hodgepodge stock-at-hand would have to be pressed into service.
Mailing List 'D' Rick

My main reason for asking isn’t to normalize procrastination. But might there be some moralistic attitudes towards it that were adopted from society in general? Or perhaps you’re exclusively talking about procrastinating self-immolation, in which case none of this applies.

1 Like

@Nikolai_Halay are you talking about specifically procrastinating from enjoying & appreciating, or generally procrastinating from doing whatever various tasks?

I keep reading elsewhere and usually by those already actually free that 100% of me needs to be on board with self immolation. 100%! I really don’t want to spend decades doing this.so I’m seeing that when I’m not on board with this direction, my mind is doing any thing but things that move in that direction. And to me that is procrastinating when it comes to self-immolation. It seems accumulative in that the more I see how much I don’t tap into pure intent/investigate why no self-iimmolation/be happy and harmless etc, the more common occurence EEs/ PCEs become because I’m moving to flipping it.

Morality has nothing to do with it as I see it. You have a goal. You don’t move towards the goal but just do this and that due to habit, you are procrastinating. It works for me, maybe not for others.

Okay - I get it. It sounds like you’re talking about procrastination of the method / immolation and not activities in general.