These are my Momentos, short personal diary entries I write daily – since 2013 – and publish monthly. Some links are affiliate links.
1
Being right doesn’t matter so much if you’re an asshole about it. Sometimes I get valid feedback from people but it’s wrapped up in insults or tactlessness. Very hard to take it on board in those situations.
2
Switched to using DuckDuckGo as my default search engine. Google annoys me with their camouflaged ads. Actually, DDG ain’t much better in that respect, but I’d rather support the little guy than the big company that seems to give less of a shit every year.
3
On my walk each morning, I’ll sometimes see women at the construction site, buckets on their heads. I’ll sometimes see people gathered in prayer. I’ll usually see the same dog asleep in the road. I’ll often see folks driving into sunshine with no sunglasses.
4
Can’t remember the last time I was in a cafe and just chilled out. Usually I’m with laptop, getting shit done. Had an hour to kill so we ended up here. Forgot how nice it is to sit and do nothing for a while, sipping something watermelony.
5
The median salary here in Indonesia is about $1100 per month. You could live in Bali much cheaper than that if you wanted, still with plenty of comfort. Had a fleeting fantasy today about staying here long-term and being content with less. But that’s not the life for me.
6
There’s a guy I see in the cafe almost every day. We’ve never spoken. He doesn’t make eye contact. An artist. A good one. Sometimes we sit right by each other. I see his drawings. But we share no words. We’ll probably never speak. And that’s okay.
7
We’re getting frequent thunderstorms now, deep in the rainy season. One minute you’re listening to birdsong, the next to pelting rain, usually accompanied by thunder and lightning. Drove to they gym in the downpour today, dodging flash floods and careless drivers.
8
A passing comment that you laugh off can come back to haunt you. That guy today, those few short words, eating away at me later. I want to label him a dick and move on, but there’s more to it than that, a truth there somewhere. It wouldn’t bother me so much otherwise.
9
Been three years together now. Much has changed. Feels like there’s a lot more purpose in my life since we met. Not like I was unhappy before, but looking back it feels like I was wandering, waiting. Seems like a different person, me back then.
10
I like to believe that if you work hard and honest and have good intentions, you’ll eventually be rewarded. I like to believe that, but I know it’s a fantasy. The world is far too messy for truth and fairness to always win out.
11
Diving deep on Sam Ovens. I’ve been aware of him since 2012, have some sober friends who swear by his training. But the usual cries of scammer are out there. I’m wading in with an open mind, trying to find the few facts in the opinion haystacks.
12
Almost ten hours going through course material today, checking things, taking copious notes. Time flew by. Need to do more research and reviews, less of the other stuff. This is where I find my flow. And in the long run, it’s good for business.
13
Going to cut back on the interviews. I love them, but they cost money to produce and generate zero income. The same resources can be better spent elsewhere. Taking Stephen King’s advice, killing my darlings.
14
Trip down to the visa office to extend. Last time we’ll do that. And tomorrow our last rent payment is due. Things are starting to wind down for us in Bali. I’ve enjoyed the months here, but I’m ready to move on. Everything has its time.
15
Halon’s razor: never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity. Better yet, never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by a lack of awareness or understanding. This is key for relationships methinks.
16
About seven years now since I started writing these, never missed a day. The oldest aren’t online anymore, but I have them archived for myself. Same day six years ago I was on a cargo ship leaving Japan. Five years ago I was in the midst of Mardi Gras.
17
The content of this course is solid. But to get the good stuff you have to look beyond the inflated ego, the false claims of originality, the quantum physics waffle. Maybe that’s the baggage you collect when you go from $0 to $20 million in four years.
18
I’m stood outside a drum shop, wearing a bright green poncho, waiting for the rain to ease off. Got caught in it for twenty seconds on the scooter before finding shelter. My socks and shorts are soaked and I’m supposed to lead a group call in half an hour.
19
My ears say I’m sitting in an English garden, waiting for the sun. My eyes see the first rays, but I’m walking down an empty street in Ubud. The quiet is due to it being the first day of Galungan, waiting for ancestral spirits to pay us a visit.
20
Ended up with more than 500 pages of notes for Sam Ovens, going through his course and researching a bunch of stuff. That was the easy part. Now to craft the raw material into something worth reading. The road to done runs through chaos.
21
Babylon was once the world’s biggest city, the biggest there had ever been. It contained great wealth and one of the seven ancient wonders. But there’s little left of it now, barely enough for a tourist attraction. Everything comes and everything goes.
22
Met him in Salvador six years ago. Friend of a friend, let me crash at his place a couple nights. He invited a stranded stranger to crash as well. He was that kind of guy. The world was better with him in it. But everything comes and everything goes.
23
Morning trip out of Ubud, scooting past penjors and rice fields. Bit of a trek to get to our favorite waterfall, along a rough jungle path. We have it all to ourselves for a couple of hours. Picnic breakfast, speckles of sunshine, a glimpse of wild monkeys.
24
Spent almost twice as much time writing today as I spent sleeping last night. Gave myself a deadline to have both articles finished by the end of the month, so it’ll be a hectic few days. It’s strange, but I don’t think there’s anything else I’d rather be doing.
25
Traffic to my site is down about 25% this Jan/Feb compared to last. Meanwhile, site earnings have increased 15x. Chalk another one up for quality over quantity. Less people are coming to my site overall, but more and more they’re the right kind of people.
26
I’d like to do more video, but tough to do with my current setup. Shooting with my iPhone in temporary accommodation, editing on my laptop… far from ideal. I’ll focus on written content this year, get back into video next year. Should be more settled by then.
27
Writing reviews can be tough. For a course like this, which is mostly good but has some notable issues, I have to be careful to not let the criticisms overwhelm the praise. Somehow I find it easier to write at length about the former.
28
Read a book years ago with a great title: I Think You’ll Find It’s a Bit More Complicated Than That. Whenever someone makes a black or white claim or judgment, if you take the time to you look into properly, it almost always turns out to be more complicated than that.
29
Wrote and edited 19,000 words in the past six days and processed 237 images. It’s surely excessive – can’t imagine I’ll get much of an ROI on this content anytime soon, if ever – but I’ve enjoyed the work and will be proud to push publish.