5 Ways To Be a Badass This Week
Badassness isn’t born in the big events, but is built little by little in the small day-to-day moments.
This post is sponsored by the Dead Pets, the podcast about pet grief that celebrates the lives of the creatures that have changed ours. Believe us, it’s not as depressing as it sounds. Click below to listen.
We all have a badass inside of us, waiting to be awakened. Badassness isn’t born in the big events, but is built little by little in the small day-to-day moments.
Here are five ways to be a badass this week.
1. Drink Some Goddamn Water
Can’t stop thinking about how we’re just specks of dust on a rock hurling through an infinite void, and life is long, but the days are short, and what is time anyway? Who invented it? Is there really a god? A panel of gods? Goddesses? Non-binary universe overlords? Who invented jobs? Why are we all just hamsters clocking in on the wheel just for a bigger hamster to toss us some pellets to satiate us for a while, only to do it all again the next day?
If that’s you, drink some fucking water and calm down. We will all be better for it.
2. Read a Book
We cannot deny how satisfying it is to feel the tickle of our brain cells bursting into flames from scrolling for hours; however, no dopamine splooge is worth not being able to read a whole sentence without your attention span yeeting off a cliff. But there ain’t nothing like reading an actual book with actual pages.
Reading something with a connected narrative that is a few hundred pages long engages parts of your brain that reading on a screen simply does not. Books transport you to new worlds, give you access to points of view otherwise unavailable, and can grab you by feels you never knew you had. Plus, reading a book is the easiest way to be less stupid.
There’s like, A LOT of books in the world, we’re sure you can find one you’ll like.
3. Go Outside
Drugs are amazing, but have you ever tried fresh air and sunlight? According to The Experience of Nature: A Psychological Perspective by Cambridge University Press (1989), urban environments are constantly soliciting our attention, whether we realize it or not, called “hard fascination.” Natural environments solicit our attention while also drawing out feelings of pleasure, called “soft fascination.” This so-called soft fascination reduces the strain on our executive function and restores our ability to focus on shit that matters.
Go for a hike, or go to a park. Walk around the block. Sit on your porch. Touch grass, as the kids say.
4. Assume Stupidity, Not Malice
It’s been said a million different ways throughout history: “You have attributed conditions to villainy that simply result from stupidity.” 1941 – Robert A. Heinlein
There likely isn’t malice behind whatever sends you into a rage. We typically give ourselves the benefit of the doubt, but not to others. Cut someone off in traffic? You didn’t see them! Sent files late? You forgot! Didn’t invite a friend? You didn’t think they’d want to go! You aren’t out to get other people, and they ain’t out to get you, John Wick. They’re just dumb. And so are you.
5. Listen
Listening is soooooooo underrated. When someone talks to you, shut your mouth up and shut your brain up. Ask questions about what they’re sharing, or just say, “Tell me more.” Making someone feel heard, even if it’s just about the goings-on of their day, is pretty fucking cool.
Feeling heard can bring out the best in people. When you become someone who not just hears, but listens, people will blossom around you, and will most likely do the same in return.