Positive Stimulants
Category A
1. Nature | Openness of community
Nature is undoubtedly the biggest stimulus that keeps my dopamine levels high. I find it hard to imagine myself cooped up in one of those dense concrete edifices which utterly fail to provide free space. At this point the notion of 'creature comforts' becomes a meaningless entity.
An open community provides adequate channels and a low threshold of skills to communicate with anyone and do anything. Even as a passive recipient it effects me a lot.
2. Physical Activity
This has been my succor for years. This is probably the most voluntary and controllable tap of happiness. A long run, empty lungs and ATP deprived pulsating muscles bring in oodles of focus, attention and calm. A sedentary lifestyle comes with dollops of blue funk.
3. Freedom of Movement
A structured society becomes meaningless as soon as it restrains motion. This is why I dislike most Tier I cities in India. The lifestyle in such places dictates you to have utter unconcern for nature or space. I find the use of four-wheelers nonsensical in most situations, especially as a means of daily commute within a city. Bicycles, ride sharing and public transport are the way to go.
Category B
1. Colors | Light
Bright colors coupled with sounds used to be a strong stimulant during my initial years of isolation. My mind doesn't react as strongly to them now but I still love the contrast of colors, blinking neon lights and the imaginary sounds they make.
2. Local Communities
I learnt to appreciate their presence in Singapore and began exploring them after I left Singapore. I stopped appreciating the same once I arrived in India. I guess the driving factor for me was the element of novelty and quaintness of the community members. Local communities contain strong clues to how the course of geographic, political and historical phenomena shaped and linked individuals at a societal level. It's an interesting real-world puzzle to solve and provides ample food for thought.
3. Constant Activity
Again, I mostly benefit from it as a passive recipient. I hate crowds but love constant buzz. Stillness of dog day afternoons drives me nuts most of the time. A flurry of people and the entailing white noise provides a buffer that absorbs most of the unpleasant feelings.
Category C
1. Consumption
Not to be confused with dietary consumption or bingeing. I refer to consumption of information via various forms of media - digital media, books, movies, lectures, gossip, grapevines or eavesdropping. The best form of consumption is first hand or organic consumption - conversations with key people, travel, interviews. I love the concept of public libraries and even more so cafes where people can sit, eat and read or work in a cozy environment. I see them as an attempt to make learning more organic. When not at work, I have rarely written a piece of code sitting indoors. Most of it has been done in little, aptly-lit cafes that open till late night. I don't really like reading per se. I absorb a lot more information via pictures or sketches or a similar form of visual content. That's why I love the concept of coffee table books and Taiwanese illustrator Jimmy's books.
2. Direction of Thoughts
An environment should give a certain direction to your thought-process. A scatterbrained approach to planning a lifestyle is highly detrimental to my future prospects and motivations. I am currently going through a phase which can be described as lacking any direction at best. There are tons of ideas but no direction. It only helps in making me insecure and inactive.
3. Good Conversations
This is highly dependent on presence of local communities and openness of neighborhood. It's one of those things that I rely on when I am don't have enough access to any of the aforementioned sources.
4. Arts
Another topic that entails from presence of local communities.
Non-positive stimulants
Tradition: I am far from rebellious but for some reason I have never been able to attach myself to or relate closely to any sort of tradition. It gets my attention as an object of history or a part of cults but all my attempts to embrace it in any form have ended in futility.
Vertical Growth: I guess this is what drives the whole world nuts. This is the fountainhead of perhaps a working individual's very last rat race that spans one's youth and middle age, various organizations, and is probably not going to end anytime soon. Okay, I get the idea behind the structural flow which maintains order and keeps people motivated. I guess what the world has completely forgotten is the concept of horizontal growth. Keeping in view the wide array of things I have dabbled in in the last two years, I can say fairly confidently that I can keep learning new things and work in totally different domains and totally enjoy it. To me, this is a way richer lifestyle than proceeding vertically. As far as the feasibility of it is concerned, it's as workable as training your dog to hate your neighbor.
Crowds: Effing awful they are.
Concrete Jungles: Effing grey, dull and static they are.
Digital Profligacy: Enough has been written about the scourge of digital profligacy on various digital platforms. As an antagonist of subtlety, I hate irony being kept unattended.
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