Toadfish Monastery

Quote from: pieces o nine on December 05, 2008, 06:16:20 AM
...and yet...
I have extremely fond childhood memories of watching Dr. Who, Star Trek, NOVA, and assorted world arts-music-history programming.
No regrets about that time, nor about similar time now. 

I have Saturday-morning cereal commercial jingles burned into my head - can hear them note-perfect after two decades.  That's enough to make me hatez teh tube.  I did watch lots of quality programming as well, but that's easily replicable with a library card these days, as larger libraries are well stocked with most of the above.

I suspect as big LCD screens keep dropping in price, the line between the computer and the TV will pretty much disappear at our place.  For the moment, I'm still using CRT's for both, and the computer monitor is not large enough to watch movies from a comfortable distance.  Christie just picked up a multimedia player (standalone hard-drive system to download to, then play to computer) from Korea that is bridging the gap.


Speaking of actual background noise, we live in the concrete jungle with constant traffic noise.  Makes me CRAZY!! - we listen to lots of music as cover noise, but I'm sure it disturbs my sleep a bit (the 16 bus routes that stop across the street don't start up until about 5 am, but there's always someone on the road). Also, I don't live close to the mountains anymore where I can escape to a quiet forest when necessary.

I have entire episodes of Ren and Stimpy, Freakazoid, The Simpsons, and Rocco's Modern Life burned into my skull. God, I love 90s cartoons.

I live on the edge of the suburbs, so we get motorcycles buzzing past, police sirens, jerks with their music up too loud, etc. It doesn't peter out, either, so I have a fan that's on almost all the time to provide white noise.

We're 4 blocks from a major freight railway line, 3 blocks from the 'highway'.

Trains ALL night long, and they sound from one end of town to the other. I can sleep through them, finally.

On the other hand, it's a small town, and traffic other than on the main road is light to non-existent. Well, except when the deer get too close to the road. then the mayor and some of the other biker guys herd them back toward the lake. (As I type this, there are 7 deer lying in my side yard, nibbling on the pecans from my pecan tree. They've been there about 3 hours.)

If we ever re-relocate, it'll be to some small acreage far away from ANY sounds of civilization.

Quote from: Sibling Chatty on December 07, 2008, 12:40:08 AM
If we ever re-relocate, it'll be to some small acreage far away from ANY sounds of civilization.

I wish I could afford that... some place in the middle of nowhere in main or oregon...

the sun belt is way too populated for me

You just have to find the right places in the sun belt.

Maine's too cold, Oregon's filling up with WAY too many survivalist freaks.

Central Texas?? Oh yeah, LOTS of miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles...

And the Hill Country there is beautiful. I recommend the South West, if you're looking for quiet. It's pretty, too, if you stay out of Nevada.

Nice place to hang your hat
drive to Tucson-- cringe at all the freaking people wasting the water
drive any direction about 20-30 miles
now that's better
close enough to Tucson but not in Tucson

I have never learned to meditate "properly" however, I have been practising my own self learned way of meditation since I was a kid.

I used to spend the summers sailing with my parents as a kid, I love water the more open the better, I love deep forests too, and mountains but the sea is a part of my being.

Method 1) I close my eyes and visualises a quiet place I've been to and that I'm very fond of.
Most of the time it's one view or another from the smooth rock beach of a very small island in the Swedish Baltic sea archipelago  about 200° open horizon a few islets and a couple of lighthouses in a far distance.

Depending on mood I have different views and weather I use: calm summer night with a new moon and stars or a late summer evening with the sky going from peach to indigo with the blinking white lights from the lighthouses at the horizon, these are the usual ones.

Sometime I also dive there in warm, sunlit, crystal water with seaweed in all shades of green, this is a truly happy place and my brain seems to muffle sound by automatic since it knows water muffles sounds that comes from over the surface (yes, sometimes my brain do interesting things and I sort of stand on the side watching...).

When I'm in a very foul mood I let my mind go to a beach further to the east on that little island with sharp black rocks, and I let it storm, nothing calms me down as raging water, here the imagined wind and thunder of the waves rolling in cover all outside noise.

Method 2) quick one. I think of a colour (usually green, blue, purple or white) I say the name of the colour and I visualise on the inside of my eyelids, if another thought pops up I force myself to erase it with the chosen colour, more or less drown it in a bucket of paint , or let it fade in white light. 

I learned how to shut my ears off but after a little incident when I fell asleep like that and the ears reminded shut all night and well into the next morning despite the alarm clock going of like a aircraft alarm I stopped using it and forgot the method...
I use soft in ear ear defenders instead.

My standard method is to visualize a basic door-in-frame, turn the door handle, and step through to a favorite place, experienced with a fair degree of realism. This method is, technically, wrong  as it will usually put me to sleep when nothing else will...   I took a little break from it after doing insane overtime while under insane stress at an insane company -- and suddenly became convinced one catalog editing night that if I stretched my hand out behind me I would actually touch  the 'door' handle, right there in the office! Couldn't decide which would be worse -- no door handle (OMG I've lost my mind and started hallucinating!)  or  (gak!)  a door handle!
   


My other reliable method is to close my eyes and breathe slowly and deeply, until I 'see' sunlight shining down on me. Again, meditashun, ur not doin it rite,  as this also helps me sleep during insomniac binges.

If I ever embrace Buddhism, I shall be remembered as the "Sleeping Monk"... 

I can not lay down and meditate- I go to sleep-however sometimes this is the point.
As I have tinnitus I have would love to be able to turn off my ears- I do alright ignoring it and redirecting my hearing but it is never off.
I like some noise when I meditate- I know- I know but it is because of the ears. Ocean is a good sound-or running water. I can then enter my mind -- I sort of visualize what i can only term as a sea of cream of wheat cereal-- it isn't water and it isn't sand and it isn't air- it is warm and creamy and fluid (emotionally- I don't really swim in it) but neither solid,air or liquid-it is all- if I am fortunate to get deep enough in then I can either A go to sleep or B remove the rest of my thoughts to it and let go of some stress.

I also find it useful to begin making a large and detailed plan about something in my mind-it might not be what is bothering me just something and as I build on the ideas and details and make lists and draw and add to it my mind leaves the trouble issue(s) and focuses on whatever I am making and eventually i will either go to sleep or just travel a while and come back calmer.

Quote from: Agujjim on December 06, 2008, 06:51:36 PM

I have Saturday-morning cereal commercial jingles burned into my head - can hear them note-perfect after two decades.  That's enough to make me hatez teh tube.  I did watch lots of quality programming as well, but that's easily replicable with a library card these days, as larger libraries are well stocked with most of the above.

I hears ya, Sib! And guess what? Painful lyric retention doesn't fade with time- I can still hear stuff from the early 60's! Luckily, it comes in useful at times. Like when watching "Jeopardy".

I use meditation TO fall asleep, sometimes. I acknowledge the four directions and earth and sky and let it be like a bubble all around me that I can make huge to include everything, or small and snuggly. I don't know why, but it calms me. I guess I like knowing where the heck I am, as opposed to lost in thought.

It helps to remind myself that I'm part of the All, the Great Everything. And it's part of me. And so are you.

Me? I haven't got cereal jingles in my head. I've got Ren screaming about rubber nipples and not brushing his teeth* and The Simpsons theme song in my head. I suppose jingles were out of style then, since all I remember is sayings.

^{*That episode, to this day, still scares the living daylights out of me...especially the nerve ending fairy.}

My method: focus on one thing and let everything else slide past. Sort of like I'm sitting in the center of a vertical wind tunnel, and everything's going upward and releasing. It usually works, if someone has decided I'm allowed to sleep that night.




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Thanks for sharing all these methods with me... I have tried in the last few days to wait until my daughter is asleep and then sit on the couch with a candle on my coffee table... it actually seems to work!

I still have to 'fight' to keep my mind shut... but I guess this will improve in time (I hope!)

What I've been taught is 'don't fight intrusive thoughts, acknowkedge tham and let them go'. Works better for me...

Me too. For me, it's snatches of imagery. Watch 'em, but don't focus on them.