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I do meditate and it, like most things, has SOME beneficial effect, but not near enough and not near as much as the label on the tin says in my experience. No

I do meditate and it, like most things, has SOME beneficial effect, but not near enough and not near as much as the label on the tin says in my experience. No access to psychonaut stuff but I'd try in the right conditions with someone I could count on. I have drafted the "last ditch Ask HN for ideas" post but not sure when to post it. I know if it goes badly or is ignored outright it will really affect me and bring me down hard. I am so far beyond mind game stuff being able to help...I need Maslows bottom rungs stabilized before I can do the rest...people always expect you to do it backwards.

nkoren 9y ago
> I am so far beyond mind game stuff being able to help...I need Maslows bottom rungs stabilized before I can do the rest...people always expect you to do it backwards. Oh yeah, I definitely appreciate that self-actualisation can't happen without the lower tiers being stabilised. That's not what I'm saying; all I'm suggesting is that mindset counts for a lot. I'll going to try be delicate about this because I don't want to come off as victim-blaming: I completely understand that the circumstance you're in isn't your fault, and the right mindset won't make opportunities for getting out of your situation magically appear. But the wrong mindset can without a doubt blind you to legitimate opportunities that might exist. This is why I recommend working on it. As a rather concrete example: -- going to have to redact some details here for confidentiality reasons -- I recently hired someone for part-time work, whose situation resembles yours in a number of respects, including long-term unemployment. I was not able to pay for full-time work or at market rates, but our new employee is still earning a meaningful multiple of what they were getting on benefits, so it's a solid step up. I can see how the role they've taken might, at some companies, be tedious -- but the way we do things, it's an intellectually stimulating, self-directed, remote-work, set-your-own-hours-and-pace sort of job. So far this new employee is loving it. I have high hopes that it'll help them get that bottom tier of the pyramid firmed up. In fact it's a job that I'm absolutely certain you would have the ability to do, and would even enjoy -- but the superficial job description is one that I've already seen you explicitly rule out as "soul killing". And probably at 90% of companies, you'd be right. At the other 10%, you'd be wrong. But that all-important 10% won't be available to you if you block yourself from seeing it. In order for any opportunities to be available to you, they must both objectively exist and be subjectively perceived by you. For the former: yes, I have no doubt that such opportunities are few and far between, but given your obvious intellectual abilities, I know that they exist. I have more concerns for the latter, hence my recommendation that you interrogate your assumptions and your perceptions. Anyhow, I've banged on about this enough, and hope you take my criticism in the constructive spirit it is intended! I would sincerely like to see things work out for you.

nkoren 9y ago

> I am so far beyond mind game stuff being able to help...I need Maslows bottom rungs stabilized before I can do the rest...people always expect you to do it backwards. Oh yeah, I definitely appreciate that self-actualisation can't happen without the lower tiers being stabilised. That's not what I'm saying; all I'm suggesting is that mindset counts for a lot. I'll going to try be delicate about this because I don't want to come off as victim-blaming: I completely understand that the circumstance you're in isn't your fault, and the right mindset won't make opportunities for getting out of your situation magically appear. But the wrong mindset can without a doubt blind you to legitimate opportunities that might exist. This is why I recommend working on it. As a rather concrete example: -- going to have to redact some details here for confidentiality reasons -- I recently hired someone for part-time work, whose situation resembles yours in a number of respects, including long-term unemployment. I was not able to pay for full-time work or at market rates, but our new employee is still earning a meaningful multiple of what they were getting on benefits, so it's a solid step up. I can see how the role they've taken might, at some companies, be tedious -- but the way we do things, it's an intellectually stimulating, self-directed, remote-work, set-your-own-hours-and-pace sort of job. So far this new employee is loving it. I have high hopes that it'll help them get that bottom tier of the pyramid firmed up. In fact it's a job that I'm absolutely certain you would have the ability to do, and would even enjoy -- but the superficial job description is one that I've already seen you explicitly rule out as "soul killing". And probably at 90% of companies, you'd be right. At the other 10%, you'd be wrong. But that all-important 10% won't be available to you if you block yourself from seeing it. In order for any opportunities to be available to you, they must both objectively exist and be subjectively perceived by you. For the former: yes, I have no doubt that such opportunities are few and far between, but given your obvious intellectual abilities, I know that they exist. I have more concerns for the latter, hence my recommendation that you interrogate your assumptions and your perceptions. Anyhow, I've banged on about this enough, and hope you take my criticism in the constructive spirit it is intended! I would sincerely like to see things work out for you.