Here are some precepts that would make Foobarism my religion of choice. They are meant only as a starting point for a possible conversation:
Use your body <half an hour> every day; dance, walk, run, lift, swim or whatever;
Be outside – in nature preferably - often: smell flowers, feel the rain, listen to the wind, absorb the sun; Hug a tree or something;
Maybe have some mindfulness practice like meditation, tai chi, yoga, contemplation or knitting;
Be mindful of time; Gently come back from the habit of wasting time; Each day is a story in the saga of your life and scrolling like a zombie does not count; Do meaningful work. Slow down. Rest. Spend time with your people. Help people. Laugh. Go on adventures.
Be mindful of food; consider eating healthy, less and less often; eat food that is not the result of suffering of humans or other fellow creatures; eat local food whose growth does not deplete but regenerates the ecosystem; Why not support local food systems and food sovereignty and even cook for yourself? Eat with friends; Eat slowly; Honor eating as a social, sensorial and spiritual act. Make sure what you have eaten is returned to the ecosystem and nourishes onwards;
Use and promote free software; Replace Windows with Linux, Evernote with Joplin, Facebook with Fediverse; DeGoogle your life; Resist and refuse surveillance infrastructure; Strive to leave to preserve for the children of today’s world the option of digital sovereignty;
Be minimalist and frugal; Produce zero waste; Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot; Consider moving without a car; Gently let go of the impulse to buy; Replace objects with skills.
Avoid or actively undermine hierarchies and oppressive bureaucracies; collaborate in peer to peer, horizontal organizations as much as you can;
Be kind to yourself and to others. If you can’t love your neighbours, at least respect them. Nurture friendships & other relationships;
Take notes and organize them, get feedback, journal, reflect, have meaningful conversations, ask, wonder, try, observe, absorb, play; share data, information, knowledge and wisdom openly; monetize it without restricting access; Share designs, software, recipes, patterns, schems, music, digital artefacts and more in open formats so that other people can improve or repurpose them;
Don't take yourself and life too seriously; Don’t be fanatical, not even about these precepts. Live with the joy and the zest of a child: Be aware! Be present! Flow!
Some notes on the form:
they are aimed both at having a flourishing life and at being a good citizen
they can have <variables> that can be adapted from person to person
they intentionally use language like “maybe”, “or something” and examples to contrast the tone of religion; there is no omniscient god behind this text but a humble human that can only guess about such questions as what is good and bad and how life should be lived; specific examples are intentionally used to give it a down to earth and ephemeral vibe as opposed to the timeless and universal tone of religious texts
I deliberately left at least one where I suspect we are not aligned; I’m curious how we could deal with such divergence of “belief”
they are not in any way polished … I just wanted to start a conversation from a concrete proposal to explore your thinking on both the form and the content.