littlethrowaway

Wow, this is absolutely fabulous. Thank you very much for making it. Extremely simple to use. Just really well done.

Skype call credit can certainly help you out when calling home from overseas!

I'm sorry to hear that - and I hope you're doing fine now. I really didn't have any "bad" experience like that (mania is awesome fun ;)), of course, the downside was depression followed by years of medication. They make such a deal about it being a "bad idea to leave midway through" ... I'm glad your teacher said you should (although even then, they're really ejecting you in what must be a pretty vulnerable situation). Anyway, hope you're doing fine now.

No, they certainly shouldn't... for various reasons I did a vipassana 10 day silent retreat back in 2010, and, ended up triggering a bipolar episode[0]. No, there was no history of that in my family, it was a complete surprise.

This obviously doesn't happen to everyone doing it, but, while my blog is very much buried now, I still get yearly mails from people saying that the same thing happened to them..

[0]. http://livingvipassana.blogspot.com/2010/02/bipolar-chronicl...

Is shoots and ladders the same as "snakes and ladders" ? https://www.amazon.com/HASBRO-GAMING-Chutes-Ladders-Board/dp... is what you're talking about?

I do not recommend vipassana unless you've done a _lot_ of meditation before. 10 days of complete silence is a massive strain. I did it, based on little more than a recommendation like this, and had a bipolar episode (no history of bipolar or serious mental illness before). My story [0]

[0]. http://livingvipassana.blogspot.com/2010/02/bipolar-chronicl...

I was in Christchurch New Zealand in September 2006 when we experienced a meteorite. http://meteorite-identification.com/mwnews/09122006.htm . Extremely loud, sounded like a truck had fallen over!

Heh, I have seen professionals, one literally said "I don't know why you're coming to see me!" ;)

What I'm curious about: Are you suggesting that it is childhood trauma that will trigger a bipolar episode (rather than the 10 days of silent meditation 10 days in a row!)

If "everyone" has childhood trauma, why don't we see a higher incidence of bipolar disorder in the population?

It was a long time ago now, 11 years or something. I think I was probably fairly happy, but, maybe at a little bit of a loose end.

The main reason I went on it was because doing a meditation retreat was suggested at a leadership seminar I went to! I was keeping a blog and I thought it would be "interesting" to go on the course. I was right about that ;)

Sorry for the late reply. I'd never had a bipolar experience before the retreat. It is my firm opinion that 10 days of a complete silent retreat was too much stress and triggered it.

Heh, a very similar thing happened to me actually, and while I agree about the fist-fight comment, I honestly didn't have any childhood trauma. Came from a loving, pretty privileged family, but I still went off the rails with a 10 day silent retreat!

It's extremely easy to dismiss people like this, but, have a care, there are real people on the other end of your dismissive comments.

Ha! I thought it might have been vipassana. My own experience of this (a 10 day silent retreat, not having done meditation before) was a full blown manic-psychotic experience (never having had any such thing before, nor in family history). If you're interested, I made some audio files [0] talking about what happened.

I honestly think it's _insane_ that they (vipassana) will take regular people who haven't done meditation and allow them to do a 10 day silent retreat. I honestly think it's like taking a regular person and allowing them to go down a grade 4 or 5 river. They might make it, but they might get seriously hurt too.

I actually raised this point with the local (New Zealand) health and disability ombudsman. I said that vipassana ought to have a psychologist to assess people as they left, or at least _something_ like that. Nothing changed as far as I am aware.

I hope the author continues to get better. It was a long journey for me.

[0]. http://livingvipassana.blogspot.com/2010/02/bipolar-chronicl...

First time I came across this one was when it was linked from theuselessweb [1]. My favourite is still https://hooooooooo.com/ (needs sound)

[1] https://theuselessweb.com/

Great question, and I'm looking forward to hearing the answers. Off the top of my head if you _really_ wanted to do it, then, probably both you and your partner getting an electric cargo bike and some kind of trailer [1] would be the way to go.

That said, if you're having to buy 300L of bagged sand _every week_ then no, it doesn't seem like a particularly fun time and frankly I'd stick with a car.

[1]. https://www.bikesatwork.com/bike-trailers

So, why are people getting upset about this then? If you can simply just _not use snaps_?

We have a 15 month old. She is probably the easiest kid imaginable, sleeps really well, eats really well, great temperament. It's still ridiculously hard work. My partner still isn't recovered from the birthing process (some latent muscle imbalances came out). She wants another one, I'm happy to stick with one healthy one. So incredibly hard to know what to do when _most_ stories you hear are about how it's better to have two than one.

If anyone has some research which says only children are totally fine I'd love to read it (even if just to confirm what I'd like to hear ;) heh.

We are happy we have her, mostly, but our old life was kick ass too. If you're not reasonably sure you want kids, just read some of these comments, you really should expect to (somewhat) leave your old life behind and enter a new stage, where looking after the new human is the top priority.

I still get out biking, playing squash, bike a bit, life definitely goes on, but it's definitely a rewarding sacrifice.

I've been trying to understand why I would use WebComponents over vue/react. Like, if you're going to use a layer on top of WebComponents, why not use something like Vue anyway. Their single file components allow you to compose your templates together <my-widget>Some slot content</my-widget> etc..

I'm struggling to see the use of Web Components. And how easily it's going to be to compose WebComponents in with your custom frameworks' components, I wonder how easy that is going to be (e.g. passing props down to a web component).

It seems that you'll still be better off just picking a framework for the next wee while anyway.

Still, I'll look forward to your updated article ;)

Yip, basically totally new to practicing meditation. Utterly naive ;) I actually think it should be a requirement that you undergo a 1 3 or 5 day course first, before they allow you onto a 10 day. Unfortunately, you have to do the 10 day first, before they'll let you do a shorter course.

I did give the organisation this feedback, but, I don't imagine any changes were made.

I also think they should have a trained psychologist to assess people when they're leaving (I would have been picked up as unwell I think as I was definitely manic when I left). Hey ho.

TLDR: I had a manic psychotic (bipolar) episode triggered on a vipassana course. This was with zero history of mental illness (before or after)

Be quite careful with Vipassana, especially if you're not used to regular meditation. It's not just a "silent" retreat in the sense of not talking. Also, no eye contact, no reading/writing and meditating 10 hours a day. It's a seriously stressful time for your brain.

I did the course, and I had a manic psychotic episode as a direct result. I made some audio and put it on a blog I started while manic [1]. It details what the course was like, what it was like to be manic (totally awesome! ;), what it was like to be depressed (absolutely awful) and getting better.

I'm not saying don't do the course, I'm not saying I didn't do something wrong with the technique, I am saying be very very careful and don't think there can't be downsides. I was off work for a year and it took about 3 years before I felt "normal" again.

[1] http://livingvipassana.blogspot.com/

I have just started working as a freelancer / contractor. It's a pretty nice deal working for a client whom I used to work for when I was in a consultancy.

Anyway, while I'm sure you-are-not-a-lawyer, if you have any advice regarding what to put in a contract I'd be keen to hear it.

The bit I'm most concerned about is the fact that it's a pretty legacy codebase, and there are almost certainly vulnerabilities I'm not aware of. At the moment I have a loosely worded (and accepted) email where I basically say "you put everything into production once you've tested it, as it's a legacy system without decent test coverage". However, I'm paranoid I'll make a mistake / it'll get hacked and then I'll get sued. Admittedly I live in a different country from the client & I am doing things through an LLC so perhaps its safe enough.

Still, if you have any advice/pointers from the trenches, I'd be keen to hear it. I honestly don't care too much about loosing a months salary, so much as loosing the shirt off my back!

Yip, I totally agree that it's like exercise, and I totally totally agree that you should start slowly.

However! where I did it (in New Zealand) vipassana specifically started you at the 10 day course (or did 8 years ago), there was no option to do a shorter one. Or if there was, they certainly didn't stop you jumping straight into a 10 day.

Yip, I get on average 1 - 2 mails a year from that site from people who have gone through a similar thing after a vipassana course...

And that blog is buried on Google, so I'm sure there are more people who are having issues.

Be quite careful giving advice about meditation. Under your "beginner" heading you suggest Dhamma - the 10 day 9 day silent course (I'm assuming vipassana is an example of this).

I did a vipassana course after a similar suggestion. In me it triggered a full blown manic-psychotic (bipolar) episode. There had been no history of this in my family (or myself) before that point.

If you're interested, I made a bunch of podcasts detailing what it was like to be manic -> depressed -> better here: [0]

While I'm not saying it's necessarily bad advice, I suggest that anyone contemplating a 10 day silent retreat has prepared by doing a _lot_ of meditation before hand and to be aware that there can be consequences.

[0] http://livingvipassana.blogspot.com

Thanks for the reply.

This is the thing, the remote environment would be entirely under my control and I think the work-life balance would be fine.

The non-remote job would be more challenging work, probably a bit more corporate & rigid, but have a killer team to work with and learn from.

I'm with you on the "learning by replacingn legacy stuff with newer stuff" ... that train is already in motion and there's certainly a lot you can learn by doing that properly.

Thanks for the thoughts, I'll add them to the melting pot.

This did strike a chord. I'm 37. I've been programming since leaving university. I had a stint of about 6 years in the middle of my career where I stagnated. While it was fun (I did a lot of climbing, biking, caving etc.), it was hard getting out of that hole, and I'm glad to be out.

Anyway, I'm now travelling for a year (my partner made me quit my job ;) which has been lots of fun. I've caught up on a lot of books, playing with elixir, sharpening tools. But, I'm wondering what to do when I go back home, and finding it hard to decide. I already have an offer, and I'm not particularly worried about having work, but more about having the _right_ work. I'm not sure how many more options to change I'll have. Coupled to that, I'd like to work on projects which I feel are doing something useful for society.

Options:

1. Work remotely for a company I've worked for before. Should be decent cash. Codebase is horrible legacy stuff (but improving). Just me and another (more junior) developer. 2. Work for a pretty professional company in town. Excellent excellent team, I'd learn heaps, but it'd be just straight business work (not ticking the "useful to society" box.

I have a couple of options in both of those categories (I think ;). I've been stung before being a solo developer and I'm not that excited about being the most senior on the team. I'm an OK developer, but I know there are lots smarter, and I like learning from others.

So decisions decisions. It feels to me the older I get the fewer of these types of decisions I want to mess up.