site banner
PaperclipPerfector  18hr ago (text post)   377 thread views

Wellness Wednesday for April 1, 2026

The Wednesday Wellness threads are meant to encourage users to ask for and provide advice and motivation to improve their lives. It isn't intended as a 'containment thread' and any content which could go here could instead be posted in its own thread. You could post:

  • Requests for advice and / or encouragement. On basically any topic and for any scale of problem.

  • Updates to let us know how you are doing. This provides valuable feedback on past advice / encouragement and will hopefully make people feel a little more motivated to follow through. If you want to be reminded to post your update, see the post titled 'update reminders', below.

  • Advice. This can be in response to a request for advice or just something that you think could be generally useful for many people here.

  • Encouragement. Probably best directed at specific users, but if you feel like just encouraging people in general I don't think anyone is going to object. I don't think I really need to say this, but just to be clear; encouragement should have a generally positive tone and not shame people (if people feel that shame might be an effective tool for motivating people, please discuss this so we can form a group consensus on how to use it rather than just trying it).

Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

New year's resolutions check-in:

  • Posted my eighth blog post of the year on Sunday, a review of the worst book I read last year, Nell Zink's Doxology. Expanded from a comment I posted here.
  • Went to the gym three times last week. Came down with a cold on Sunday which I'm only just getting over, so haven't been to the gym yet this week. Can deadlift 1.8x my bodyweight for 3 reps, squat 1.05x for 8 reps and bench press .85x for 6 reps.
  • Have not consumed any pornography since waking up on January 1st.

How goes it, @thejdizzler, @birb_cromble, @falling-star, @Tollund_Man4 and @self_made_human? (For the latter – any progress on that task you were completing for me?)

  1. Work: Need to get some projects off my plate, as I feel like I'm juggling too many balls right now. Still on track to graduate next May, if not sooner.
  2. Fitness: 11 hours last week again. Amazing workout again this morning: 40 min tempo at 5:40 pace, which is around 15-20 sec/mile faster than my planned Boston pace! Nearly bonked at the end, which means that I'm not fueling as well as I could be.
  3. Intellectual Stuff: Pacific trilogy is done, and working on finishing Italian book. After this is done I'll be working through Game of Thrones (in Spanish) and trying to finish Indigenous continent. Also starting After Virtue by MacIntyre for philosophy book club, which should make for some good discussion.
  4. Finances: Over spending targets last month by about $220, but still had a 7% savings rate because it was an excellent month for dividends. First part of parents' transfer(120k) came through and I liquidated it a few days ago and am keeping it in a 3.5% MM fund until I decide what to do with it. Have already put ~8k of it into my IRA. This coming month expenses should be under 3.2k, even if I do end up signing up for a 70.3 in Madison in September.
  5. Dating: Had a date with the Saudi girl on Saturday, which was fun for about 2 hours, but not so much for the other 3! Will not be seeing her again.
  6. Tarot: No session this week.
  7. Socializing: Went back to Spanish happy hour and silent book club this week. Also stopped by a furry convention in downtown Baltimore and had a good laugh.
  8. Screen time: 1.2 hours again.
  9. Mental health: think anxiety is probably screen time and nutrition related! The anxiety is often accompanied by hunger. Will continue to observe and hopefully get to the bottom of this.

Had a date with the Saudi girl on Saturday, which was fun for about 2 hours, but not so much for the other 3!

So you enjoyed the first two hours, then stuck around for three hours even though you were no longer enjoying yourself?

We went to an art activity (really fun) and then dinner (not as fun) and then I walked her home. Art activity was 2 hours, we had an hour before dinner reservation, then dinner was like 80 min, then walked her home.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats