LegendaryLife Blog

I find the more I progress in life, the more knowledge and passions I accumulate in it. I completely by far the most ambitious book I ever did about 6 months ago and after countless rewrites, edits and getting all that stuff out of my head… I’ve acquired the writing bug again.

It’s hard to describe, try to imagine growing a tree within a small greenhouse. Each day, it grows a little taller, stronger and begins to expand to fill its enclosed environment. Sure, you can prune the tree, give it less water and do other things to slow its growth down but it doesn’t take away from the fact that the tree is still there, slowly expanding and filling the empty space within the greenhouse. Eventually, one way or another, the tree becomes tall, strong and dense enough that it begins to exert increasing pressure on the greenhouse. Slowly but surely, the pressure builds then, all of a sudden, a panel pops, followed by a few more… until the greenhouse can no longer maintain its form, haven been conquered by what began as a small, inconspicuous seed.

I began on a sequel to my original science fiction story after I finished the first but then needed a mental break… focusing on WoodMarvels.com instead to satisfy my desire to “create” but much like the Ying/Yang Chinese symbol of balance and unity, I’m starting to produce a little too much Ying (design) and an adjustment is needed in the Yang (writing).

I learned a TREMENDOUS amount writing my first novel, so much so… that it gives me the urge to apply it, learning from my mistakes and doing something even more unfathomable. Bigger, Better and Uncut. I have this movie in my head that keeps replying, each time, with a little more detail, ideas all the more fleshed-out and if you read the book… a few major plot lines that need to be closed with others created.

Although writing and design may seem like world’s apart, they are actually very similar. In design, you start with an idea… and with time and passion, transform it into a real product. Writing is the same way except the only limitation is your own creative thinking… unlike design where it’s still limited by the tools you have at hand.

The amount of time required for a book is tremendous compared to the design of a product, but the sense of accomplishment grows in proportion as well. I really enjoy design and I see one field of endeavor helping the other. My ability to design improved dramatically as writing exercised my mental muscles in a different direction than how it was use to working.

So many passions, so little time. The story of my life

One of the cooler things I did when I was younger, not that I’m that old… was to get my scuba diving license. Though I haven’t enjoyed scuba diving for a very very long time, the thrill of simply being able to breath under water never left me. What I also remember was how cool the cylinder looked, it wasn’t welded, but formed from a solid piece of Aluminium which to me, was always a mystery. I knew that this meal was malleable but after seeing this video, my interest and long-standing questioning was resolved. This is how they made them scuba tanks!

This video also explains why those tanks are so darn heavy too!

Video showing the making of a scuba tank

As my plan is to live well over a hundred years by following a very healthy lifestyle full of whole foods, vigorous exercise and lots of mental activities, I found this Ted talk by Dan Buettner rather interesting. Here is the embeded video followed by a summary of the talk’s key points. If you wish, you can read more about Dan here.

Lecture’s key points:

• based off the studies of twin lifespans, it’s been calculated that less than 10% of our longevity is based directly off our genes with 90% being dictated by our lifestyle.
• there is a lot of confusion regarding optimal health and lifestyle choices
• a team of experts visited and studied extensively the lifestyle of populations known to live a long, healthy life with few health complications. These four areas are known as blue zones and include Costa Rica, Okinawa, Sardinia and California
• longevity myth #1: you can’t wish yourself to live longer, no matter how hard you try because we are built to multiply, not live long. Your chances of living to 100 are 1 in 5 000 currently within America.
• longevity myth #2: treatments exist that can slow aging. Our bodies have 35 trillion cells… there is simply too much we don’t understand and that can go wrong to possibly know what works and what doesn’t. These cells are completely replaced every 8 years and each time, genetic and cellular damage occurs which builds up exponentially.
• a 65 year old senior ages 125x faster than a 12 year old child
• the capacity of the human body to sustain your life is about 90 years, slightly longer for woman

• in the highlands of Sardinia, there is a place where old age is a given, with 10x more centenarians than in America! They are also healthy, working and enjoying a vigorous lifestyle. Here, men live older than woman.
• diet consists mostly of plant based and whole foods made and found locally using naturally sourced products high in Omega-3 fatty acids
• they are mostly shepards, so they enjoy an active lifestyle throughout their lives
• they enjoy wine which has 3x the amount of polyphenols than any other type in the world (this is a strong anti-oxidant)
• the older you get, the more wisdom and acceptance you get within the social structure of the Sardinian society
• on the island of Okinawa, in the northern part of the island, the oldest female population can be found
• here they live a long time, die quickly with little health problems in between
• 5x the number of centenarians with a fifth of the cancer compared to America
• they have a mostly plant based diet that consists of smaller calorie dense foods – they stop eating once their stomach is 80% full
• isolation is known to shorten lifespan, so the Okinawans have a system in which they develop lifelong friendships
• American’s have adopted a lifestyle that can be divided into two categories, work and retirement but in Okinawa, there is no word for retirement. They simply live by a motto which means “the reason you wake-up in the morning is ___”
• in America, it’s the 7th Day Adventists found in California which live the longest, the study that the numbers come from tracked 70 000 people for 30 years
• they don’t eat a lot of meat, for 24 hours a week they stop everything and focus onto their social being and doing nature walks

• things that all these “high longevity cultures” have in common
• they all do daily physical activity that isn’t overly strenuous on their body or joints
• they have the right outlook on life and a purpose that drives them on a daily basis, they purposefully slow their lives down to deal with built-up stress
• they all take some “time off” to reflect or to relax on a very regular basis
• they eat food based on what is found around them and it forms the majority of their diet
• they eat mostly plant based foods, a little wine and rarely till they are absolutely full
• they put their families and relatives first in their lives and have strong social contacts
• longevity has no short term fix

The Bottom Line

A long, healthy life is a choice that involves incremental and small proactive steps through ones life.

I was watching a video showcasing an up-and-coming Anthony Robbin’es prodigy and over the course of 45 minutes, he kept repeating one key phrase. “It’s not your fault.”

Importance of personal responsibility

I fully realize that people like to hear that it isn’t their fault that they threw their lives away, allowed their body to get so out of shape that they suffer from chronic disease or were lied to by the marketing elite but let’s be honest… nobody cares as much about yourself as YOU and giving other power over your lifestyle, no matter the intent, is just a very bad idea!

For instance, we all know that alcohol is BAD for your body, no matter the amount but people still enjoy (?) getting wasted and pursuing other unhealthy habits. When the consequences come to the light, it’s always nice to blame others for your circumstances but the buck must always stop at yourself. You are the boss of your body, life and ultimately, what you leave behind… nobody else.

Why “it’s not your fault” sells

There is a lot in life that really is not our fault, genetically speaking but I believe we are all on an equal playing field (more or less) when it comes to finding ultimate happiness given what we have. Sure, being born in a 1st world country is an extreme privilege brought about by random chance and life is much easier when your parents are gazillionaires but given what you have in life, it’s up to you to make the most of it. I believe telling somebody “it’s not your fault” when in all actuality, their decisions in life are what lead them to the circumstances they are stuck in doesn’t do them a favor as they are not given the opportunity to learn from their mistakes. If you can’t see what you did wrong in the past, how can you change your lifestyle so it doesn’t happen again?

The importance of self-study

I try on almost a weekly basis to try to improve my life, how ever minimal, in one way or another. Whether this is tweeking an exercise regimen, replacing things in my diet or planning my next adventure… the importance of studying what you did in the past and improving upon it should only end once you are 6ft under. An active brain with a capable body, however you wish to define them, can do incredible things when given the right drive, ambition and passion. If you have hobbies that are detrimental to your life, replace them with good ones, if you have friends who waste your time, show them the door. I believe life should be about exploration and learning… and things that prevent you from getting the most out of these experienced need to be weened away.

The Bottom Line

Some things are really not your fault, but most of the things that are can be traced back through earlier decisions that were detrimental to your goals in life.

I saw this video yesterday about what happens to male chickens (chicks) in the poultry industry as was thoroughly surprised to say the least. I had *assumed* (a very bad word and set of ideas) that, like cows and other animals, they were fattened-up for slaughter like their female counterparts. It still isn’t pretty, but this is how our food supply is grown. Nope, these baby male chicks, a few minutes after being “hatched” by a machine get their beaks cut and then are ground-up alive.

Does this video convince me to become a Vegan or Vegetarian? Nope, but I can’t say I eat much chicken anyhow as, although healthy, it just doesn’t taste good in my opinion. Salmon or tuna are far healthier in every way than chicken.

At least the females get to live right? Well, give this video to watch their fate. I’m not sure if it’s much better then that of male chickens. If I had a choice, I would ask to be born as a male chicken to be honest.

Symptom of a larger problem

Alright, that was disturbing wasn’t it! Well, this is nothing compared to what humans are doing on a daily basis across various fields, from open pit mining activities to the incredible waste involved with clear cutting entire forests or deep ocean trawling. The reason why our species has done so well on Earth is because we are very good at controlling information (preventing others from seeing the truth), gathering once a resource is found (exploiting it with little regard as to the consequences that may happen to others) and continuing this myth regarding the importance of ourselves above all other creatures.

We have a serious Napolean complex, species wide, when it comes to the rest of the natural world. I sure hope that if aliens ever come to visit us, they don’t treat us the same way we treated Earth or its other living citizens.

What is the solution?

I think videos like this, and there are no lack of them relating to just about every intensive industry out there, should be used as a warning. I don’t believe in God nor any type of higher being but I do believe that what you sow, you will reap. As such, treating life no different than if it was a rock has and will catch-up to us big time in the future. What can we do to solve this situation? I think the first is a return to community based farming practices. For instance, it makes no sense why eggs need to be shipped all around the country (or world for that matter)… setting-up small regional co-ops for plant and other nutritional requirements needs to go away from this industrial scale enterprise back into small ones where children can learn about the food they eat and the real work involved with traditional farming.

I have no problem eating chicken or other animals, I am not nor will I ever become a vegetarian, but this senseless, unnecessary cruelty we are so well at perpetrating really needs to stop.

Humans are worse!

Considering the trillions of dollars spent every year on technologies that are dedicated towards the destruction and killing of other people (the military), humans may treat other animals badly but we also invest in the capabilities of spreading this ability onto others of our own race! I don’t know of any other animal that, on a daily basis, tries to develop weapons that will more “easily” kill another of its species. Nature is cruel, but because of our evolved consciousness, instead of trying to reduce the amount happening around us, we seem hell-bent on bringing it up to a whole new level due to insecurities, failures and unfounded fears.

The Bottom Line

When humans lose touch with nature, industrial farming practices are able to thrive.