Fellow Notesnook user, here. I’m enjoying it. It’s what Evernote should have been.

The folks using Threads have their thing.

We here in the Fediverse have our thing.

I like our thing just fine.

Please extend my warmest wishes for a pleasant evening to Pepper.

I’m not looking for “the next Reddit”. I’m looking for community, and reddit lost any semblance of that years ago. If that means we’re a smaller instance, fine.

I switched to Liftoff from Jerboa, and am enjoying the Liftoff experience thus far. Works with Beehaw just fine.

Engagement is what drives social media. Upvotes, likes, page views, searches are the fuel for their algorithms. (Or at least that’s what it seems to me.)

BitWarden user as well. LOVE it. I really can’t imagine life without it.

Jai Sri Ram!

Oh, man. Where to begin…

The major difference between The Abrahamic faiths and Hinduism is this: The Abrahamics have a book. Hinduism has a library.

The first book to check out would be the Bhagavad Gita as translated by Eknath Easwaran. The audio version is here on YT.. The Gita is the essentials of Hinduism and especially helpful for anyone exploring consciousness and awareness.

Then there are the Upanishads, the Vedas, the Puranas (all 18 volumes), The Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna… Don’t be overwhelmed, though. Take your time. If you have one in your area, visit a Hindu temple. There a LOTS of YT videos. The Hindu American Foundation is also a good resource.

Hinduism is big. Enjoy the journey.

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer… sets up power point

My history with religion/spirituality is all over the place.

Those of the more religious bent in my family were/are Baptists. My single working mother never made religion a super big focus for me and sis. She let us discover that part of ourselves on our own. I had issues with Southern Baptists early on as a child when one pastor pressured me about getting baptized. I kinda just ran from organized religion after that.

As I grew up, I had explored Catholicism. What I discovered was I really was drawn to the divine feminine. I was aaalll about some Mary. I flirted with Wicca, Norse Paganism, Pagan Paganism, and finally settled in as an agnostic. “Nobody knows ANYTHING”, I figured.

Then, about a year and a half ago, a fella I followed on instagram was streaming his DJ program on Twitch. One of the tunes he spun was Ganesh is Fresh by MC Yogi. It was a bangin’ tune! Then I remembered a Hindu mantra I had heard in a new age book store when I was a teen. It left such an impression on me that it just kind of stayed in the back of my mind. I took a chance, and looked it up on YouTube. Sure enough! There it was! Then I looked up the meaning: “A mantra of purification and seeking the oneness of God in all things”

I just sat there listening to my mantra with “new ears”. Then I said “Okay. I’m on board. Let’s do this.” I embraced Hinduism, and honestly couldn’t be happier. As I read and researched more about it, it really fit with my outlook on life, the universe, and everything. It’s a seeking path that doesn’t have rigid dogma. It acknowledges change, and encourages exploration and questioning. I’ve had to learn to drop a lot of the Western Abrahamic thinking that came along with American culture, which seemed small and kinda dark in comparison.

These days I find chanting, meditation, and kirtan to be great sources of comfort in a world gone higgledy-piggledy. I do my best to make my corner of the universe as kind and welcoming as I can. I refuse to hate, and don’t wish ill on others. There’s just better ways to spend my energy.

A couple of things:

1. I find hand washing dishes to be very meditative.
2. The practice of chanting Hindu mantras Here’s an example Or doing japa

Even if I had a stupid amount of money, there’s no way in hell I would pay someone to stuff me inside what seems to be an over-sized propane tank, then send me to depths where the water pressure is so extreme it will literally crush you.

Just…no.

One of my tech goals is getting switched to Linux Mint. But I’ve been a slacker, so we’ll see how that goes.

Today is my Friday. Tomorrow’s agenda is an oil change, and visiting mom. We’ll see how the rest of it shakes out, but some Elder Scrolls Online or Skyrim is gonna happen.

The Elder Scrolls Online. I dig the new Arcanist class, and I also have a Nightblade that has a jackal as his pet. Both are fun.

Fash gonna fash.

Next wave of the Great Twitter Migration begins in 3…2…

I am enjoying actual discussions and not just hot takes or rants. I don’t care if the platform is “perfect”. It’s good enough for me. The admins aren’t some corporation just looking for pavlovian click labor (‘likes’ and upvotes) to power their algorithm run ad fest.

Reddit speedrun to ruin their shite

Ftfy

Big time nope.

The large tech companies have shown us who they are. My time and what little money I do have will go to supporting the Fediverse.