Dez's Bootcamp Experience (BRK)

Interesting food for thoughts. I have learned things, but I don't know if there's anything I really know ... The more I find out (or learn), the more I understand how little I know ...  

POST 454 (DAY 464, Tuesday, 2021.11.16)
[Morning Entry]

…..grateful for cats.. grateful for a smoke free home.. grateful for people who go above and beyond, for integrity’s sake—I can’t help but notice when someone puts their heart into a thing simply because that’s who they are.. I can only watch in admiration.. always remember however, to put safety and wellness first, for those placed in our charge.. without safety, there’s no home; without wellness, there’s no thriving..

Inge—same for me.. i feel like survival knowledge matters.. but memorizing facts not so much.. kind of a separate topics probably—in your life experience, what matters more than knowledge? If I may ask..

I think that Knowledge is good - it allows control of situations.
Control allows you take responsibility, and allows you to improve situations.

Knowledge for knowledge's sake is just entertainment .

Providing selfless service to others and making the world a better place is what the above is good for :)

Dez Choi wrote:...
Inge—same for me.. i feel like survival knowledge matters.. but memorizing facts not so much.. kind of a separate topics probably—in your life experience, what matters more than knowledge? If I may ask..

The first thing I think of now is: to be open, open-minded in open communication with others, and open yourself, say what you have to say, and use the right words (that's the most difficult part).
That's what I learned through experience. I didn't learn it at school, not even from my parents. Too many years of my life open communication was difficult for me, which caused problems (especially in relationships).

what’s happening in that last pic? i see a blowtorch and a little bowl with…something. experimental egg-cooking?

POST 455 (DAY 465, Wednesday, 2021.11.17)
[Morning Entry]

…..grateful for cats.. grateful for grace.. grateful for examples of passion.. I never really knew what I was “passionate” about.. the idea of such an intense feeling just seemed so foreign.. somehow, even in my youth, I understood that it was all fleeting.. in more of a factual/logical stance than a gloom/doom/noir sort of way.. I was unofficially depressed as a child, so maybe that’s how I saw my passionlessness.. Seeing others around me who did have passionate expressions, put me in wonder and admiration.. how did they get the passion and I somehow did not?.. what would my passion be if I were to choose one?.. my parents even wanted me to exhibit more of this passion thing.. fascinated by this, when I went to Africa, I drank all the passion fruit juice that was available to me.. everyday, fresh juice made by our host pastor—it was a missions trip.. surely if I trained and then trekked half way across the world from California, to Uganda, I’d find some passion for myself right?!.. not yet.. i conclude that it’s not passion or fruity juice that I’m searching for.. more likely it’s my purpose, my Why.. and there are several already in my life.. one purpose for me, is to be supportive to those around me.. it’s about the only thing I can say that I’m kinda good at.. :) and that’s simple enough for this simpleton to be able to handle anyway.. maybe that’s why i like cats so much..

Wez and Inge—thank you for your beautiful words..
Greg—an experiment indeed.. perhaps you might have some insight on a modern classic?.. we’re trying to match the exquisite aesthetic of a natural flame that a candle produces, minus the consumeristic appeal of simply buying a candle from the store.. preferably vegan friendly also.. it’s a cotton ball with sunflower oil so far.. which worked quite well.. but we think we can do a little better still.. any ideas or experience in this area by chance?

ah! a candle..or really, an oil lamp. do i remember correctly that there are bees there somewhere? my first suggestion would be to just make beeswax candles, but i suppose the wax may be earmarked for health care projects? the inuit oil lamps are bowls of oil (there’s are animal fats, but plant oils obviously work) with floating wicks….i think a refinement might be a finer wick - a cotton ball makes a significant blaze, doesn’t it?