Author: Jonathan Frei

Are humans still evolving?

If they are, it’s at a faster pace than every before. 

The world is changing faster than ever. Or at least, I assume it is. It could just be my perspective. It’s not every year that I get married, move to a new state, start a new job, and have a baby.

But maybe it’s not just me. Maybe the gradual change has decided enough with the slow and steady.

Now it seems that everyone’s lives are moving faster and faster and becoming fuller and fuller. So much so that there has been an entire movement starting to go against the tide.

Blogs like Leo Babauta’s Zen Habits and Mnmlist are some of the more mainstream expressions of this sentiment.

People’s lives are changing faster than ever, and now is the time to slow things down before it gets out of control.
by Jonathan Frei

Controlled Distractions

It turns out that I’m easily distracted. I know this because after I wrote the title to this blog, I took a break to check my email and read some other postings. 
Distractions are all around us every day, trying to rob the things we should be focused on of our attention. Distractions may after all be unavoidable. However, they can be managed. 
Controlled distractions sounds like an oxymoron, and it probably is. What I’m speaking of is developing an awareness of the things that distract you and limiting their access to your attention. 
It should be that when once you have started something you should be able to focus your attention on it until the time for that mind task is finished. This does not mean everything must be completed. It just means that there should be a set amount of time spent on one project until the next one is picked up. 
I am not a practitioner of this. 

by Jonathan Frei

More of More or More of Less

It could very well be that my attempts to do more are misguided. It could, perhaps, be that I need to do less, that I need to empty my life of the clutter so that the really good things can shine through. There is so much noise that I find it hard to think.

This noise is probably my number one impediment to writing. Writing is thinking–recording and organizing thinking. The noise keeps me from thinking. That is what has stopped me. I need to begin eliminating the noise, piece by piece.
This might be a long process. But that’s okay. The end results will be worth while. I want to get to the point where I have more things to write about than I have time. Where I can truly devote myself to thought.
Over the weekend, I spent 45 minutes browsing around on the computer. After I was finished, my wife asked me what I learned. Honestly, I couldn’t remember a single thing I had looked at. This isn’t because I have a poor memory. I actually think I have a very good memory. But when I look without thinking, nothing will stick.
The mind is a fertile place, but if ideas are not given the opportunity to take root, they won’t stick. They’ll wash away with the first new idea that comes along.
Enjoyment comes from experiencing something fully. Not experienceing lots of things. If I can learn to find the right channels to experience, and block out the noise. I’ll be a happier person.
Things I want to experience more fully:
Music
Poetry
Fiction
Photographs
Art
Everything in that list is art. Just in different mediums. Maybe that’s the thing. The enjoyment comes in art.
Appreciating art, taking it in slowly and enjoying it fully. This is a difficult thing on the internet. There is so much out there. It need to be slowed down, consumed bite by bite (bit by bit, since I’m on a computer) Slowing down and really observing will be the best way to learn what it is. Now how do I convince my readers to slow down with me and apreciate what I appreciate.
Really, before I can even begin to plan on drawing readers into seeing what I see.
This will take thought, real thought.
by Jonathan Frei

Where is the world going?

The planet or civilization? That must be the first distinction, since individual can choose to view the “world” both through the perspective of humanity living on it or from a more humanity-is-an-insignificant-speck-in-the-grand-scheme point of view. That being said, from the second perspective, the world is going on as it always has – slowly changing, seemingly without cause or reason.
On the other hand, the “world” where people live is going at a very different pace than it ever has. Lives are changing more abruptly. Individuals in free and wealth countries have more choices than ever before. But does that matter? Does the number of choices one has really have any effect on the net freedom of the individual. One might suppose that total freedom is the total number of life decisions left up to the individual minus the contraints put upon that individual by uncontrollable outside forces. But to outside forces negate freedoms one for one? A freedom is of greater value than an abridgement of another freedom.
This has seemed to spin into a new question. Are the abridgments of certain freedoms enough to negate the value of others?
The requirement of dentists to have licenses is an abridgment of individuals to practice dentistry. This is a lack of freedom. However, the abridgment only effects those who would want to practice. Also, this abridgment of one population’s freedom frees the remaining population from the uncertainty of dental visits. Many people are already afraid of visiting the dentist. This fear would only be compounded if there were no limits to the legality of practicing dentistry.
There are abridgments of freedoms imposed on one subset of people for the benefit of the majority that harm both the dignity of the individuals whose freedoms are limited and the population at large.
by Jonathan Frei

More Voices Please

There is a lot of bloggers out there and that is a good thing. The more voices, the closer we (as a civilization) get to saying and thinking everything. Saying everything, however, like a hydra, will only make the number of things to say even more numerous.

I want to get in on this conversation and be a part of it. I’m am thankful to have that opportunity at my finger tips.

by Jonathan Frei

about

The about me section should be the easiest part to write, but this is a work in progress…

I realize that this is a portion of this blog that will require more self reflection and introspection than much of what I write. I have a story, and here is an opportunity to tell it.

And, like a blog, the most recent stuff will be at the top and I’ll work back from there.

Currently, I live in Fort Myers, Florida with my wife Gaby and my baby Matthew. I work for a web marketing company selling advertising and lead generation programs.

Writing for me has been a long time love, but only a recently discovered passion. I started this blog in August of 2009, without a clear picture of what I wanted to accomplish with it. However, it provided the outlet I wanted for writing.

Prior to living in Fort Myers, I lived just with my wife in Steubenville, Ohio where I worked in public recreation and attended graduate school in the evenings.

by Jonathan Frei