The Slice of Life Mindset

Consider a slice-of-life anime and what it chooses to romanticize. Commuting to work, preparing a meal, reading a book, drinking some tea, watching a movie. The characters are typically unambitious, the opposite of a shonen character who sacrifices everything for their goal or ultimate pursuit, they plan to live a quiet life undisturbed or have modest attainable goals they work towards. They may go through hard times, or face stress, but it at the end of the day they are able to take a deep breath and move past it.

I propose that this is the correct mindset to embrace in the modern world if you wish to maximize your happiness. You select some activities that you like and values that resonate, and then simply follow them everyday without distraction. You may read and learn and grow of course, but it is now for your sake, and no one else's.

I believe Ayn Rand explored this outlook the best, and specifically the limitations of implementing this in the real world. One can live according to their own philosophy and values up to the point where someone else uses them against you. Then at that point, you must either retreat out of range of your enemies, or you must accept the conflict and engage in war.

I would posit that in the age we currently live, at least in America, it is not yet time to go to war, so instead our duty is to live the life that accords with our values and embrace the beauty in every aspect of that life, even in the most mundane moments.

This does not mean you cannot take on great projects, it just reorients you find the beauty in the daily toil that is required for any such great work. It clarifies your thinking, as you can safely ignore everything that is not needed to work towards what you yourself love. It frees you from everything. And then should that be threatened, it gives you the courage to fight for it.

I like this wholesomeposting. Interesting you connect Ayn Rand to slice-of-life philosophy. It's a sort of lifestyle wu-wei: just be clear on your code of values and try to live it as directly as possible, and refuse to apologize or compromise. To your point on fighting, there's something to the idea that actually doing the thing directly is also that which builds the most defensive and offensive power for it. Rather than advocating the thing, create a materialized lifestyle interest around it, ideally a whole community. Now it's fait accompli by the time conflict comes, and you have the defensive advantage plus many allies.

So let's strive to live well, lift weights, care for the earth, raise many well-bred children, read the philosophical canon, and build the means of production. Make your life into a slice-of-life anime.

Shonen tropes feel lamer and more delusional the more one grows up. There's something melancholy about slice-of-life though. There's always an element of somewhat broken dreams, making peace with a world that isn't quite as open to you as you would have liked. You're just kind of drifting as the world passes you by and maybe dies a bit. But you find beauty in its flow anyways.

Pic related. Is this a Gondola thread?