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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   508 thread views

Wellness Wednesday for September 2, 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).

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New Year's resolution check-in:

  • I realise that, for the last few weeks, I've been neglecting to include updates on my resolution to post at least twenty-six blog posts this year. Fear not: I haven't been slacking. In August I published two posts about the Jason Arday scandal, both of which I cross-posted here. I posted an article this afternoon, expanded from this post.
  • Went to the gym three times last week and again on Monday evening. My lower back isn't fully healed and I have a big event coming up in two weeks so I'm not taking any chances with squats or deadlifts: just bench press, pullups and cardio until the week beginning the twenty-first. I can deadlift 1.82x my bodyweight, squat 1.33x and bench press 0.77x.
  • Have not consumed any pornography since waking up on January 1st.

How goes it @self_made_human, @thejdizzler, @birb_cromble, @ThomasdelVasto and @falling-star?

  1. Work: Nothing new to report.
  2. Fitness. Another week another 65 miles. Did a silly ultra marathon here in Baltimore this past weekend, but dropped out at 23 miles or so. Hours: 8.6 running, 1 swimming.
  3. Intellectual stuff: Four blog posts last month and over 30 hours of Spanish immersion! This month I want to focus on kicking my scrolling habit, so will be less strict about what language I'm reading in, but want to get the total amount of reading up. Currently working on Lenin (he is not a good thinker, I see where woke get it from), Why the West Rules and developmental biology book in Spanish.
  4. Finances: Below 4k (barely) for August, which was pretty bad (-7% savings rate). This month should be better, but I have a lot of extra expenses (Boston Marathon, Spanish lessons, etc.) so will need to watch my spending still despite paying ~$550 less in rent.
  5. Dating. Third date went really well, but need to escalate things from just kissing. Will see her again after I get back from Boston this weekend. Really want to completely quit porn and masturbation and I think this potential relationship is giving the motivation to actually do so, as I've only masturbated one time since last week.
  6. Tarot. No session this week.
  7. Socializing: Went to Philly with my roommate, social for guaranteed income club.
  8. Screen time: 1.4 hours. Too much scrolling.
  9. Meditation: 5 minutes 3x last week. Would like to make this more of a priority.

guaranteed income club

The what now?

I'm part of UBI pilot scheme that my friend Alex runs in Baltimore. The idea is that you donate 7% of your income and then you get the average donation out. So I earn $4k a month, and contribute $280 or so for example. If the average contribution is more than 280 I get some money and if it's below I give. When the program started I was receiving small amounts of money, and now I'm giving about $50/month.

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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.


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