The Mental Arts Tidbit (Mar. 11)

Hateno Village

The Mental Arts Tidbit for the Day

Current Musing

One of my favorite places in Zelda, Breath of the Wild is Hateno Village. Unlike the rest of Hyrule, this place actually seems peaceful. It has a really great soundtrack, too.

I think of Hateno Village sort of a little bit like my escape from the chaotic world in Zelda. There, I can dye my armor a shade of bright pink, decorate my house with powerful weapons that I don’t want to use and subsequently break, and harass Cuccos (they give you eggs when you wack them, and are otherwise indestructible).

I’ve been learning that finding these small places of peace and grounding has been really helpful in life and training, too. For the past year, my life has essentially shrunk to the square footage of my apartment and then expanded slowly with the help of an understanding partner and a willingness/privilege to take risks so that I can still train jiu jitsu and lift. The opportunities for finding an oasis, are, admittedly small. But I try to do it anyways:

• During the mornings when I write these essays for The Mental Arts, with cold brew to my left and my cat to my right

• When I sit down to read a chapter from my rotation of books in the time after I sign off from work and before I need to run to training: The Art of War; Think, Learn, Succeed; How We Learn; Understanding the Enneagram; etc.

• When I play my other favorite game of all time — Stardew Valley — and am immersed in a world of farming and re-arranging fish tanks in my ever-expanding house

Try This Tidbit

No matter how chaotic your life may seem right now, you can find places of peace and grounding. Look for one such moment today.

PS!

I’ve been doing shorter episodes (1-5 minutes) for the podcast.

Current series: Imposter Syndrome.