Lately I’ve been thinking about… technology, and entertainment…
No I don’t actually want to be Amish. Although it might be fun to live and learn from them for a while. They have a lot of skills I do not. But I can surf the interwebs like a pro!
I hate that facebook didn’t exist ten years ago and I seriously cannot imagine my life without it. I don’t think “relationships” were ever meant to be done in this “social media” manner. It’s certainly not a replacement for real life human interaction, but are we maybe trying to make it one?
The amount of information that is available today is overwhelming and overstimulating, yet at the same time completely addicting.
Entertainment has gotten so accessible. I don’t even have to go to a store anymore to pick out a movie, I can lay in my bed with my high speed internet connection and choose from thousands of movies and just keep watching them without any interruption.
Being entertained is great, I don’t have to work hard, I don’t have to think. I can completely zone out.
I believe in rest, and resting well, but how quickly can the ease of being entertained slip into sluggardness. It’s easier to surf the internet mindlessly than do just-about-anything else.
I feel like technology has made my attention span and my memory go down the tubes. Actually here’s an article to support that.
Even our news is sensational aimed at sucking us in by “entertaining” us. If you clicked on that link above, I’m sure that you see ads for other news stories with photos of scantly clad women.
Most entertainment is either sex or violence. Nothing edifying. “Entertainment” debases us to our carnal cavemen selves.
I’m not pointing fingers at the entertainment industry. I’m blaming my own lack of self discipline, being quietly seduced to live in a fantasy world, that’s much easier, and much more about my comfort than anything else. A world that revolves around me, and what I want, that gratifies me at my instant whim.
It’s frankly easier and more fun to live in that world, than face a world that is hurting and hopeless.
Jesus, wake me from my apathetic, entrainment slumber. (…without being Amish)
Thoughts? Share em in the comments.
Have you ever watched a movie that you thought was great and then watched it again years later and laughed at how cheesy it was?…
Why does this happen? Why can our perception of something at one point in life, be that it’s the best thing ever, and then later in life, think that same thing, that has not changed at all, is dumb?
Is it because now we’ve seen new “better” things, so now we have something new to compare the old thing to, which makes it pale in comparison?
Is newer always better?
How can I fully appreciate something, and not live as a part of this disposable culture?
How does this mindset shape our relationships with others? Or even our relationship with God?
Thoughts? Share with us in the comments.
In first grade I wrote a book. It was bound by wall paper covered cardboard and was titled “The Boy Who Was Never Scared.” I got a lot of praise from it and that’s when I decided I wanted to be an author.
I still want to be an author, just not as a full time job. One of my goals for 2014 is to write a book and publish it. We’ll see what happens.
My friend Conrad Brasso just released his first book. And it’s amazing. You should check it out. It’s a CIA thriller, and it’s pretty hard to put down.
I’ve noticed when I start getting on a role writing, things just fly out. Sometimes they are related to what I’m trying to say, however, mostly, it just detracts from the main point. (Kind of like the three paragraphs above.)
If I’m in a groove, I write and just let it all out. But then I got back and try to edit out things that detract from what I’m really trying to say. The nice thing about that is those ideas then become other blog posts.
The biggest improvement to my writing has been, catching the sentence or paragraph that is distracting and deleting it. Even if it’s the sentence I’m most proud because it’s creative or catchy.
Engage: Do you enjoy writing? How have you grown as a writer this year? Let us know in the comments.
IMG 2799 from Jim and Jess Baker on Vimeo.
Hey everyone! Here’s my December garden update video! I shot it on my new ipod touch, let me know if you think the video quality is better. And I apologize for blanking out on some of it, I shot this before I had any coffee.  I’m including below what I forgot.
0:57 – The One Straw Revolution – Masanobu Fukuoka
(I came outside yesterday to do Laundry after doing this video and saw a bird hovering near some of the greens, so I think he was eating some of those pests!)
1:27 – I tried again to get some seeds out of there later in the day and it did work! I threw them in one of the grow beds to see if they will grow!
3:45 – Dahlia
4:04 – My moringa is now completely gone, just a stem
4:16 – Tumeric
Questions? Comments? Comment and let us know!
– Farmer Jim
Want to be more productive throughout your day?
Stay properly hydrated. (you thought I was talking about alcohol didn’t you?)
The majority of you reading this are dehydrated.
My mind feels so much clearer, and my mood is better when I’m properly hydrated.
Go now! Get a cup of water and drink it Your mind and body will thank you.
Engage: Do you drink enough water a day? What keeps you from being properly hydrated? Do you notice a difference in your productivity when you’re drinking more water? Let us know in the comments.
Wow… can you believe it’s December already?
How are you going to finish out 2013 STRONG?
What tangible goals can you set to make sure you end 2013 well and start 2014 on the right foot?
Share with us in the comments!
If you buy one thing this holiday season, I encourage you to buy this.
What is it? It’s an amazing blender. Yes it’s pricey, but Jess and I don’t regret this investment in our health at all.
We use this most mornings to make green smoothies. There is no other way I would get so many fruits and vegetables in my system. We mix greens, bananas, berries, sometimes apples, and sometimes other things like chia seeds, or coconut milk in there and blend it up and it’s actually really tasty. The sweetness of the fruits completely covers up any taste of the greens.
The vitamix is easy to use, it’s the most powerful tool I own, (my drill runs off triple a batteries) and it’s easy to clean, which means you’re actually going to use it.
When we bought it, it had a 30 day money back guarantee, which I told Jess we would absolutely send it back if we weren’t using it every day because it’s to expensive to just be a counter decoration.
It also comes with a 7 year warranty. We’ve had ours over a year, and had no problems with it, we’ve even travelled with it.
If you buy today from the link above we get 4-6% of the sale, and it cost you nothing extra.
If you’re doing other shopping online and want to help us out. Please at no extra cost to you, click below on our Amazon Affiliate link and shop as normal! We will get 4-6% of everything you buy and it will cost you nothing extra.
 Engage: Did you stay up all night and face the crowds? Did you get anything awesome? Let us know in the comments.
Happy Thanksgiving Blog Friends
Since we live in Hawaii Jess and I are going to make it tradition to hop in the ocean every Thanksgiving.
Before we were dating we were both in Kona together and went to the beach on Thanksgiving and Jess got such a kick out of it because I’m sure it was snowing in Ohio.
We’re thankful for your readership!
What are you thankful for this year? Leave us a comment and let us know, or share with us a unique or your favorite Thanksgiving dish!
Jess and I recently rearranged our living room. What does this have to do with failing your goals?…
Well, in the process of rearranging, we completely eliminated a table, which moved our vitamix from that table to a cupboard in the kitchen. And we haven’t touched it since.
So what’s a great way to fail at your goals?
Put more steps between you and that goal.
If I was to flip that and put a positive spin on it would read like this.
Want a Higher Success Rate? Eliminate as many steps as you can between you and your goal.
It seems dumb that the extra step of having to take the vitamix base out of a closed cupboard and plug it in, and then getting the blender jar out of another cupboard, would cause you not to make a green smoothie for breakfast, but it does.
This is one of the main reasons I’ve stopped including pictures in my blog posts. It was just one more simple step, but it was a step that kept me from writing and posting.
Engage: What steps can you eliminate so that you can be one step closer to your goals? Do you miss the pictures in the blog posts? Let us know in the comments.
I hung out with Jeremy Bardwell only a couple of times, but I remember him teaching me so much in the short time we spent together…
Something Jeremy said, when we were walking home from a coffee shop one day, keeps coming to my mind. I think he credited this quote to his mentor Andy Byrd.
“Cast vision OFTEN, because vision leaks.”
This is really good advice. We think because we’ve got a grasp on something, that the people we are communicating it to are going to also full comprehend it, whereas most likely, they aren’t even going to remember you saying it.
You’ve probably heard the statistic that says people have to hear something 7 (or is it 13?) times before they really start to even really start grasping it.
Repeat, repeat, repeat. Cast vision, cast vision, cast vision.
Are you leading people? Remind them over and over again why they do what we do and why it’s valuable.
Engage: Why do you do what you do? How are you inspiring others to do similar things? Let us know in the comments.
I know I blogged about this about a year ago but ya know what? It’s worth repeating
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by Jim Baker
It’s all about the difference between the Beautiful and the pretty; the True and the truistic; the Good and the nice. If we don’t want to be part of a disposable culture, then we ought not fall in love with disposable things, be they experiences, limited perceptions, cherished opinions, or indulgence of cheap and senseless passions. Instead we should aim for the fullness of the Beautiful, the True, and the Good – God himself. The challenge is in stripping ourselves of our attachment to what is disposable for the sake of God who is alone permanent. But that is the first step – renouncing the “cheesy” for the sake of the “epic.”
The “epic” is always more than we already have. This doesn’t mean we should search for “new” things, but we should in fact be suspicious of “new” things, because their newness is evidence of their disposability; the fact that they are not permanent. The truth is never “new,” it is never “old.” It simply is; the challenge is in training ourselves to see it when we are naturally inclined, it seems, to either suppress or ignore it.
great thoughts dan, thanks for sharing!