https://notes.volumen.ca/ Updates and notes from Volūmen Sat, 27 Jun 2026 04:41:11 +0000 https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#no-grand-plan-just-steady-state no-grand-plan-just-steady-state I have thought about and diagnosed the mechanisms of weight gain and found that they are largely conditioned loops and the continuation of eating past satisfaction. I have made a simple and realistic plan that involves pre-portioning and gradual reduction of meal sizes. Fri, 26 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0000 https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#on-compounding on-compounding Compounding effects have implications that are easy to underestimate; for example, a good habit will compound, thereby improving one’s daily life, sustaining itself as an internal cycle. A lateral outcome is the diffusion of compounding, as acquired benefits spread to other aspects of life:... Wed, 24 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0000 https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#posture-and-presence posture-and-presence Observe the inner stillness of Yehudi Menuhin, one of the great violinists of the 20th century. Notice the majestic steadiness of his posture and his simple, gentle movements, each gesture commanding an exquisite wave of sound. Thu, 18 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0000 https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#back-to-linux back-to-linux I have set up a ThinkPad T540p laptop with MX Linux and am getting comfortable with my OS triad: macOS as my primary OS, MX Linux functional, and Windows on the ThinkPad T14 for office at work. It’s been nearly two decades since I last did anything on Linux, and I was delighted to find out about... Sun, 14 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0000 https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#dissolving-into-sound dissolving-into-sound Listening to Julian Lage’s video on his YouTube channel, I came to realize a subtle quality: he and his quartet are in a meditative state. It doesn’t look like they are performing, nor are they working. Thus, listening to them draws you into that restorative state in which you strip off the... Fri, 29 May 2026 12:00:00 +0000 https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#ikigai-origins-and-modern-interpretation ikigai-origins-and-modern-interpretation Ikigai, a concept from Okinawa, is believed to support the longevity and well-being of its people, who have one of the highest concentrations of centenarians in the world. Sun, 24 May 2026 12:00:00 +0000 https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#messiness messiness Life is messy, the work we do, the personal projects we undertake, hobbies, simply put, a day from dawn to dusk is messy. No undo button to easily clean up the tracks and straighten it up going forward. Then even the clearest paths will branch out and no matter how clean a path, something will... Mon, 18 May 2026 12:00:00 +0000 https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#hakuro-nishiki hakuro-nishiki Hakuro Nishiki is a variegated willow. Even someone who sees it without reading its label could guess it is a Japanese tree. With its soft and delicate form and the colour that can represent the sakura season, the tree in its pot caught our attention immediately. Now we wonder how it looks in... Mon, 18 May 2026 12:00:01 +0000 https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#uses uses When I seek guidance, I turn to books. Classical philosophy and strategy teach leadership and discipline, especially during workplace challenges. The Stoics highlight life’s fragility. Modern thought provides clarity through mindfulness practices, philosophical inquiry, science revealing hidden... Mon, 11 May 2026 12:00:00 +0000 https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#compress-work-not-life compress-work-not-life Parkinson’s law asserts that work expands to fill the time available for its completion. It also applies to how much space is allowed in one’s life for work; it is a gas that expands to occupy all the space it is given. Thus compress work and do not allow it to compress you by setting your... Fri, 08 May 2026 12:00:00 +0000 https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#recursive-ideas recursive-ideas I can’t help but notice a pattern: I seem to end up writing circular or recursive ideas. I think it’s a thinking habit, for better or worse. Recursive thinking is good at finding the hidden assumptions inside an idea, because it naturally follows a thought back to its own foundations. The risk... Fri, 08 May 2026 12:00:01 +0000 https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#buoyancy buoyancy Buoyancy is the property of a system to keep it afloat while supporting its contents. If the system becomes heavier than what it supports, the system and its contents will either collapse or become dysfunctional. Archimedes’ principle prevails in social contexts. Mon, 04 May 2026 12:00:00 +0000 https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#the-absence-of-headaches the-absence-of-headaches The absence of something that reveals the value of the opposite, that is, the presence of the opposite that brings a profound finding and that is not easily understood if it were not for this discovery. What follows explains this recursive thought. Sun, 03 May 2026 12:00:00 +0000 https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#what-absence-reveals what-absence-reveals Hidden properties of absence reveal meaning. Silence in music and negative space in drawing operate similarly. In music, a rest is not the absence of music; it is part of the composition. Rests give rhythm and timing their shape. Miles Davis is widely credited with saying, “It’s not the notes... Sun, 03 May 2026 12:00:01 +0000 https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#anxiety anxiety What smoking is to the lungs, anxiety is to the soul; thus, chronic anxiety is a form of cancer, a slow death. Control anxiety induced by external factors, and you have tackled one of the challenges of modern life. Anxiety that your mind evokes is the most challenging, though. Only the... Sat, 02 May 2026 12:00:00 +0000 https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#nagori nagori Nagori means the feeling that stays after something ends. The word comes from a term ( naminokori ) about the marks waves leave on the beach after they recede. Now, people use it to describe that soft, slightly sad feeling when something is over, but you still remember it and want to hold on to... Tue, 28 Apr 2026 12:00:00 +0000 https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#new-policies new-policies New policies create more opportunities for noise, so we need restraint to maintain what made current policies effective. Most sensible people understand this, as they’ve also realized that bureaucratic exercises often overshadow the actual work we need to accomplish. However, when we focus on... Mon, 27 Apr 2026 12:00:00 +0000 https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#zazen-posture zazen-posture Sit upright with your spine long, head floating up, chin tucked, ears over shoulders. Relax the shoulders, breathe low into the belly. Don’t lean any direction, find the still centre. Fri, 24 Apr 2026 12:00:00 +0000 https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#hidden-by-design hidden-by-design Taking it for granted is something we try not to do; however, there is a hidden quality in it that we can pursue. When that hidden-by-design quality is possessed by the products we make, they disappear into use. Let us consider friction as an example. Where it is not desired, the object should... Thu, 23 Apr 2026 12:00:00 +0000 https://notes.volumen.ca/index.html#neither-raw-nor-refined neither-raw-nor-refined Comparing a rough draft to a polished final text, we often miss the raw voice and thought process. This raw voice can help readers connect with the meaning on a deeper level. On the other hand, a refined final text distils thoughts into essential elements, which might make it harder for readers... Sat, 18 Apr 2026 12:00:00 +0000