Daily Blog Day 28 -- SO grateful

Good morning my lovely supporters. I hope you all had a nice Saturday. I know I did! I talked to a bunch of kids and families about deep sea mining at Maryland Day for a couple hours, caught up with a friend, and raised over $150 for the Ulman Foundation!

Thanks to Proteus and the amazing members of their cycling club, I now have bike shorts, jerseys, jackets, sunglasses, gloves, a hydration backpack and even some bike shoes to try out (plus some other stuff I'm forgetting). Perhaps even more valuable than their financial contributions and gear gifts was their kindness and encouragement for this upcoming journey. They were all total strangers to me but acted like we've been friends for years! It was a really special couple of hours.

I'm really proud of but also humbled by the fact that I have relied on community support for pretty much everything in preparation for this Summer. As I mentioned on Friday, it seems like there are so many kind people who want to help, they're just waiting for you to ask. Seeking out second-hand gear/supplies is a win-win-win: people get rid of unwanted stuff without adding to the landfill, I get free stuff (which then allows for more money to go to helping others... or paying rent 😅), AND there's a personal connection and conversation that comes with the transaction.

I'm stopping by the shop again this afternoon to get rid of some more cookies and chat about 4K (and hopefully learn more from them) at their bike advocacy meeting.

I'm a cyclist now (?)

p.s. Not to be greedy, but I'm still looking for a lightweight sleeping bag and pillow if anyone has some lying around :) 

Happily,

Hayden

Links n stuff

Read my first post

email me: haydenkwilliam@gmail.com

Daily Blog Day 27 -- Baking in the basement

Good morning folks! I hope everyone enjoyed their Friday night and will continue to have a stupendous Saturday :)

After taking 20,000+ steps on Thursday, I barely managed 2,000 yesterday! I exercised my brain much more than my body -- spending almost all day inside (in my little basement kitchen) studying and making treats for my bake sale today. I really enjoy cooking and baking but man it takes a lot of time when you're not very good at it! Nevertheless, I have a bunch of product to show for my work; sugar, chocolate chip, and oatmeal raisin cookies, plus the crowd favorite graham cracker blondies (which were actually the easiest to make). If I manage to sell all my goodies today I will be shocked.

As excited as I am to share these desserts, I'm especially pumped to talk more about 4K and cycling in general with people who know a lot more than me. My social battery might need recharging after today because before the fundraiser/gear-swap, I'll be chatting with Maryland Day attendees about the ocean and the dangers of deep sea mining. Gonna be an awesome day!

Apparently Jeff Kinney is gonna be here signing autographs! I read most the Wimpy Kid books but don't have any for him to sign... I sold them to a family last semester. The kid was so excited, it was great.

p.s. I listened to another podcast episode with Zach Bush while baking and he reminded me of the importance of not only eating well, but eating food that's grown well. We should really be cognizant of where we purchase our food (if we can) to reduce our consumption of pesticides and bioengineered ingredients. The Environmental Working Group puts out the "Dirty Dozen" every year to share with consumers the most pesticide-contaminated foods (i.e., the foods you don't want to eat unless organically grown). This years list looks like this:

1. Strawberries
2. Spinach
3. Kale, Collard & Mustard greens
4. Peaches
5. Pears
6. Nectarines
7. Apples
8. Grapes
9. Bell and hot peppers
10. Cherries
11. Blueberries
12. Green Beans

Daily Blog Day 26 -- GGIF

GGIF -- Good Gracious Its Friday!! I feel so lame saying this again, but man this week flew by! Due dates are fast approaching, Maryland Day is tomorrow, and I have goodies to bake! If you haven't heard, my local bike shop, Proteus, is hosting a fundraiser/gear swap with me tomorrow. It'll be really great to connect with more experienced cyclists and share the good work of Ulman as always. 

It's kinda hard for me to fathom how much kindness and support I've been given during my fundraising -- Laurie and the Proteus team helped me build my bike, gave me gear, promoted my mission, and much more for basically nothing in return. Now they're going way above and beyond what I ever imagined! And to think, this just came from me asking the question: "could you help?" That's been a huge learning point for me over the past 10-11 months -- people are amazing and more often than not willing to help, you just have to ask (and be as appreciative as possible). Also, there's so much awesomeness that comes from connection and collaboration! As much as I want to be the guy who stands out from the crowd and is "self-made" in a way (there's no such thing as this), I know that humans are social creatures and what we can do together is infinitely more impressive than what we can do on our own. So, thank you all for being a part of this experience. It sounds trite, but it truly would not be possible without you.

In other news! Yesterday morning I was feeling a bit tired but I had just read an article touting the creative benefits of walking. Of course, I already love going on walks (even 12-hour ones) so I decided to walk everywhere I needed to go. Since I usually bike to campus and am otherwise sat in front of my laptop for most of the day, I don't actually walk much these days. I probably get 4-5 thousands steps on average. Yesterday I nearly hit 22,000! Plus, I planted 2 trees with TreeCard... sign-up with my code, hayden-fdf so we can plant more together 😎🌳 

In a way, I feel like I might have done this to avoid writing papers (I spent at least 2-3 hours walking 😬) but by the end of the day I found myself in a fantastic mood. The combination of nature and low-intensity exercise is pretty radical for your emotional well-being; I almost wanna just walk everywhere now... maybe that's how I'll get home from San Fran? I also applied for another AmeriCorps program in San Jose, so maybe I don't go home????

Much love and many thanks,

Hayden

p.s. I listened to this podcast with Zach Bush over the course of the day and it blew me away

Daily Blog Day 25 -- Laugh today!

Good morning beautiful people! It's day 25 😎

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfFlVh1IZFg

Have a great day!!

Daily Blog Day 24 -- Early bird

After feeling barely (if at all) capable of completing my assignments and responsibilities Sunday and Monday, yesterday I began to feel more than capable! This feeling has carried over to today and I'm excited to get to work (maybe it has something to with the fasting!? who knows!?). 

I've been waking up at 4:30 (I had been rising at 5) the past few days and I think its been very beneficial. This allows me to move a little, breathe, meditate, and study for an hour before breakfast around 7am. Then I'll take a short walk and write my blog post for the day and move on to more schoolwork or emails or whatever I need to on the given day. Though I can't over-stress the value of sleep, establishing an almost non-negotiable early wake-up time has been one of the best things I've done for myself. In the event that I have to stay up later or if I'm feeling particularly tired or rundown, I let myself sleep longer. For the most part though, my mind, body, and soul seem to perform optimally when I wake up early. I feel very fortunate that this routine has become pretty automatic for me but it wasn't always easy and I'm sure it'll get tough again sometime in the future but hopefully I can continue recognizing and doing what's best for me :)

I've always been a fan of the Dodo bird

And I can't even tell you how many times I watched Ice Age as a kid

Daily Blog Day 23 -- It's not a nuisance, it's an opportunity

Boy oh boy today is gonna be a great day. After I finish this post I'll have my first meal in over 36 hours! Sunday I decided on somewhat of a whim to partake in this extended water-only fast after eating a delicious bowl of homemade mushroom chili around 4pm. After that, I had a clementine at around 6pm and a few cough drops since then. I won't pretend to know the science behind fasting and I'm not gonna get into it with this post as I have with other topics. All I know is that that it can be quite beneficial in many ways and I think its an interesting exercise in self-regulation and an opportunity for reflection. This time was very similar to what I discussed Sunday night -- at times throughout the day I felt hungry, tired, and lacked focus but these feelings would subside and improve. One bonus that I appreciated was no
t having to make any food or bring a lunch to campus... it sounds silly but I spend a considerable amount of time planning and preparing meals so it was to have my cognitive load reduced a little. 

All of that segues (I never knew it was spelled like that) into a related idea I wanted to quickly share with y'all. I feel like there's a better way to explain it than how I phrased the title, but that's what I'm going with for now. With a hefty and intimidating workload in front of me, I've been pushing to just get the stuff done and move on to the next thing. Even these blogs have felt like a hassle that I should complete as efficiently as possible so I can check it off the to-do list. In shifting my mindset to view all these things (blogging, final papers, projects, fundraisers, meetings, exercise, meditation, etc.) as opportunities to learn, have fun, and grow (what they really are!), I can enjoy them a lot more. More enjoyment leads to better performance which leads back to even more enjoyment and if all goes well, the cycle continues! As with many things I talk about, despite its simplicity, this is easier said than done. All it takes is a little momentum and you're on your way, so push through the initial discomfort and reap the benefits :)

Time to eat!  

🌱

The chili came from this masterpiece 😍

Daily Blog Day 22 -- Leaving my Oasis

Today's post is going to be somewhat of a follow-up to last night's. I wanted to take more time to reflect on my Sunday and compare my mental/emotional states. Fortunately, my claims from last night proved true -- I'm already in a much better place. It's hard to describe... I wouldn't say I'm stress-free (these assignments haven't gone anywhere) but I guess it just isn't as intimidating.

Likely correlated to my anxiety last night, I was less productive than I would have hoped yesterday. That's how almost every Sunday seems to go, however. And I definitely made progress so I can't complain too much. This week is gonna be a big grind but I think I'm ready. I think since it's so close now, rather than counting down the days till graduation (it's 29 😳), I can leverage it for more motivation. I'll keep y'all posted how that works out.

I think another reason that I often feel strange after a few days at home is because a part of me is realizing that soon enough I won't be able to retreat to the comfort of my childhood memories and support of family and hometown friends. Moreover, I think I get a little bit of that "you don't know what you're missing till it's gone" type thing. I feel like, unfortunately and unintentionally, I take for granted all the wonderful things about Easton and my family. I always plan to be more present but I must admit that I struggle to separate work from leisure -- I can see how over time this can be really detrimental so I'm working hard to nip it in the bud early. Obviously, this weekend was a bit different because my intention was to focus almost exclusively on schoolwork, but the point still stands.

No promises, but I think tomorrow's post won't be quite so personal!

Have a marvelous Monday everyone :)

Daily Blog Day 21 -- Part 2...Bonus Blog!

It's currently 8:30pm on Sunday and I've been back in College Park for about an hour. I wanted to start this post now because of the way I'm feeling after just a few days in Easton. I've been fortunate enough to go home a few times this semester and every time I return to College Park I'm met with this weird anxiety/stress that I had never experienced before this year. I assume that, despite its somewhat ethereal nature, this type of feeling is one shared by many of us at different points in our lives and/or during different scenarios. I also experience a similar phenomenon at other times -- I think it has a lot to do with stress and whether I am doing a good job at managing/coping with it. Even though I was doing schoolwork all weekend, coming back to campus feels like a whole new beast that I'll never conquer. The feeling never lasts long and I'm getting much better at recognizing that it isn't necessarily a bad thing and soon enough it'll go away. Thanks to the 10-day meditation course I attended back in January and my continued (almost) daily practice, I've learned that the best way to deal with states of anxiety, stress, anger, etc. is to simply accept them without judgement or contempt. Rather than try to solve the unwanted emotion with a distraction, or worse, let the emotion spiral into more negative emotions, we can just observe it while its here and watch inevitably fade away. I know this may sound crazy and I wish I could articulate it better but I hope you kinda see what I'm saying. The bottom line is that no matter how weird they feel or inexplicable they are, emotions are normal -- don't resist them and don't run, just observe ☯

Well, I intended to just write a couple sentences about this and then finish it in the morning for my daily blog, but I think I ought to post this separately and write another one in the morning. Look at me over-achieving! Thanks for reading and acting as my therapist 💛

See ya in the mornin!

Daily Blog Day 21 -- Giving What We Can

 
Hey people! Good news: yesterday was another productive day! My focus and determination wavered a bit in the afternoon but I was able to give myself a break which helped me end the day on a high. My high didn't come from a bong or bottle, rather from a benefaction (yes, I googled synonyms of donation to find one that started with a 'b').

As many of you may know, yesterday was Earth Day, and since I've been buried in work I couldn't exactly celebrate it with a hike. I'm more than pleased, however, with the way I did celebrate -- through a donation to the Good Food Institute, a company working to create and promote plant-based meat/protein alternatives. If you're wondering what this has to do with the Earth, I'll tell ya! The science is clear that animal agriculture (raising animals like cows, pigs, chickens, and fish for food) is a massive burden on our planet. Although estimates vary, the 2006 Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report determined that 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from animal agriculture. Moreover, animal ag emits 68% of the anthropogenic nitrous oxide which has 296 times the global warming potential of CO2. Beyond this, the industry occupies one-third of all land on Earth -- that's more than North and South America combined! Before I get too deep into the weeds, I'll just spit out a few more estimates: animal ag uses 55% of all water in the U.S., produces 116,000lbs of waste per second, and is responsible for the majority of tropical deforestation. So, those are a few reasons for why I chose to donate to the Good Food Institute on Earth Day :)

Perhaps more exciting than my one-time donation is the pledge that I took with Giving What We Can to donate at least 10% of my income (once I have an income) to effective organizations for the rest of my life. I've already spoken about effective altruism and my pledge to donate 1% of my income through The Life You Can Save and I'm stoked to take another step in my commitment to do good. Last night I spent quite a while debating where to donate, and thanks to resources like GiveWell, Giving What We Can, and Giving Green, I'm confident that my $50 will be used effectively.  I've also been exploring 80,000 Hours to learn more and more about finding a fulfilling career in which I can be most effective in my work and charitable donations.

Sorry if all the links are a bit much today but I hope you check out a few that have piqued your interest. I'd  especially love to see some of y'all take the pledge with me :)

If I make $25,000/year (hopefully I'll make more than this) for the next 10 years, my pledge could distribute 5,000+ life-saving mosquito nets or treat ≥12,500 people with neglected tropical diseases, among other great things!

Daily Blog Day 20 -- So far SO good!

Morning everyone! It's hard to beat a Springtime Saturday morning in Easton :)

My master plan is working to perfection so far. I killed a bunch of work yesterday and the best part was that I enjoyed most of it. I worked diligently when I needed to and during breaks I allowed myself to separate myself completely. As I mentioned yesterday, people (especially me) suck at multitasking but we always want to be multitaskers -- our culture promotes it as this great, respectable ability even though very few can really do it. I'll often try to squeeze in some studying while I eat or write while I watch soccer and it almost always results in very little progress on the task and even less enjoyment of the leisure activity. I think being home really helped me to avoid this tendency because I could leave my phone and laptop inside and go take a walk or just soak up some sun to recharge before getting back to work. I can -- and do -- do this in College Park too, but I'm incredibly lucky to have such an oasis to return to here in Easton that is just different!

Today we have a zoom meeting for the 4K leadership team which will take up a big chunk of my morning. I'm excited to connect with everyone and learn some stuff, though! After that I have some more reading and writing to do and am again optimistic it'll go just as well as yesterday.

By the way, if you want to keep your brain sharp, exercise! Some of the articles I've been reading for class have been about the impact of exercise on cognitive functioning. Bottom line: exercise helps your brain maintain, improve, and create new connections that help make your brain work better and prevent things like age-related memory loss and even neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's. Evidence suggests that a combination of aerobic and resistance training might be best. Plus, if you can exercise in a way that also requires more thinking (playing pickle ball rather than riding a stationary bike, for example) that seems to lead to additional benefits. I just think this stuff is so cool and feel very lucky to get to learn about and share it!

Join your local pickleball club for brain & body gainz 💪

Daily Blog Day 19 -- Seeking solace in Easton

Sheesh! It's already Friday? Was I just talking about how quickly the week/month was passing? Probably, but it's the troof.

Anywho, I'm writing from a new location with obnoxious commercials trying to sell me drugs that could literally kill me (but I'll lose belly fat, yay!!). Yep, I'm home! Every time I come home, my appreciation for not having cable/satellite TV at college grows. As an experiment, I've been sitting on the couch for like 15 minutes trying to write this, and between the Today show and the commercials I already mentioned, my attention has rarely remained on my blog. It's wild how difficult it is to buffer yourself against the pull of TV/media/etc. Fortunately, the solution to this problem is fairly obvious (turn it off!!) but I think we often just automatically turn on the TV and think we can multi-task with whatever else we want to do (spoiler: basically all of us actually suck at multi-tasking).

Now that my preaching is over, let me express some gratitude for this opportunity to escape College Park and put a dent in my workload. Just today I've already worked on one of my final papers for ~1.5 hours, so once I escape the Old Navy ads I'm optimistic that the rest of the day will be similarly successful. The decision to come home for the weekend was not without risk -- I often end up putzing around and being quite unproductive -- but as I said, I'm optimistic this visit will be different. I'm feeling inspired, committed, and excited to chow down on my assignments, and with my boy Rudy to keep me company and make me smile, senioritis doesn't stand a chance!

Tune in tomorrow to see if I end up making the progress I'm hoping for :)

Dewey (left), Giz (center), and Rudy (right)

Daily Blog Day 18 -- You can't, you won't, and you don't stop

Happy 4/20!!💨

I've never been a huge fan of the Beastie Boys -- never disliked them either, I just haven't listened to them much -- but I recently watched their documentary and it was great; would definitely recommend. Of course, since watching it I've been listening to them some more and have embraced the lyrics, "you can't you won't, and you don't stop" from one of their biggest songs, Sure Shot. With so much stuff piling up around me, these words are a reminder to just keep going... I can't stop because if I do, I won't graduate... I won't stop because in my soul, I don't want to... and thus, I don't stop. I'd be lying if I said that there aren't moments where part of me wants to stop, but I'm usually able to shut that voice off relatively quick. Going back to my self-advice from a previous post, I just gotta take action and go through the to-do list one-by-one, building momentum with the completion of each.

☮💛

Daily Blog Day 17 -- What happens after I get to San Fran?

 

Gooooood morning Maryland! Coming at you live from McKeldin Library after spin class 😎. And guess what? I gave away 4 more books and a pair of shoes already today! Well, almost... there are these little cubbies at the entrance of the library where you can leave/take stuff so that's their home for now but probably not for long -- someone just sat down across from me with one of them! Plus, people from facebook are coming to pick up a mug and another book later today 😁 

Alright, let me get to the meat of this post so I can go home and eat plants. Yesterday I mentioned an interview with AmeriCorps -- it was the second program I've interviewed with and it went great! I don't remember how much I've talked about the other ones (if I have at all) so I figured I'd give the rundown today. 

I've fallen in love with the idea of service, and with so many cool opportunities all over the country within AmeriCorps, I think it might be my next step after 4K. That said, I'm not sure that joining one of their programs is the most effective thing I can do to serve others and grow as a human, so I still have some tough decisions to make... but that's a discussion for another blog. As of now, I've applied to close to 10 programs and have interviewed for one in North Carolina that places members at one of 11 different college campuses and another called the Literacy Coalition in Palm Beach County, Florida. Both of these seem great and have their own unique benefits but I think the service I'd be doing would be relatively similar. However, now I have to wait to interview with the specific sites in North Carolina, so I'm sure I'll get a better idea of the work I'd be doing. I also applied to a FoodCorps program in San Francisco which I'm very interested in, but haven't heard from yet. There's way too many options to know if I'm applying for the "perfect" ones, but I know wherever I end up will be awesome.

Wish me luck on my future applications and interviews! 💛💙

We killed this one!

Daily Blog Day 16 -- I think I'm addicted to getting rid of stuff

 Yoohoo!

Selling and/or donating stuff is so fun and rewarding... I can't stop. It seems like every day I find something else that I don't need and don't even want. I'm not the biggest fan of Facebook, but it's been very very helpful in my un-cumulation -- I've sold a bunch of stuff (usually for more money than I expect) and have recently been using my local "Buy Nothing" group to pawn off random stuff to people. Just last night someone picked up a box of corn starch! Corn starch! You can also use your local buy nothing group to request items that you need which is pretty cool.

I'm basically getting started on moving out of my room in College Park a month early and am absolutely  loving it. I'm even more excited to pack my backpack and duffel bag in 47(!) days just to see how little I can bring with me for 4K -- there's not much room for anything other than essentials anyway but I'm sure I can shed a few pounds.

Late blog post today because I had an interview with another AmeriCorps program which lasted much longer than I anticipated. I'll chat about my plans following 4K tomorrow!

Vi ses imorgon!

Daily Blog Day 15 -- Not running away

And just like that it's already Monday again. I'm feeling much better now... just a little snotty but honestly my brain still feels less than 100%. This little sickness has set me back a bit in my studies and other obligations which had me feeling quite anxious and stressed yesterday. I was in a pessimistic frame of mind, assuming there was simply too much for me to do with too little time. I wanted to run away and hide from my responsibilities but luckily I didn't. Through taking small actions (like I talked about a couple posts ago) I was able to build up some momentum and chip away at my to-do list. In times like these, the unfortunate reality is the problems won't go away and the work has to be done one way or the other so you might as well just start addressing it. That's easier said than done, though. Especially when we have social media, YouTube, TV, a slightly disorganized room, and plenty of other things to comfort us in the moment. I think the key to avoiding procrastination and doing the work when it feels impossible is trusting in consistency. For example, even if you only manage to study for 10 minutes a day, that's over an hour of studying by the end of the week. And you're liable to push past 10 minutes at least a few times just by pure accident if nothing else. So, with this new week comes new opportunities to create little consistent behaviors that add up to significant results. Time to walk my talk.

Hasta mañana!

This is y'all after reading my posts, isn't it 😅

Daily Blog Day 14 -- Returning to health

Happy Sunday people! I'm happy to share that I'm already on my way back to feeling normal. I still feel crappy and tired but am generally doing much better. I basically just slept and lay in bed all day yesterday, "sweating it out." I'm not sure if this technique is common or it's just a thing my family does, but when someone's sick we always tell them to drink a bunch of water, throw on some layers, and get under the covers. It's gross but usually quite effective.

After a couple days in bed, I have to get some laundry done and catch up on schoolwork. What else are Sundays for anyway?

See y'all tomorrow

This was one of the results when I googled "getting better"

I think it's a nice quote :)

Daily Blog Day 13 -- I am not well

Good morning friends. You know how I said that allergies were hitting me hard in yesterday's blog? Well, by the end of the day I had a fever and dirty tissues all over my floor. I'm feeling a tad better now but my brain is still quite foggy and my body aches. I seem to get sick for a few days around this time every year; I think it's a combination of the changing seasons and weakened immune system due to stress. I've been feeling my stress build up in my upper back and neck for the past couple weeks and it's now fully come to a head. If nothing else, this is a reminder for me to take care of myself and allow some time for true relaxation... easier said then done when you're surrounded by exams and final papers. That's life though, isn't it? 

Ok, I'm going back to bed. Thanks for reading! 

This is me

Daily Blog Day 12 -- Take the action!!!

Happy Friday y'all! Not sure about you guys, but for me this week went by at breakneck speed. Graduation and 4K sendoff are so close! Of course I can't wait, but I also have a some final projects that I'll be wishing I had a couple more weeks to do. But, it is what it is and there's nothing we can do to slow down time so we just gotta make the most of it :)

My advice for making the most of our time: stop thinking and take action! I often get caught up spending far too long debating what task deserves my time at a given point in the day. Even with time-blocked to-do lists I'll still come up with a reason for doing something else instead of what I had initially planned. But rather than do one or the other, I might sit and think about pros and cons of each for a minute and then end up distracting myself with emails, social media, or my personal favorite, ruminating on the fact that I'm not doing anything. When I catch myself in this weird spiral and can just commit to doing anything, I usually figure the rest out along the way and it snowballs into a bunch of good productivity. This extends beyond simple behaviors like doing the dishes or studying; instead of trying to perfectly plan the future (careers, education, etc.), I think there's a lot of value in relinquishing some control and allowing yourself to take chances. Obviously it's good to plan and be prepared, but it's easy to fall into a state of analysis paralysis in which you're finding flaws in every little thought, effectively keeping you from making a decision. I hope this made sense -- allergies are hitting me hard and not gonna lie, I feel a little cognitively impaired.

As always, the advice I share in these posts are largely reminders for me so if it comes off as preachy, I'm sorry, I'm just preaching to myself!

I made this and sent it to UMD Club Running as a final attempt 

to get people to join the 2023 4K team. It'd convince me!

Hasta mañana!

Hayden

Daily Blog Day 11 — Phone Blog

Hey friends. I’m writing today’s post using my phone to see what it might be like if I don’t bring my laptop (which I don’t think I want to do) with me this Summer. From Baltimore to San Fran I think I’ll post here weekly with updates from the previous days. Though I much prefer typing on my laptop I’m hoping to have as little luggage as possible so I think I’ll just have to learn to embrace phone-blogging(?). 

I don’t really have anything to say today - my mind is a bit jumbled with a lot of assignments and other stuff I gotta think about. As I alluded to yesterday though, it’s during these times where I can lean on breath work, cold exposure, yoga, etc to keep me grounded. Earlier this morning I was feeling quite stressed (physically and mentally) but managed to roll out the mat for ~30 minutes of yoga and boy did it help a ton. The stressors are still here but rather than feeling intimidated by them, I feel excited to have the opportunity to address them! So that’s what I’m gonna go do now. 

Ciao!

This was my friend Charlie’s attempt at spreading an unripe avocado on toast sometime last year.

Daily Blog Day 10 -- Screenioritis

 Happy Humpday everyone! Whatcha think of today's title? Kinda clever, eh? 

I must admit that with 41 days until I'm officially a college graduate and just 29 until the last day of class, I'm getting a tad burnt out from school and especially looking at screens all day! This semester has been a blast -- my best ever in school -- but I can't help but be eager to be done. That said, this provides me with a great opportunity to put my focus and discipline to the test. All of a sudden there seems to be so much going on, which is really exciting, but if I'm not careful it gets overwhelming quick. I currently feel surrounded by meetings, exams, papers, projects, events, and everything in between. Luckily, I have things like meditation, breath-work, and exercise (I enjoyed my weekly 45 min spin class this morning) to balance out the busy-ness of life. I've found it crucial to develop and prioritize these tools/practices that I just mentioned because life is always gonna be at least a little crazy -- we have to learn how to best exist within that craziness. 

Still, I want to complain a little bit to y'all. I am so ready to not be looking at a screen all day, every day. I have no idea how you guys who work on computers all day do it. The grass is always greener, though... I'm sure I'll be writing another blog in a few months about how sick I am of looking at roads and fields all day.

A reminder to myself and anyone reading: the fear/difficulty/discomfort of actually doing the thing you're dreading is much less severe than your imagination makes it out to be.

✌️

Daily Blog Day 9 -- Information Rich, but Experience Poor

G'day, g'day, g'day! Looks like it's gonna be a cracker here in College Park -- sunny with a high of 76! 

Today I wanted to talk about how many of us have accumulated a vast collection of information but don't often put it to use. With my love for podcasts, I am particularly guilty of this. Learning is awesome and inarguably important, but I think I fool myself into thinking that gaining knowledge through podcasts, videos, books, etc. is the most important for self-improvement. Without action, how valuable is knowledge? I'd argue that it can be mildly useful at best and quite deleterious at worst. Say you're watching the news and they're showing the Trump trial for the 9 millionth time -- you gain some sort of knowledge which probably irritates you (no matter what your beliefs) but you do nothing but stew in that frustration or maybe rant to your friends/family. Ultimately, nothing changes except your own emotional state.

I think it's natural for us to avoid action as it will require much more effort than ordering book #6 out of the over 70,000 "self-help" books on amazon. No matter how many books we read, documentaries we watch, or podcasts we listen to, the only way to truly benefit is through action. This is why school often frustrates me; we learn so much in the classroom but are barely encouraged or have the opportunity to do anything about it. Or if we do, it's the least of our priorities given the weight placed on exam scores and other metrics. So, needless to say, fundraising for Ulman has been exactly what I've been needing -- real, boots on the ground work that directly addresses an issue. This Summer will make me experience-rich beyond imagination and I hope to enjoy much more of that kind of wealth in the future.

Here I am again posting another blog that is essentially encouraging y'all to stop reading blogs! However, as I said, learning is crucial so we just have to find a happy medium that lets us stop consuming for a second and start doing :)

G'day! <3

This was my wallpaper for a while. 

I don't know how I found it but I think it's time to bring it back.

Daily Blog Day 8 -- Perfect = enemy of good

We made it through the first week of daily blogs 😎

Today I'm cheating a little bit; I started writing this post quite a while ago but never finished which is extremely ironic but I think the concept is appropriate given the proximity of my graduation and everything else going on. I don't really know who is reading these posts but if you're also a student, this post might be especially relatable. If you're not a student, I reckon it'll be relatable as well :)

Here's what I wrote a few months ago: 

Cheesily written on my whiteboard beneath a list of items to seek out at thrift stores is, "Perfect = enemy of good". On the rare occasion that I live by this mantra, I feel its truth deeply. Its really quite simple but so difficult for my arrogant mind to embrace. I hold myself to high expectations like, study for an hour, or bike 20 miles, or do 200 push ups, and I inevitably fail. All it takes is a change in expectations -- study for 5 minutes, bike 5 miles, do 5 push ups -- for success to be inevitable. Not only is success inevitable, overachieving is almost guaranteed.

Now back to today: It's funny, I've also heard this saying the other way around (good is the enemy of great/perfect). It's just another example of how confusing life is! We're constantly being inundated with information and advice, often against our will and without our conscious awareness. We read blogs (😅) and articles to try to educate or motivate ourselves and every other one is selling the next big thing that'll make you happy, healthy, and sexy forever. So how do we manage this? Subscribe to my exclusive blog at www.thanksforyourmoneysucker.com for just 99¢/minute to find out!

See ya tomorrow!

Hayden

Daily Blog Day 7 -- Happy Easter!

Happy Easter folks! Easter is a strange holiday isn't it? For those who celebrate it seriously, it's a big deal, but the rest of us just look for eggs that a massive rabbit hid around town. 

I loved it when I was younger -- my mom would hide way too many gift baskets in and around the house for my sister and I to look for. We'd search behind couches, in trees, under dog beds, and in the oven to find our quota of baskets with specific prizes just for us. It was truly a magical time -- even though I desperately wanted to find all my baskets, I wanted it to last forever. I remember many sore defeats when Spencer would find all her baskets before me and I'd cry and complain for a bit before salving my wounds with a nice chocolate bunny ear and a few peeps (it's crazy to think about the stuff I used to eat without getting sick).

Reminiscing on these times is special, not just because they're happy memories, but because as a 23-year-old man I can more accurately appreciate the time, energy, and love that my mom put into days like Easter. Beyond that, it sparks an appreciation for all her hard work, love, and dedication to our family 365 days a year. Beyond beyond that, I can reflect on all my family and friends' involvement in my life and although it's tough to pinpoint the exact correlations, I know for a fact you've all played an integral part in making me who I am today. 

Thanks everyone <3

If you never had em, these are peeps. Btw, I got this picture from an article linking them to cancer 💅

Daily Blog Day 6 -- Gratitude Adjustment

Good morning friends. Thank you to anyone who got used my code to order Panda Express yesterday and to those of you who have donated recently!

For me, endurance exercise seems to follow a general pattern: reluctance to start --> pride for starting/feeling good --> physical pain and/or boredom --> deep mental battles --> acceptance, gratitude, and growth (flow state?) --> satisfaction and pride upon completion. I've found that this general pattern applies to most difficult but fulfilling things, like writing, studying, tough conversations, meditation, facing fears, etc. And I think while all aspects of the process may be necessary, the key component is adjusting your attitude from one of contempt and entitlement to one of gratitude and curiosity. Hence, "gratitude adjustment" -- the phrase entered into my consciousness during the last 30-ish miles of my 90-mile ride on March 21st. I came to a point where all the B.S. was behind me and I was finally starting to accept the reality that no matter what, I had 30+ miles left and I wasn't gonna stop. I don't remember how I came up with it, but I just started saying "man, you need a gratitude adjustment" and before you know it, I was smiling and laughing through the back roads of Cordova. It became so clear that I was the luckiest guy on earth to be enjoying the outdoors and cycling around my hometown all day in support of young adults with cancer. Coming to that place of gratitude is a struggle, though and I don't think you can just will yourself to be grateful; you have to take action first with the understanding that gratitude will follow. So I guess I'm contradicting myself... perhaps gratitude is the what awaits us behind the locked door and the key is all the other stuff. This probably isn't making much sense so let me give an example and call it a day:

Imagine you're having a bad day even though you're on vacation at a beautiful beach with friends and family who are all happy and having a good time. You know that you shouldn't be upset, but you just can't seem to change your emotional state. In my experience, you'll probably be stuck in this negative loop unless you take an action that will move you towards gratitude. This requires you to trust that even though your brain is convinced you'll never be happy again, whatever action you take (i.e., smiling/laughing at the next joke, helping your friend carry their cooler, turning your phone off, it can be anything!) will help you break free from the loop.

Moral of the story: our brains are beautiful, powerful tools but aren't always the most reliable.

Thank you for reading :)

Remember when I didn't have eyebrows? Good times.

Hayden 

Daily Blog Day 5 -- My Quest to Un-cumulate

 

Happy Friday everyone! How bout that new blog theme? Only took me 9 months to realize I could customize this thing a little bit... I still don't know how to change my profile picture though.

Ok, so what am I on about with this whole un-cumulate thing? Really it's just a word that I thought of to describe the process of decluttering my life. Through the process of becoming more conscious of how I spend my time and money in hopes of leveraging them both to do as much good as I can, I've realized how much stuff I have that I simply do not need or even want. This has resulted in me selling a bunch of stuff on FaceBook Marketplace and donating the rest. I've been able to donate some of the money I've made to effective organizations thanks to The Life You Can Save's resources and use the rest for personal essentials like rent, food, gas, etc. 

I've always been pretty frugal and although I'm still quite new to "minimalism" (I wouldn't call myself a minimalist quite yet), learning to live more modestly has been very rewarding! The removal of unnecessary items has given me space and resources for more essential things and allows me to place much more value in the items that I keep. Seeing more space in my room is satisfying but the real magic is how this physical decluttering translates into other aspects of my life. I think I'm naturally predisposed to want to please people, which is an attribute I'm thankful for, but it also results in me stretching myself thin and doing things I simply do not want to do. With my blossoming awareness of what is important to me and what is not, I have never felt more confident in saying "no" to people and creating boundaries to best serve myself and others.

This process is even more exciting given the fact that I'll be heading for San Francisco with nothing but my bike, a backpack, and a duffel bag! I still have a long way to go to complete my quest which is why I'm planning a "Thrift 4 Cancer" event in which I'll be selling some clothes and other items to support my fundraising -- stay tuned for more details.

Btw, we reached $5,250 raised today! At $5,500 I'll eat nothing but canned beans for a day (no spices, sauces, nothing). You can help me reach the next milestone by getting some Panda Express today!

Apparently I'm really bad at staying within my self-imposed word-limit but thank you all so much for reading and supporting me!

Happily,

Hayden

Daily Blog Day 4 -- Effective Altruism

Happy Thursday from me and Obi! I'm watching my sister's dog for a few hours while she and her boyfriend pack for their move to Colorado Springs in a couple days. 

As I mentioned yesterday, I want to write a little bit about one of my biggest interests at the moment, effective altruism. Simply put, effective altruism (EA) is an idea and growing community centered around serving others in the most effective way(s) possible -- the homepage of the website linked above says, it's "about doing good better." Rather than explain much further, I'll share my motivations for becoming an aspiring effective altruist.

My path to discovering EA was slow-burning before the Ulman Foundation dumped gasoline on me. Fortunately and serendipitously, I took a class last semester called "Sport for Development", taught by Dr. Mower, an unofficial mentor of mine (are mentors ever official?). Because of Dr. Mower and that class, I became increasingly aware of the complexities of charity work and the unfortunate reality that despite what we may believe, many good-intentioned charitable organizations are very ineffective and some are even harmful. Although grateful to have this new awareness, it troubled me that so many organizations and programs that I thought were doing great work, could be doing much much better. Then, earlier this year the stars began to align as I decided -- with little, if any, conscious thought -- to listen to Peter Singer on the Rich Roll Podcast and immediately listened to his free audiobook, "The Life You Can Save". Each day my interest in EA grows and I feel magnificently fortunate to have the privilege to strive for the most ethical life possible in which I can hopefully alleviate the unnecessary suffering of a few people and animals. Something that has been occurring alongside my EA journey is what I've decided to call my quest to un-cumulate. This will be my topic for tomorrow's post :)

Thanks for reading!

Hayden

Daily Blog Day 3 -- Only one reader yesterday 😪

Good Morning! Readership went from 12 on the first daily blog to just 1 yesterday... hello one person, thank you for reading <3

On the one hand it does bum me out a bit, but mostly I think it's kinda funny. I don't gain anything when people read my posts so there more for me than anything. I've said this before and it's seriously the truth. Posting something online holds me accountable to write everyday, at least to some degree. When I first thought of doing a daily blog I figured I'd be able to come up with something to write about every morning but I don't really know what else to say today. I think I have this idealistic perspective that inspiration and writing genius will just come upon me, but that clearly isn't the case. Unfortunately, good writing takes a lot of time and careful thought. So, with that said, tomorrow I will write about something that I have become very interested in: Effective Altruism.

Alright, later gators! Enjoy the wonderful Wednesday weather :)

Happily,

Hayden

Here's me looking super prepared to have a ball kicked at me 5 years ago. Fun fact, I got rocked in the head while in the wall during another game the following season -- there used to be a video title "Chesapeake is one tough team" on the Chesapeake College website but I can't find it. We won 1 game that year.

Daily Blog Day 2 -- Irony!

Good morning! Last blog I mentioned my morning meditation and that I'd go into more detail about my routine today. Naturally, today I did not do my usual routine -- I stayed up to watch the NCAA championship last night, which was honestly a bit underwhelming, and let myself sleep in this morning. 

Recently though, I've been waking up around 4:30 or 5 and jumping out of bed to immediately do the 5 Tibetan Rites. After that, I usually do Wim Hof breathing or some other type of breath work (or a combination), followed by 15-30 minute silent meditation. I've been tinkering with this routine all semester, but the basic idea is to deliberately spend the first hour-ish of my day alone with as little external input as possible to prepare my mind and body for the day ahead. Practicing this has been a game changer for me and I truly can't recommend doing something like this enough.

Today I still did my routine, just later in the morning (I woke up after 6) and much more abbreviated because I joined a "bike bus" at 8am to ride to campus with other UMD students and have some breakfast together. It was really nice to meet some new people and enjoy the already beautiful day! I hope y'all enjoy your Tuesday and I'll see ya tomorrow :)

*Another 200+ word post... maybe 200-300 will be new limit*

I'm committing to a daily blog for the rest of April

Good morning lovely people! It is currently 5:44 AM on Monday, April 3rd, and during my meditation this morning I decided that I want to post a 100-word blog every day for the next 30 days. You might have a few questions already so allow me to address those thoughts that I am unjustly assuming you're having. (1) yes, I do get up early and meditate -- it's just what works for me and makes me feel good! Perhaps tomorrow I'll write about my morning routine. (2) yes, the general idea of meditation is to not think, but the beautiful thing about it is, it doesn't matter if you do! When thoughts come up, you just let them come up, observe them, and let them pass away. Sometimes (most times in my case) you can't really manage it, and you end up thinking of stuff like this -- which I think is great! Then, when you realize your mind has wandered, you just bring it back and carry on. If you weren't thinking about either of these things, I apologize for making an ass out of u and me!

Welp, I've already surpassed 100 words for this post... My thinking was that 100 words would be doable for me but also force me to be more concise and focused in my writing which would make for a nice easy read for anyone interested. So, I'm gonna stick with that plan for now but if it really becomes too hard to keep it under 100, I'll go to 200. Each day henceforth I'll just hop on my laptop for a few minutes and type what comes to mind. I think this will be a lot of fun and help me get back into writing more!

Hopefully y'all enjoy :)

Happily,

Hayden

Here's a photo of me and my dog, Rudy, from 5(?) years ago.