The Ten Thousand Things

We return for Season 2. Life before and after ADHD treatment / Sam on learning / You are falling through the air without a parachute, but don't worry, there is no ground.1. Joe asked, so Sam explains that before treatment for ADHD, getting things done was endlessly frustrating and chaotic. It's not magically better now, but there's been many improvements and achievements in around nine months. To be fair a lot of that is also coming from a lot of groundwork done in therapy before drug treatment. We also talk bipolar disorder, and some differences in experience between conditions with highly acute aspects such as bipolar and a condition with mainly chronic aspects such as ADHDJoe worries about 'overwhelm' not being correct English, but that word has been very well established for quite a while now. Columbia Journalism Review has a great piece from 2017 about 'overwhelm' entering English!2. Sam goes off the deep end about education, ticking all the manifesto boxes. Total rebuild of the education system - tick. Paolo Freire - tick. Learning is hard. No, you're not bad at maths. You need to learn how to learn. You must build a range of qualities and skills, not just stuff you're already good at. You must learn to engage critically with reality. Know where you're at and when in history you are situated and what might be coming. Understand you are a being capable of knowledge and ignorance. You must construct your own means of self-liberation, by engaging with reality, and with others. Joe says 'so you Robin Williams them?'. Not really, but yes, sometimes.3. Quotation corner is a doozy. But it always is. The bad news is you're falling through the air, nothing to hang on to, no parachute. The good news is, there's no ground. Attributed* to Chogyam Trungpa Get that into you. It's a high mountain breeze. It'll change your life, really let it settle into your being. The things you're worried may not be real, and even if they are real enough, they may not be the problem you think they are, or a problem at all. Having said that Buddhists do theoretically believe in reincarnation and maybe that comes into this quote. But Sam's says it's not strictly about death not being final or not a probem, but about the relationship between experiencer and experienced, and how we can get past a sense that life is an intolerable nightmare, and just deal with it as it is. Also, you're literally truly just endlessly falling through space, but also in a metaphorical sense. And that's actually pretty cool when you think about it. Also terrifying. Definitely that, as well.*Stack Exchange can't find the source. Wikiquote has no parachute for Chogyam Trungpa, who mentioned parachutes once, which may have inspired Ram Dass, a Joe favourite: "You only suffer if you are attached. If you think you’re young and you start to grow old, you suffer because you’re busy thinking you’re young. If you’re not standing anywhere, where is the suffering? No pain. So, you finally realize it’s as if you jump out of an airplane and there’s no parachute, but there’s no Earth. You could just keep doing it. It’s all skydiving from there on in. So, for a person who realizes that, suffering — although you don’t go after it because you’re not a masochist — isn’t pushed because you realize it’s teaching you something."If you would like to learn a bit more about the podcast or us feel free to follow us on Instagram and Threads @thetenthousandthingspodcastJoe @joefanebustloh, Sam @toomanypictureswillneverbeseen and Ali @ali_from_resoImage courtesy of Craig WishartImage: Edward Coley Burnes-Jones: Sisyphus

Christmas in the bin? What can be redeemed in it? / Note to self: 'let it stream' / That's Facts - A dark brooding romantic fixer upper1. Christmas - Quite a few people are not into Christmas at all so here is a A Christmas Survival GuideWhy do people hate christmas? Hear from the internet masses here - it's a lot of the same reasons that Joe does. Too much booze, too much pretend, enforced intimacy, stress, loss, sadness and expense. Not having the extended family, and when there was the extended family, it wasn't great. Or do kids who have Christmas, just kind of enjoy it and don't notice or ignore what's going on with the adults?On Christmas Day Joe will be on the road northwards, listening to non-Christmas tunes. It's all about that Boxing Day Test. When that starts - the pressure is off, finally. Picture him driving to the sounds of Neil Young - Unknown Legend2. Note to Self - Let it StreamLet things be as they are. You can't push away the negative thought. Don't hold onto the positive thought. Don't even try to push away the annoyance at having to just accept the existence of thoughts that you don't like.Change the channel - a cognitive behavioural therapy method for dealing with intrusive thoughts.Is cognitive behavioural therapy NOT the best thing ever? It won't get to the REAL stuff. Well that's what Lacanians and Freudians say. There's lots of other good modes of counselling and psychotherapy. But change the channel works. Being annoyed or tortured by intrusive thoughts? Change the channel by putting another thought there. Read a sign or a license plate. Disrupt the other thought. Probably more productive than just trying to push it away.That's Facts - A dark brooding romantic fixer upperDoes Joe sometimes choose to lead on a date with a troubled self over a fun self? Both selves are real, so which to present? Present nothing, just let things be as they are? Does the fixer upper always fail? Is there anything wrong with two people wanting to entertain the same illusion, that we will always have fun, or that we can save each other?Does anyone really want a fixer upper for a partner? Why? To help entertain their own delusion that they are magical, which is much easier when the other person sees the magic in you, and one way to do that is to invite someone looking for magic solutions in their life.I hope we all get through the holiday period best as we can. Truly, blessings and best wishes to all, and if there is a miracle for you, that's great. It can be a season for endings and undoings and also new beginnings. Maybe you can invent a great new tradition with a collection of dear people, whether they you biological kin or not. Sam: Merry Christmass/Merry 'this time of year' to one and all, may the goddess bless you Creators & Guests Joe Loh - Host Sam Ellis - Host Hit us up on threads or instagram @thetenthousandthingsor email, that’s the classy thing to do (00:00) - 15 - A Christmas Special (20:01) - Note to self - let it stream (38:40) - That's Facts - Brooding darkly Romantic fixer upper

Revolution? / Do not seek the truth, only cease to cherish opinions / PaparazziWe mention Sengcan a lot: sage, poet and 3rd Patriarch of Chan Buddhism. Famous for (maybe) writing Xinxin Ming sutra (scripture/poem). Read it here. It begins like this:The Great Way is not difficult / for those who have no preferencesWhen love and hate are both absent / everything becomes clear and undisguisedMake the smallest distinction, however / and heaven and earth are set infinitely apartIf you wish to see the truth / then hold no opinions for or against anythingTo set up what you like against what you dislike / is the disease of the mind.When the deep meaning of things is not understood / the mind’s essential peace is disturbed to no availThe Way is perfect like vast space / where nothing is lacking and nothing is in excessIndeed, it is due to our choosing to accept or reject / that we do not see the true nature of things.Be serene in the oneness of things / and such erroneous views will disappear by themselves1. Revolutions. Do Marxists want things to get worse? What do Marxists mean when they talk about 'exposing the contradictions inherent in capitalism"? Are Victorian Socialists just nice young middle-class people who want to make things better? Often. Should a family doctor struggle to buy a home? No. But we are seeing a lot of that. This + many other absurdities in this country, might create the conditions for a revolution. I recommend the Revolutions podcast, wrapping up now. Mike summarises hundreds of episodes in the Appendix series. I've made a playlist for easier listening Will Australia actually have a revolution? Very unlikely, but becoming less unlikely? A major dummy spit by doctors, teachers, nurses, and every kind of wage worker, volunteer and carer, is called for. That's my opinion anyway.Also the Herald-Sun could not get Dan Andrews kicked out, because he makes people build things, and cos chippies, brikkies, sparkies, builders, laborers, and taxi drivers have phones to scroll on now. Why would they read about how Dan Andrews pissed in their cornflakes, had a poo with the door open, and took the last tim tam, last ciggy and last beer from the fridge, when they have thirst traps to look at, and mates to hang shit on in chat all day?2. "Do not seek the truth, only cease to cherish opinions" - Sengcan. Creating false distinctions in the mind causes problems. But also, if you forget about truth, and stop having so many opinions, you can have some space inside, and truth can actually come in. Freddy Nietzsche drops in: 'Truth' and the search for truth are no trivial matter; and if a person goes about searching in too human a fashion, I'll bet he won't find anything!'3. Actually the paparazzi provide a valuable public service, by helping to reveal the contradictions inherent in capitalism?Creators & Guests Joe Loh - Host Sam Ellis - Host Hit us up on threads or instagram @thetenthousandthingsor email, that’s the classy thing to do

Boundaries / The idea of your mother is not your mother / That's facts - the magical vagina and the song of the magical penis1. Boundaries, romantic fiascos, anxious attachment. Why do I wonder if I'm real while waiting for a reply? Texting too much. Getting in touch with exes when there's nothing to discuss. School of Life: Can Exes Be Friends? Thinking you're the good guy, but the motives are all wrong. Every Time the Sun Comes Up (I'm in trouble): Sharon Van Etten Stopping as much dishonesty with yourself and others as you can, is one of the keys to recovering from addiction and regaining control of yourself and life. Yes, Woolworths are crooks but you can't live by their ethics. They do own a lot of pokies and that is theft also. But quitting petty theft and fare evasion, very good for you. GetUp! Woolworths campaign2. The idea of your mother is not your mother. Can't find the source of this quote, but I read some psychology articles. Some people have mean mothers which is very bad for you. Some have difficult mothers, a challenge into adulthood. The dismissive mother can be hard to get over. Mummy Issues article is a good summary. Role playing and therapy can help couples get past mum issues and work as a team rather than isolated individualsGregory Batesom wikipedia The map is not the territory, and the name is not the thing named / Finally, in the dim region where art, magic, and religion meet and overlap, human beings have evolved the “metaphor that is meant,” the flag which men will die to save, and the sacrament that is felt to be more than “an outward and visible sign, given unto us.” Here we can recognize an attempt to deny the difference between map and territory, and to get back to the absolute innocence of communication by means of pure mood-signs." Bateson wikiquoteJoe's word portraits of extras. Can you meditate with aliens, and turn your ASD and ADD into powers? Can we handle the full reality of all others? Bodhisattva canJung on Love/Relationships a spiritual path for the 21st century and Individuation in Marriage Through Wounding and Healing / Marriage, life’s greatest intimacy, paradoxically delivers both wounding and healing and challenges to the full our capacities for self-acceptance and self-giving. In this lecture, Dr. Stein examines the mysteries and dynamics of married life."Tool - SoberCreators & Guests Joe Loh - Host Sam Ellis - Host Hit us up on threads or instagram @thetenthousandthingsor email, that’s the classy thing to doPhoto by Phil Hearing

Why is Sam liking the internet more and more? / Leave the front door open, leave the back door open / Freedom is Obedience to Self-Formulated Rules1. We get into why the internet can be a good presence, and a bit about Joe's experience with click-bait being a big problem even in 'quality' pressSam is happy he can find: good visual artists and audio/video producers, cool stuff to make things with, and pats on the head for making things. Joe has a harder time with the internet - finds it too top down + it shows him scary stuff + dating apps can be a hamster wheel of deadening gamification.Also, remember that funny era when people wrote long emails about their overseas travels? I remember. And I did it to people. My dad did too, but his emails were good.It's headed straight for us! Oh wait, it's not. Gotcha! ABC coverage of the same storyThe Guardian comes in for another shellacking from both of us. While on opposite ideological sides to Alex Jones, have The Guardian occasionally employed similar tactics to the infamous Info Wars host: "things are really bad, planet endingly bad, and only this brave outlet can save you, so give us your support." - see Knowledge FightTry newsletters - Future Crunch and current events pods - Bullshit Filter - examines / triangulates reporting on one issue, adds historical perspective, gives a range of interpretationsPersonalities: Roger Pielke Jr - wikipedia - political scientist analysing climate policy and modellingMichael Shellenberger - wikipedia - used to work in PR. just a nuclear crank? maybe. also blames progressives for drug addiction and rising incarceration.Briahna Joy Gray - wikipedia - rising star of political media. Very strong insta - her awesome Bad Faith youtube channel here her Bad Faith podcast insta hereAsh Sarkar - who famously said to Piers Morgan "I'm Literally a Communist You Idiot" - on her Novara Media youtube channel, doesn't put heaps on her insta2. Shunryu Suzuki full quote "Leave your front door and your back door open. Allow your thoughts to come and go. Just don’t serve them tea.” Quora article about the quote3. Freedom is obedience to self-formulated rules AristotleCreators & Guests Joe Loh - Host Sam Ellis - Host Hit us up on threads or instagram @thetenthousandthingsor email, that’s the classy thing to doPhoto by Andy Holmes on Unsplash

Growing up Hare Krishna / Note to self: "I love you. Keep going" / the beach1. Being in the Moomba Parade as a Hare kid, in a fierce competition with the Gas and Fuel Corporation for Moomba float prizes / Krishnas coverage of Moomba Back to Godhead magazine July 1985(Does Moomba mean 'up your bum'? Was it revenge from Bill Onus for Moomba organisers deliberately upstaging Labor Day in a plot against workers?)Hare Krishna Moomba on youtube, closer to 1990George Harrison explains why chanting Hare Krishna does somethingGoing to India. The shock of recognition. Discovering that one religion borrowed heavily from another one. If a Sikh person offers you a cookie from in a passing parade of dancing and singing... take the cookie, and hopefully it might change you. Pilgrimage could be to India, or New York.Whatever happened to the Hare Krishnas? Life in Hare Krishna boarding school2. "I love you, keep going" - not an inspiration from instagram, but a guy in New York with a very uncomfortable skin condition. Try it yourself!3. The beach - why is it such a great place to think and let go of your worries? Because it's liminal. The littoral is the line between land and sea. It's always moving. This is a reminder that everything is temporary, and that either relaxes you or can freak you out. Don't even worry it's all good, that house on the cliff, you can't afford it, and it will fall in the sea one day. The almighty ocean says 'you are small' and that's goodBut also the beach can mean body image worries. And that's why lots of us are not 'beach people' and neither is Joe, not in that way. But he sure loves a walk on the beach.Coastline paradox Fractal dimension of coastline of Australia, in the journal NatureEarth scale fractalsEarths most beautiful fractalsFractals and Britain's coast Image: a Hare Krishna flat from Back to Godhead magazine. Sometime in the 80sCreators & Guests Joe Loh - Host Sam Ellis - Host Hit us up on threads or instagram @thetenthousandthingsor email, that’s the classy thing to do

Heaven and Hell is here and now? 1. Leaving the Ambassador Hotel 2. On clinging 3. Heaven on Earth, or somewhere else?1. Joe at 19 in Bangkok, Thailand. A story he needs to tell, as life has not been the same since, but maybe it can be okay. Taxi drivers. Getting picked up by the tourist police. A strait jacket. A hospital, and a giant syringe. A gripping tale.Hey, maybe humanity is not so bad after all. Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman, also wrote Utopia for Realists2. Clinging: "If we do not cling, everything that arises is naturally freed" Level 1 of Not Clinging? Getting into arguments on the internet, but being okay with how it turns out. Not needing other people to believe what you believe.Does Sam get pwned in the comments on Isaac's video. You decide. It doesn't matter, but I think I did okay. https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ciuq7fgg1Ra/ Bhagavad Gita can teach us a lot about letting go, so can Epictetus and Seneca. Buddhism and the Gita agree Attachment and acquisition leads to suffering Relaxing Bhagavad Gita audio summary on youtubeHank Williams, as sung by Steve Earle. I'll Never Get Out of This World AliveVictor Frankl "If there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death."Samsara - the forest fire of existence. SufferingDharma - the way, knowledge of the path, duty, what is and what must be done and must be accepted. Can also mean religionTraditionalism "The War for Eternity" (and to subjugate women, the non-'white' and the non-straight) Ben Teitelbaum on Steve Bannon, Alexander Dugin etcTulpas - beings made out of our own thoughts - an idea from Buddhism but via Theosophy, which is a whole 'nother storyBuddhism is great. Here's a critique of some aspects of BuddhismPaul Axton - peace loving Christian dude who knows his stuff and loves Lacan and Zizek. Peaceable Kingdom - Heaven on Earth?All traditions can be problematic, and all can offer solutions. Peace to allCreators & Guests Joe Loh - Host Sam Ellis - Host Hit us up on threads or instagram @thetenthousandthingsor email, that’s the classy thing to do

1. Socialising 2. 'Am I expanding or contracting?' 3. Highly sensitive persons -HSPWhere did all the house parties go? Did we grow up? Did we get sick of it? What about dinner parties?Is Joe not getting invited to dinner parties? Do they actually happen? Are people afraid their space or their entertaining won't be good enough? Are we all just hellishly busy with whatever? Sam's Attention Deficit Disorder gets in the way of organising get togethers, that's for sure.But what do we actually want from socialising and partying? Is dancing the best part? Should we just cut straight to that? No Lights No Lycra, no alcohol, no small talk needed, just dancing in the morning in the dark. It's good.Why do I find something that's good for me, and love it, and plan on doing it again, only to not do it again? Why do I talk myself out of good things?Why wait? Don't die wondering. Show up for the good things. The best things in life are on the other side of blocks.I'm just getting FOMO about things that don't exist.We procrastinate things we have to do. But way sadder than that is procrastinating things you actually want to do."1) Living in the same place as the people you love matters. I probably have 10X the time left with the people who live in my city as I do with the people who live somewhere else.2) Priorities matter. Your remaining face time with any person depends largely on where that person falls on your list of life priorities. Make sure this list is set by you—not by unconscious inertia.3) Quality time matters. If you’re in your last 10% of time with someone you love, keep that fact in the front of your mind when you’re with them and treat that time as what it actually is: precious."2. Note to self - contract or expandingNot expanding the ego, but expanding your consciousness until it blends with everything and you're not in the way of yourself anymore.Loch Kelly mindfulnessIs this actually a problem, or do I just think it's a problem?3. Highly sensitive persons - more on HSP from Psychology Today Sensitivity can come from childhood experiences, or a genuine threat to our belonging, status, certainty and so on. Sometimes we need to get over ourselves. I couldn't tell the difference between ribbing and hostility. But a well-aimed joke at our expense can also show that we belong in a group. So making fun of ourselves and others is very helpful. And so is biting the dust in life, often enough to learn that we can recover.Speaking of consciousness expansion, once upon a time I watched Ridley Scott's Aliens and suddenly had a mind-blowing experience of seeing the beauty and wonder of the universe contained in another person, only to realise it was the same universe in all of us, and we are all one! Then back to the movie. No drugs involved.Thanks for listening! Tell a friend where to find the show.Creators & Guests Joe Loh - Host Sam Ellis - Host Hit us up on threads or instagram @thetenthousandthingsor email, that’s the classy thing to do

If you win, you're allowed to cry / Looking outside yourself for what you already have / Being pompous1. Sport can be an antidote to the messy and unresolved nature of life.There may not be a higher meaning to sport, but does there have to be.We need playfulness, and doing things together. Everything can be ridiculous when you look at it the right way, and test cricket really pushes the envelope in that way. Maybe if you can sit through a whole test series without getting distracted constantly, you might be enlightened.ennui [ɒnˈwiː] NOUN a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement:2. As long as the thing you are looking for is outside of yourself, it will never be enough.We need to be there for others. Some have it harder than others, but we have a lot of what we need inside. If we're up late scrollin, or drinkin, or datin, maybe you won't find it. It's already there, if we can stop looking. I can't get no, satisfaction.3. Education happens to us all. Some get some fancy ed, and maybe think they're better. But it's not so. We all suffer on the way through, and we all have something to learn, and to teach. Each one, teach one. We'll all get through. ---Creators & Guests Joe Loh - Host Sam Ellis - Host Hit us up on threads or instagram @thetenthousandthings

Do normal stuff or get enlightened? / Avoid problems you don't have / Away from climate anxiety1. Listener mail - Eben crushes it with a killer question that really revs us up. Do the 10,000 things, or seek enlightenment? Neither. Both. Thank you so much Eben. Don't let us confuse you about enlightenment, you've got this. Keep doing what you're doing. We are here for this practical, get-on-with-it Mid-West vibe.Guided meditation by Australian Buddhist nuns.Tao te Ching - get into it, it's a great read, lots of good advice, practical, relaxing, and sometimes funny as well. A typical youtube version of Tao te ChingHenry Shukman - "Take them as you will... pointers to help us in our lives, and guide us towards greater kindness and less harm, more love, and lives that are more open to witnessing this world, and calling out it's injustices, to seeing them. And to be able to do that without reactivity. Offering calm to the world, in it's turmoil."Chop wood, carry water. Wash dishes, fold laundry“Before Enlightenment…You chop wood and carry water, but secretly wish to get out of it all. You bear with these activities through habit and out of hopelessness, but you really wish you could do something else. In a way, you are a victim, a slave — the wood chops you and the water carries you, and there is no way to escape…After Enlightenment, you are in harmony with the universe…so you see that there is nothing more important than chopping wood and carrying water. All activities are equalized, there is no preference, no discrimination. Because there is no ‘you’, no ego, no personality, no being, no separate individuality — there is no conflict. No need to escape…because you have mastered your mind, you are not chopped by the wood and carried by the water anymore. You can flip your perspective at will. It is your choice to chop wood and carry water, and you live it in complete suchness and spontaneity.”2. Introducing a regular segment: "Note to Self." Today's note: Is that rock heavy? Ajahn Chah says "Only if you pick it up." jackkornfield.com/bio/3. Climate anxiety- don't beat yourself up to no good purpose? Stop telling your kids they'll die from climate changeOur World in DataCreators & Guests Joe Loh - Host Sam Ellis - Host Hit us up on threads or instagram @thetenthousandthingsor email, that’s the classy thing to doPhoto by Jay Esteban on Unsplash (00:00) - The Kiwi Mime Clown at the End of The World (00:20) - Marker (12:10) - Marker (17:05) - Marker

Fatherhood, parenting / capitalism / identity1. Camille Paglia, Sexual Personae en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Camille_Paglia / Paternity may be a legal fiction. Who is the father of any son that any son should love him or he any son? James JoyceFeeling like you have to do heaps with yr kids. They wanna chill. So do you. Connect with yr kids through frustration. Deal with dumb stuff by getting on the same page and conspiring in fun 2. Capitalism: what even am it? Magic? Water? www.sloww.co/this-is-water-david-foster-wallace/ Do we live in capitalism, or social democracy with regulated markets? Neo-liberalism?Capitalism lifted millions from poverty? Or state investment in infrastructure, development and services? Regulation or free market? Both Are u out of Marxism if you buy a cheap house and it goes up? R u hypocritical if you talk about overthrowing capitalism but also cash in? Did they get rich from capitalism or government intervention: wealth transfer via Peter Costello?Shut up about capitalism/socialism? Centrism or leftism? Look at data, history, work with others to get things we need. Back away from hating/loving capitalism/socialism and get in the messy middle, away from hope and fear, from the exalted self and the lowly self.Is $ real? Just shut up and make $ or do something useful? Make art or money, stop whinging? Not the end of the world. End of capitalism? Francis Fukuyama, The End of History and the Last Man (1992) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Fukuyama Liberalism 4eva? Good one, Francis. Maybe he gets the last laugh one day Getting excited by Bernie Sanders. But we already have medicare for all in Australia yay! Why so obsessed with America? We need USA in one pieceFrederic Jameson: Postmodernism or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism (1985) describes the culture we've been living in. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_capitalism is actually a pretty old ideaYou first see a food delivery worker. Do you think 'that's capitalism' or 'the last days of the Roman Empire'? Amazon = own system: not free market or capitalism. Techno-feudalism. Yanis Varoufakis explains. www.yanisvaroufakis.eu/2021/11/06/star-trek-vs-the-matrix-chatting-with-briahna-joy-gray-about-my-another-now-on-bad-faith/3. Identity: kids teach you how identity is made. Watch carefully. Gender made by childhood consumption. Is Identity choice, or thrust upon us? Does it limit the freedom of all? Identity is oppression? Krishna: Abandon all varieties of religion and surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear www.asitis.com/18/66.html Neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, man nor woman, for you are all one in Christ Jesus - Galatians 3:28Paul Watson forgingploughshares.org Christianity that frees us from violence and identity? Escape identity through God? But we can't all be Jesus. Meditation? Joe's prayer: I ask only to be free of self-pity and selfishness and do my small part. Joe drops the W word - wokeism. Douglas Murray, beware identity politics cos whitey can do it too, has been for years. instagram.com/thenewevangelicalsSlavoi Zizek: I'm not saying anything big or revolutionary, we need a little bit more radical politics, but like, social democracy. I’m very much against all this Nietzschean “against good and evil” ideas. I’m for kind of a common morality. There are no big provocations here daily.jstor.org/getting-a-grip-on-slavoj-zizek-with-slavoj-zizek/Examine whiteness? Sure. It's more about working together than being pure. Hate wins if we concentrate on identity? Time to get workin class? We're all working class. Greens are watermelons, red inside? twitter.com/MChandlerMatherShare an ep, follow, chuck some stars if you please. A thousand thanks.Creators & Guests Joe Loh - Host Sam Ellis - Host Hit us up on threads or instagram @thetenthousandthingsor email, that’s the classy thing to doMusical theme by maestro Ehsan Gelsi recorded live at the Melbourne Town HallImage: unsplash.com/@koushikc

1. Work + mental health 2. Judging people 3. Knowing it all 4. Letters from listeners! Four huge ones, but don't worry, we almost dent the surface.WorkGood to have a role. Structure is connection. People on Joe's psych ward, dosed with news, nothing to do. Some have too much. Work with fair rewards, dignity, autonomy, meaning, and time away!Judging people Joe says Sam doesn't judge that much. Joe judged two Gertrude St tiny dog yuppies, then a lady with a lot of work done, but saw that it's hard for her too. We love you, Toorak lady. It's not easy It doesn't matter who you are or how much you have, everyone has a hard road (Dylan's grandma)Maybe we judge when threatened or insecure. Maybe Sam is a lucky bastard doesn't have to deal with difficult people. Ram Dass - we look at trees without judgement, but judge people. People are like trees. Some get more water, light, nutrients, shelter than others. Life bends us all.Men are born soft and supple dead, they are stiff and hard Plants are born tender and pliant dead, they are brittle and dryThus whoever is stiff and inflexible is a disciple of death Whoever is soft and yielding is a disciple of lifeThe hard and stiff will be broken The soft and supple will prevailTao te Ching 76Trying to know everythingSam Harris: reach exceeds his grasp. Joe says good meditation app. Free for low-income, grab thatSam Ellis: showing off is fun. Bigging yourself up is hard work. It destroys your peace. The world needs knowing, so we can help it. So many clever people. Let's learn from themWhy seek knowledge, if not to act? Joe's Jabiluka/refugee arrests are behind him for nowThe more I see, the more I know, the more I know, the less I understand - Paul Weller - ChangingmanSlavoi Zizek - Don't act, thinkLetters 1. No hope or fear, how do we act? Hope and fear agitate us. Aim for peaceSuccess is as dangerous as failure Hope is as hollow as fear--Both praise and shame invite anxiety and fear Serving one’s ego only leads to a fiascoTao te Ching 13Tao in You - help with fear and anxietyDesires of the belly: easy. Desires of the mind: impossible.We act out of ignorance, passion or goodness2. Men, feelings, talk. Footy helps. Can we chat without gender?Zen + the Art of Motorcycle MaintenanceIf there's something inside that you wanna say You can say it out loud, it'll be okay I will be your light Dry the Rain - Beta Band SpotifyCreators & Guests Joe Loh - Host Sam Ellis - Host Hit us up on threads or instagram @thetenthousandthingsor email, that’s the classy thing to doMusical theme by maestro Ehsan Gelsi recorded live at the Melbourne Town Hall

We nail the sound this time, feels good. Sam tells some wild tales from Hare Krishna boarding school, we discuss relationships in our 40s compared to our 20s and also ring a bell a few times.Sam finally tells (part of) the boarding school story, which does involve a bit of corporal punishment and vague military or martial vibes. Some Hari Krishnas were feeling a bit judged and vulnerable in those days, and perhaps that explains it.Reclaiming labels that people mock you with. And snitches get stitches.We structure up: bells announce the conclusion of a topic.When you have ADHD you need structure. You have to create it for yourself.Structure also allows for better connection, better relationships, better work and play.Unlike the relationships we had in our twenties, not always very structured. Two entertaining people. Two agents of chaos. One drawn to intensity. One drawn to stability, with no idea how to provide it for someone else or take personal responsibility.Struggling with commitment. Playing at being adults in a forever relationship, when you're nowhere near being able to accomplish that.Idealism and realism. Hope and fear. Buddhists say "no hope, no fear", and therapy does that I reckon. So does AA. Alcoholics very often have 'high ego and low self-esteem.' AA is very good at crushing down the ego. Right-sizing the ego. But AA doesn't always raise the self-esteem at the same time. Ordinary mind, ordinary self. Treat everything as important, but hold these things lightly at the same time. Fantasies of the future and past are just that. Be in the present. See things and other people clearly, clear mind, clear heart.Making progress and getting better at being on time. Good practice. Being a hard to reach friend. Everything is important. Everything is sacred. Holy holy holy as Alan Ginsberg said.Creators & Guests Joe Loh - Host Sam Ellis - Host Hit us up on threads or instagram @thetenthousandthingsor email, that’s the classy thing to doMusical theme by maestro Ehsan Gelsi recorded live at the Melbourne Town Hall

0:25 Being an article head (news junkie)15.00 - Wanting to feel alive and awake. Risk taking behaviour. Sketchy people. Guns 18.00 - Ordinary mind. Do the dishes. Thanks to Sean for the episode image 28:51 - Parents, being a scared kid, loss, addiction, therapy, abandonment. It'll be okay in the end though. Send a voice msgSend us ye olde emailAlain de Botton - The News - A Users Manual The News: Worst Show on the Internet. Let's agree. Emotional reactions. Pretending to be above the News/make useful commentsLooking for a hit of fear: The Age, The ABC, New York Times, Washington Goddamn Post + coffeeThe Economist: magazine okay, online not so much. Speculations about escalation, nuclear war, the apocalypse. It gives Joe nervesPutin is the Devil/Messiah/just a naughty boy/a rational actor. Depends who you ask (don't ask Alex Jones). Read wikipedia instead. I use the appNews/adrenaline junkies just wanna know reality. Doesn't matter. Real reality is waiting. Take a walk. Bill Hicks tells you how it is re: the News Many smart people don't read the news. And they could tell there wouldn't be a nuclear war. Excitement and possibility = flip side of anxiety and fear. To feel a threat is to feel alive= = riding a bike through traffic on high alert can feel quite life affirmingIt's ok to want to feel alive. If you're not nervous, you're probably not emotionally engagedPermission to play cricket. Go the Royal Park Reds, Australia's only socialist cricket team?Chores ain't necessarily bores - Alan Watts says you only ever do one dish, so stop hating it, put on nineties hip hop, mate, and enjoy reality, there's kind of nowhere else to go. Doing chores mindfully helps feel okay with life, and feel sane. Clean your environment, clean the selfChaitanya, gender bending Hindu mystic from 500 yrs ago - let's abolish caste, class, religion, ethnicity, gender etc The apocalypse is not for 5000 years (no, soz 426,877 years left in Kali Yuga). "Two old men with nuclear buttons? Been there done that" - VanillataryMoral outrage. Joining Twitter mobs back when they were cool. Sorry about that We're in a golden age inside a dark age. Get that into youYou don't need a rats tail to be a Hari these daysReligion <-> conspiracy theoriesSri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (Gauranga) - Vishnu (Krishna)'s avatar, incarnated as their own female + male energy, + their own servant, at the same timeBecome a Hare Krishna, or Become Nobody like Ram DassHare Krishnas, boarding school, parents, feeling abandoned Double Asteroid Redirection Test The Precipice, Toby OrdMusical theme by boy genius Ehsan GelsiCreators & Guests Joe Loh - Host Sam Ellis - Host Hit us up on threads or instagram @thetenthousandthings

We should probably shut up, but everyone needs to express themselvesdoing stuff because you want people to think you're attractiveegotism, false self-esteem, being childish but still feeling superior to Donald TrumpDonald's brother Fred Jr (he just wanted a regular life), difficult fathers, alcoholism, losing parents, Joe's Dadold blokes out the front of the TAB (gambling joint in Aus/NZ)being a loose unit, attention deficit disorder, amphetamines, addictions, video gamesgetting kicked out of university (college) psychotherapy, good therapists as characters on the show, and possibly the most important person in your life, Alain de Botton, epiphanies, illusion of free will?I say 'truth to tell' a lot. Therapist could say: "let's think more about that."Musical theme by maestro Ehsan Gelsi. Ephemera, live at the Melbourne Town Hall, with synths and Ten Thousand Pipe Acoustic Organ and Ben Crook on drums. Encroyable! One of my happiest moments of recent years. Do yourself a flavour and listen, it's a fun, beautiful, tasty, and hopeful piece of instrumental music for our times.Get the studio cut at bandcamp ---Creators & Guests Joe Loh - Host Sam Ellis - Host Hit us up on threads or instagram @thetenthousandthings

We take a test drive and chat about Buddhism, Taoism, Hare Krishna, dating, poke bowls, Byron Bay, tanned people, music (Paul Kelly, Richard Clapton, Wilco), being on your phone, philosophy, feelings, mental health. Life really.Spotify links to music discussed:Paul Kelly - Northern RiversRichard Clapton - Blue Bay Blues (original)Wilco - Being ThereEpisode cover image: Photo by Photoholgic on [email protected] --- Creators & Guests Joe Loh - Host Sam Ellis - Host Hit us up on threads or instagram @thetenthousandthings