u/mux111

Been thinking about this and figured this sub would have good perspectives.

For some people it seems purely religious/spiritual, for others it's more academic - like you're into the history, the philosophy, the way myths encode ideas about human nature. And then there's a third camp that seems to actually use mythology somehow, whether that's rituals, active imagination, using myth as a framework for decisions, whatever.

So really just wondering how people practice it. Is it basically a religion for you? Or something more personal you just do on your own? And is there an actually effective way to apply it in day to day life, or is that even the point?

A bit of background - I'm pretty new to this. Read Jung, read the Bible, and a handful of random stuff here and there, but nothing systematic. Since it's closer to my own background I want to go deeper into Christian/Western mythology next, starting with Dante. If anyone's got tips on approaching learning mythology I'd take those too.

I don’t necessarily mean the most violent or shocking book, but something with genuinely weird, disturbing, taboo, or uncomfortable concepts/characters.

I’ve found myself weirdly more interested in these kinds of books lately. Not because I think darker automatically means better, but because they often feel less predictable and more psychologically interesting than safer stories.

A few I’ve read recently:

• The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
• The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis
• Limbo by Bernard Wolfe

Curious what books have stuck with you because they were strange, bleak, morally uncomfortable, or just completely unlike anything else you’ve read.

No spoilers.

Ok so this is gonna sound dumb but I think I shifted to a Sopranos DR and met Tony Soprano.

I wasn’t even trying that hard that night. I had scripted a Sopranos/North Jersey DR ages ago because I’m obsessed with the vibe of the show, but I didn’t really expect anything from it. I just had the basic stuff written down, like I’d be around Satriale’s, I’d know a few people there somehow, and I’d be safe/not involved in anything insane.

Then I woke up and I was literally outside Satriale’s. Like I knew where I was straight away. It was cold, grey, kind of miserable, but in a good way. Cars going past, cigarette smell, people talking somewhere inside. I remember standing there thinking “nah no way” because it felt too normal. Not dream normal. Like actual standing-outside-in-the-cold normal.

Then Tony came out.

I froze because obviously it’s Tony Soprano. He looked at me for a second and went something like, “What are you doing out here?” Not angry exactly, just suspicious. Like I was some random idiot standing around where I shouldn’t be.

I said I was waiting for someone, which was such a stupid answer, but he just stared at me and did that Tony face where he’s half annoyed, half amused. Then he told me to come inside because I looked freezing.

Inside was weirdly detailed. The tables, the lighting, the little background conversations, people glancing at me and then pretending not to. I sat down and he asked who I knew. I was trying not to panic and accidentally say something insane like “I watched your whole life on HBO.”

He was more intimidating than I expected. Not in a movie villain way. More like you could feel when he was watching you. He asked normal questions but every question felt loaded.

The part that stuck with me was when I said something about wanting a different life, and he said, “Yeah, everybody wants something else.” Then he laughed a bit but not like it was funny. I don’t know why but that felt so real.

I don’t remember shifting back clearly. I remember leaving Satriale’s, walking down the street, then waking up here with that heavy feeling like I’d just been somewhere I shouldn’t have been.

Has anyone else shifted to a show DR and had the characters feel way more intense than expected?

Also, random question, but is time travel possible when shifting? Like could I shift to the same DR but an earlier point in the timeline, or is that basically a different DR?

Hey everyone,

I recently pulled the trigger and officially transitioned into the post-work phase of my life. I’m 33, single, and currently living in Australia. Liquid net worth is sitting right around $3.5M, generating enough to comfortably support a $110k-$130k annual spend without me having to touch a laptop for work ever again. On paper, I’ve checked off every major goal I set for myself in my 20s.

In reality? It’s incredibly lonely, and navigating the dating scene post-FIRE has been a bizarre minefield.

When I was grinding to get here, I always told myself, "I'll focus on my dating life once the finances are locked down." Well, they’re locked down now.. but absolutely no idea how to approach this.

My main struggles:

• The "What do you do?" question: If I say I’m retired at 33, it instantly alters the dynamic. Either it comes off as a massive humblebrag, or it attracts (I hate to use this word) gold-diggers, or they assume I’m just an unemployed loser.
• The lifestyle gap: Most people I know my age are in the corporate grind or still working retail jobs. I have total freedom over my schedule. It’s hard to build a routine with someone when our day-to-day realities are entirely decoupled.
• Where to actually look: Online dating feels like a massive treadmill of surface-level interactions. Because I don't have a traditional workplace environment anymore, my built-in social circle has shrunk a bit. Not that there were many women at my work anyway.

For those who hit ChubbyFIRE or similar milestones while single, how do you handle this?

Would love some genuine perspective from anyone who has been in this specific boat.

I’m not recommending this. I’m actually asking if I should be concerned.

Yesterday I took 200mg modafinil, some overpriced “mitochondrial support” supplement I bought during a 2am health-optimisation spiral, creatine, mad honey, black coffee, and then for reasons I cannot defend spiritually or scientifically, I decided to “reset my dopamine” manually.

Immediately after, I got the most violent post-nut clarity of my life.

Not normal clarity. Not “I should clean my room” clarity. I mean like the clouds opened and a tiny management consultant crawled out of my skull with a Gantt chart.

Resting heart rate was around 150, which in hindsight is probably not ideal. But mentally? Insane. I sat down and entered some disgusting tunnel state where I could see the structure of my entire week. Emails became obvious. Code became obvious. My calendar stopped looking like time and started looking like an enemy supply line.

I did what felt like 8 hours of work in 1 hour. No music. No snacks. No checking my phone. Just pure weaponised shame and cardiovascular panic.

The weirdest part was the feeling lasted roughly 5 hours. It wasn’t even euphoria. It was more like being haunted by a very productive ghost. I didn’t feel happy. I felt assigned.

Then it wore off and I became a normal useless mammal again.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is there an actual mechanism here or did I just combine stimulants, guilt, hormones, and fear into a temporary office demon?

Again, not saying this is healthy. It probably isn’t. But this is the most productive I have ever felt on any combination of nootropics ever.

Hi everyone,

My grandfather is turning 94 this year and has recently become very interested in computers again.

He worked around electronics a long time ago, but never really learned modern web development or programming properly. I showed him freeCodeCamp a few months ago thinking he would maybe do the HTML section and get bored.

Instead he has finished a surprising amount of it and now keeps asking me for “the next layer underneath the browser.”

Last week he built what he is calling his own “semiconductor” in the garage. I don’t fully understand what it is. It looks like a horrible little shrine made of wires, old radio parts, copper, and something he says he “doped incorrectly”. I asked if it was safe and he told me “safety is a compiler warning from God.”

He is now asking me if freeCodeCamp has lessons on:

• assembly
• computer architecture
• transistor logic
• building a tiny operating system
• C programming
• “how the browser lies to the machine”
• FPGA stuff
• writing code without “begging Google Chrome for permission”

I have no idea what to recommend him. I only know basic JavaScript and React. He keeps getting annoyed when I say “maybe learn TypeScript” because he says types are “what weak men invent after they lose contact with electricity”.

Does anyone know a good path after freeCodeCamp for someone who wants to go deeper into low-level programming and computer hardware?

Preferably something structured because he is 94 and if I just give him a list of random YouTube videos he will somehow end up trying to etch a CPU in the laundry room.

Thanks.

I’m from Texas and I’ve been looking at Australian housing prices out of curiosity, and honestly I don’t understand how normal people are supposed to buy anything.

Here in Texas, depending on the city/suburb obviously, you can still find a decent 3 bedroom house for around $300k USD. It might not be in the fanciest area, but it’s a real house, with space, a yard, garage, etc.

Then I look at Australian cities and it seems like $1 million AUD gets you an old narrow house that looks like a hallway with a kitchen attached, or a tiny townhouse/apartment miles away from the CBD. And the salaries don’t seem high enough to justify it either.

Am I missing something?

Do Australians generally just accept that they’ll be paying off a very average house forever? Are people relying heavily on family help/inheritance? Are couples basically forced to both work full-time just to get a mortgage? Or is everyone just moving further and further out?

I know the US has its own problems, and Texas isn’t cheap everywhere anymore either, but the house-price-to-income ratio in Australia seems insane. From the outside it looks like Australian housing is priced like a luxury asset, not somewhere normal working people are meant to live.

Is this mostly a Sydney/Melbourne problem, or is it bad everywhere now?

Genuine question, because I see Australians online talk about the “housing crisis” but when I actually look at the prices, it seems even worse than the phrase makes it sound.

I swear Centrelink is not a government service, it’s some kind of psychological experiment.

I’ve been trying to get through to an actual human because my online account is cooked and I can’t log in properly. The portal just keeps throwing errors, sending me in circles, or acting like I don’t exist. Then it tells me to call.

So I call.

And now apparently my new full-time job is listening to hold music and being told my call is important.

I’m pretty sure I’ve been on hold for 65 days total at this point.

The best part is when the automated voice tells you to “use the online services” — mate, I WOULD, IF THE ONLINE SERVICES WORKED. That is literally why I’m calling. You have created a perfect circle of pain.

Portal broken → call Centrelink → Centrelink says use portal → portal broken → call Centrelink → die.

I don’t even need anything complicated. I just need someone to help me get back into my account. That’s it. Not asking for a miracle. Not asking for a yacht. Just one living breathing public servant to confirm I exist.

Has anyone actually managed to get through lately or is the trick to just age into retirement while on hold?

Hey nomads,

I need some perspective because I feel like I’m going insane.

My wife and I have been travelling around SEA for the last few months and I’ve finally hit what I can only describe as peak productivity. I’m building a few SaaS ideas, experimenting with AI agents, and generally entering monk mode while moving between cafés, beaches, scooters, airports, hotel balconies, etc.

The problem is my wife “doesn’t like it” when I pull out my MacBook in certain situations.

Examples she has complained about:

• At restaurants, while we’re waiting for food
• On the back of a motorbike taxi
• During sunset because apparently I was “missing the moment”
• While she was talking about her feelings
• At a cooking class
• Once during a temple visit, but to be fair the Wi-Fi was weirdly good

She keeps saying things like “can you just be present?” and “why did we travel together if you’re just going to work everywhere?”

But isn’t this literally the point of digital nomading? Location freedom? I don’t understand why I should sit there staring at waves when I could be shipping.

I’ve tried explaining that I’m not “working,” I’m vibe coding. Completely different energy. She doesn’t seem to respect that.

At this point I’m wondering if we’re just misaligned. I want to build, travel, and optimize my life. She wants “quality time” and “shared experiences” and “not having to compete with Cursor.”

Has anyone dealt with a partner who doesn’t understand the nomad/founder mindset? Do I need better boundaries, a coworking space, couples therapy, or is this just a sign I should cut her loose before my MRR suffers?

Genuine question.

I am lost. 5 YoE SWE, I have forgotten everything. I just know about APIs and databases. I have been religiously using claude and chatgpt for 2 years now, and I have received two promotions. Is there anyone else like me out there?

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to start a discussion around the current trade-off between the share market and Melbourne property, especially for younger buyers who aren't burdened by HECS debt.

Currently 25, working in fintech, and sitting on a $450k net worth ($300k in a HISA, $150k in VAS/VGS). I’m trying to weigh up the long-term outlook of buying into property vs just staying fully allocated to equities and rentvesting.

With the RBA holding rates at 4.35% and Melbourne auction clearance rates sliding down to 40%, the property market here feels incredibly heavy right now. Taking on a massive mortgage sounds less appealing than just letting a portfolio compound, but there’s always that underlying family/social pressure that you're "wasting money on rent" if you don't buy a townhouse or apartment early.

Keen to get some perspectives on how people are viewing this trade-off at the moment:

• Is anyone actively choosing to rentvest and hold ETFs long-term in Melbourne due to the current underperformance of the local property market?
• For those who prioritised a PPOR/IP early on over the share market, do you feel the leverage was worth the current interest rate pain?
• Or is the stock market simply a cleaner, less stressful compounding machine right now?

Keen to hear your thoughts on the general strategy. Cheers.