October 2026 Update

“Time passes not, but in it passes the existence of the changeable.”

Immanuel Kant, The Critique of Pure Reason

October is here and I am not sure where September went. It seems as we get older the months and years go faster and faster, and yet the days feel longer. I am consistently exhausted and stretched, and I am not sure whether that is because I am living well and being productive, or because I am hurrying and hurrying and trying to fit everything in. I think the reason it is so hard for any of us to slow down and enjoy life is because we constantly have a vision of what we are missing scrolling in front of us. We never give ourselves the time to meditate on and enjoy our passions and joys without wondering whether we are doing it the right way or getting the most out of it or spending the right amount of money on it. I think this is obvious to us. We all know we are hurrying, which exposes the fallacy that enlightenment is all it takes to help a person change their ways. The alcoholic is usually the one most aware of how they are ruining their own life. How to change? I can only speak for myself, but finding excuses to leave my phone in the car or in the couch and forget about it has been a good step. Just not having it in my pocket or right next to me or even in the same room helps a lot. But really, just discipline, because I still need to use the computer every day and the web browser is right there. Browsing guitar pedals/amps on the internet can be just as harmful because it wastes time and keeps me from my real guitar, to say nothing of emails news and messages and Substack and Medium etc. My mind needs time and space disconnected from it all in order to be able to breathe. It is amazing how hard it can be to do nothing.