[What Comes With…] Spaghetti 2024/2025 (mostly the music) September 3, 2025

Many blessings to everyone and especially to anyone seeking friendship, peace, freedom, understanding, and wisdom — especially when it gets hot (inside and outside).

Stay safe! Hydrate and nourish your heart, body, and mind.

“That is the final, and I think most beautiful lesson, of Howard Moskowitz: that in embracing the diversity of human beings, we will find a surer way to true happiness.”

— quoted from the 2004 Ted conference TedTalk entitled, “Choice, happiness and spaghetti sauce” by Malcolm Gladwell (b. 1963)

Please join me today (Wednesday, September 3^rd) at 4:30 PM or 7:15 PM for a yoga practice on Zoom. You can use the link from the “Class Schedules” calendar if you run into any problems checking into the class. You can request an audio recording of this practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email myra   (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

Wednesday’s playlist is available on YouTube and Spotify. [Look for “09032022 What Comes With”]

“Economists often talk about the 80/20 Principle, which is the idea that in any situation roughly 80 percent of the ‘work’ will be done by 20 percent of the participants. In most societies, 20 percent of criminals commit 80 percent of crimes. Twenty percent of motorists cause 80 percent of all accidents. Twenty percent of beer drinkers drink 80 percent of all beer. When it comes to epidemics, though, this disproportionality becomes even more extreme: a tiny percentage of people do the majority of the work.”

— quoted from the introduction of the Law of the Few in “One: The Three Laws of Epidemics” in The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell

Click here to check out a 2016 post about someone who does the work and also defies categories.

“I think a lot of people [have misunderstood] a little bit of what I was arguing and have overstated the argument in ways that I had… I had not anticipated. … And also, people have felt that that number is hard and fast and in truth it’s a kind of – it’s supposed to, it symbolizes the fact that the amount of time necessary to develop innate abilities is longer than you think. So, it’s – it’s a metaphor for the extent of commitment that’s necessary in cognitively complex fields.”

— Malcolm Gladwell talking about the 10,000 hours / 10 years idea to HeavyCheff and CliffCentral reps at BCX Disrupt Summit

Extreme heat (and a lot of changes) can not only make people lethargic and unmotivated, they can also lead to extreme agitation and anxiety-based fear. We may find it hard to think, hard to feel (or process our feelings), and/or hard to control our impulses. If you are struggling in the US, help is available just by dialing 988.

If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.

White Flag is an app, which I have not yet researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.

If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or in need of a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).

In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es).

Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.

Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.

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