two interesting psychological concepts with applications in Buddhism

Sonder: "The profound feeling of realizing that everyone, including strangers passed in the street, has a life as complex as one's own, which they are constantly living despite one's personal lack of awareness of it."

We can ignore our connections. The Amazonian rainforest burns but things are comfy in my AC regulated office. My burrito tastes the same. Good things can happen. Then we read a meme on Facebook that disturbs us. We shouldn't eat meat anymore because of the rainforest burning. How does that makes sense? There is plenty more information to distract myself with. Keep it moving.

In the neutral stage of metta meditation, without any reference to yourself, the mind goes flying off. You can only project onto the stranger.

Reactance: "is an unpleasant motivational arousal (reaction) to offers, persons, rules, or regulations that threaten or eliminate specific behavioral freedoms. Reactance occurs when a person feels that someone or something is taking away their choices or limiting the range of alternatives."

Some might feel the pull to self mortification and/or altruism as something someone told them to do. I refuse. I'm going to read Ayn Rand, work hard and retire early.

We think about people too much or inaccurately, and we think about people too little. It's hard to get the thinking just right, the balance. Self care and altruism. We avoid the extremes, seek the middle way.

"There is addiction to indulgence of sense-pleasures, which is low, coarse, the way of ordinary people, unworthy, and unprofitable; and there is addiction to self-mortification, which is painful, unworthy, and unprofitable."

I miss the old retreat center with buckets everywhere for the leaks when it rained, when I hadn't made my mistakes yet. I can only try to move forward in a positive way, do the next right thing.