I’m still in Utah, closing in on a month as of today. It’s everything I could want for a summer residency: beautiful mountain views/fresh air/amazing hiking, good weather, good coffee, a great gym, nice people, and the right amount of infrastructure (Whole Foods, etc.) that I don’t feel lacking in any first world convenience. I was thinking about what I’m missing, and besides my other friends who are spread across the world, I couldn’t come up with anything.
Even with everything beyond ideal, I still got caught up in the idea of a fantasy trip to Japan for the summer. Johanna, Ari, and I were ready to book tickets after getting hyped up about it during a hike, but then we came back to reality when we searched and found out that (obviously) the Japanese border is closed, just like everywhere else in the world. The three of us have settled into a productive and healthy lifestyle here in Utah, so of course we subconsciously want to blow it up with a mysterious new trip. I’m not even sure where in Japan it was going to be, but perhaps that was part of the appeal. I still reserve the right to make it a reality if the world opens up again though.
It seems like a pretty good time to go through a little life assessment. Despite news/media’s best attempt to prolong any story that relates to the world on the verge of imminent implosion, things seem to be simmering down a bit. It’s impossible to think big-picture when laws/restrictions/economic realities are being changed daily, but now I can see the lull of normality resurfacing. I was working out at the gym, and the simple thought (that I usually have several times a year) came to me: is this the life I want to be living?
Some of my other friends have been going through their own version of this too, which is comforting. Perhaps it’s because we are all stuck in a physical location, when normally during the summer we are travelling and keeping our minds occupied. I don’t have concrete answers to my version of the question yet, but I’ve been pondering it daily. A huge help has been sifting through my que of old Kindle books, and rereading some that I thought (and turned out to be very) helpful.
Some of the books that I dredged up that have been helping me to stimulate my thinking have been : “On the Shortness of Life” by Seneca, “Live Your Truth” by Kamal Ravikant, and “Getting There: A book of Mentors” by Gillian Zoe Segal.
On the trading front I’m also working on refocusing my new research, and finally did the simple thing of compiling all of my random ideas in one spreadsheet. I plan to work on a numerical ranking (using a cool methodology from Chris Sparks EV Calculator) to help me get more focused and committed.
With that I’m going to get back to some planning and creative activities. I’ll keep you posted on my various random health and creative experiments I plan to try over the next month (assuming they are good and valuable, otherwise perhaps I’ll tell you anyways and you can laugh at myself with me).
Have a great week! Leaving you with a few pictures from last weeks 4th of July hike (it isn’t ugly here in Utah).
Andrew Manser 