Thunk Tank Podcast

Here’s something to consider: as you drink your cup of coffee this morning, you are participating in a cultural tradition with billions of other people around the world. Collectively, Europe’s coffeehouses functioned as the Internet of the Age of Reason.”Tom Standage, A History of the World in 6 Glasses If I couldn’t, three times a day, be allowed to drink my little cup of coffee, in my anguish I will turn into a shriveled-up roast goat” But of course, coffeehouses were commonplace in the Middle East a century before Europe. Whether it’s a perfectly pulled shot of single-origin espresso or a rancid cup of gas station coffee, in a zoomed out way, it’s part of the same cultural link to our ancestors.

In this time of careful selection, and parsing of what we allow in our homes and bodies, how has America so thoroughly embraced the insanity of Tiger King, and welcomed this madness into our living rooms and psyche? I find the parallels between Joe Exotic and President Trump don’t stop there, and have to wonder if their ability to amass appeal is similarly linked. How many people like myself are aware of Joe Exotic’s self-aggrandizing, manipulative, and dishonest way of dealing with the world and watch anyways? Then he lost it all, and more, including his freedom, as he is currently serving a 22-year prison sentence (the poetic justice of a man who caged animals for decades for profit, finds himself in a for-profit prison system is somewhat tragically sublime) while his maybe-murderous nemesis is free and thriving with her own cats.

So in the spirit of viewing this quarantine as a blessing, here are six practical ways to use your extra time positively—to come out of this experience a better person. Learn a new skill with your extra time, don’t just waste it. Booze will help with having fun and being silly, but please don’t drink if you know you’re not supposed to. The feeling of having no control over your life builds up negative energy inside, and it’s easier to lash out at people rather than getting your energy out in a healthy way.

He shows you that living the life you want—life with a more carefree, joyful, open, and loving attentiveness to what’s around you —comes from the type of psychological freedom that mindfulness provides. Meditation teacher Jack Kornfield (Sam recorded a long conversation with him on the app) recommends regularly asking yourself “what are my best intentions?”. In a similar way, going about your daily interactions with a negative mind state like this will convince you that the whole world is filled with bad vibes. Of all the features of the Waking Up app, it is these unique conclusions— the framing of meditation and the examples —that help me to integrate the practice into my everyday personality.