#clear-minded chronicles

As my literary guinea pig experiment for Canongate Books draws to a close, the days begin to merge into one thanks to the addition of alcohol. But I have an excuse, as alcohol is mentioned by Edward Slingerland as one possible path to 'wu-wei' and 'de' when considering the perspective of Zhuangzi, our final philosopher (and a Daoist). p.s. if you're in the US, you can tune into my interview with Gregory Berg at Radio Enso tonight (Monday, June 23rd) at 6 p.m. Pacific/9 Eastern: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/radioenso/2014/06/24/radio-enso-131-with-milo-mclaughlin-of-clear-minded-creative Support this podcast at Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/milomc

In the penultimate podcast about applying ancient Chinese philosophy to modern life (via Edward Slingerland's book Trying Not to Try) I report back on my attempts to be free of "artificial" desires on Day 3 and then how I cultivated my moral sprouts on Day 4. Please support this podcast and my other creative work at Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/milomc

On Day 3 of my experiment I turn to the Daodejing (or Tao Te Ching), also known as 'The Laozi' after 'The Old Master' who it is attributed to. The book is apparently the 2nd most translated in history, after the Christian Bible. It is also believed to have been a big influence on the 1960s counterculture movement with its message of 'undoing' and going back to nature. After an unfortunate incident caused by my Confucian activities on day 2, I try to come up with a couple of gentle ways of applying its teachings. Support this podcast on Patreon and get extra episodes: http://www.patreon.com/milomc

Yesterday was Day 2 of my literary guinea pig experiment for Canongate Books. This podcast was recorded in two sittings, hence a rather obvious edit in the middle. On Day 2 I tried to take on some of the lessons found in the Analects of Confucius, as explained by Edward Slingerland, which got me doing yoga and running again after a long break. Relevant article: some practices I've found helpful in lieu of the prescriptive religious rituals of Confucius' time: http://www.clearmindedcreative.com/8-daily-habits-that-will-help-you-refresh-your-mindset/ Please help support this podcast by pledging a small amount at Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/milomc (Note: all episodes this week will be available to everyone publicly - from July onwards most will be exclusive to patrons).

I begin my week of being a 'Literary Guinea Pig' for Canongate Books by getting to grips with the tricky concept of 'Trying Not to Try', a paradox that even Chinese philosophers throughout the centuries have not quite managed to solve. Tomorrow I begin my attempts to apply the Confucion approach of developing 'Wu Wei' and 'De'. More info at Canongate's blog: http://www.canongate.tv/discover/nudge-your-world-trying-not-to-try/ Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's TED talk on the concept of 'Flow': http://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow Support this podcast and my work by becoming a patron (and get extra episodes): http://www.patreon.com/miloc

In a mind-bending Marvel-style micro-podcast crossover episode, I'm guesting on Michael Nobbs' One Thing Today Podcast and he's guesting on the Clear-Minded Chronicles (yes, it's the same conversation but with two different intros!) You can find Michael at Sustainably Creative: http://www.sustainablycreative.com/ Please support this podcast (and get bonus episodes) by becoming a Patron! http://www.patreon.com/milomc Here's Adam and Joe's footie song: https://soundcloud.com/adam-buxton/the-footie-song-world-cup-edition Photo courtesy of Fabian Kruse http://www.friendlyanarchist.com/pieces-of-oslo/

This episode isn't about being a sycophant - instead I talk about the problems with a platform called Flattr which is aimed to help creators earn micro-payments online. My profile at Flattr.com: https://flattr.com/profile/milomc for info (but please don't Flattr me - I've got a better offer coming soon!)