update Meditation and the Mind

content/posts/2024-10-08-resources-for-lust.md

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ title: Resources for combating lust
 description: "Lust is a big thing for people because it can be private. I will examine that and detail my struggles with it"
 date: 2024-10-08T09:45:50.717Z
 preview: "Lust is a big thing for people because it can be private. I will examine that and detail my struggles with it"
-draft: false
+draft: true
 # showToc: true
 tags: ["resources", ""]
 categories: []

content/posts/2024-10-13-my-infrastructure.md

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ title: My infrastructure
 description: ""
 date: 2024-10-13T19:53:17.597Z
 preview: ""
-draft: true
+draft: false
 tags: []
 categories: []
 ---
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ This infrastructure may be small or large, depending on the organization. For ex
 
 A person may also run hosts and services. While these don't have the same scale as a big company, the hosts still need to be managed.
 
-In this post, I will detail how I run my infrastructure.
+In this post, I will detail some of the providers and the software I use.
 
 ## Providers
 
@@ -22,23 +22,58 @@ Because I am a student, I don't have the resources for hosting critical services
 
 - Hetzner - a German company
 
-    - They provide a dedicated 2 vCPU server with 8 GB RAM. 
-    - They also provide a Storage Box that is used for various need such as backups and general storage.
+  - They provide a shared 2 vCPU server with 8 GB RAM.
+  - They also provide a Storage Box that is used for various need such as backups and general storage.
 
 - Contabo - a German company
-    - They currently provide one 6 vCPU, 16 GB RAM server.
+  - They currently provide one 6 vCPU, 16 GB RAM server.
 
 - Backblaze - a US company
-    - They are a storage provider specializing in S3 storage.
-    - They provide storage for several services as well as general storage.
+  - They are a storage provider specializing in S3 storage.
+  - They provide storage for several services as well as general storage.
 
 ## Software
 
 Now I will detail the software and the host it runs on.
 
 - Gitea
-    - Host: Hetzner
-    - What is it: Self-hosted Git hosting
-    - This runs in Docker and hosts my own private and public repos.
+  - Host: Hetzner
+  - What is it: Self-hosted Git hosting
+  - This runs in Docker and hosts my own private and public repos.
 
-- 
+- Woodpecker CI/CD
+  - Host: Contabo
+  - What is it: A continuous integration/deployment server
+  - This runs all my pipelines for my repos. I deploy this blog, my landing page, and my app for commands and its documentation using this service.
+
+- Stalwart Mail
+  - Host: Hetzner and Contabo
+  - What is it: An email server
+  - This runs on two hosts for redundancy. The database only runs on a single host for now.
+
+- Linkwarden
+  - Host: Contabo
+  - What is it: A link aggregator - think bookmarks not hosted locally
+  - This is a game-changer because I can keep all my information saved in a central database.
+
+- Peertube
+  - Host: Contabo
+  - What is it: A video hosting platform
+  - I use it instead of publicly accessible platforms.
+
+- Nextcloud
+  - Host: Contabo
+  - What is it: File-sharing service
+  - I use it to have access to files on-the-go.
+
+- Standard Notes
+  - Host: Contabo
+  - What is it: End-to-end encrypted note hosting
+  - I use it to take notes and store files.
+
+- Photoprism
+  - Host: Contabo
+  - What is it: a photo gallery
+  - This is nice for sharing photo albums and not having to use external tools.
+
+That is all for the software. There is more, but that is enough for now. In the next post, I plan to dive into how I back it up.

content/posts/2025-01-28-meditation-and-the-mind.md

@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+---
+title: Meditation and the Mind
+description: "Mediation is for becoming who you should be"
+date: 2025-01-28T17:40:59.734Z
+preview: ""
+draft: false
+tags: []
+categories: []
+---
+
+
+*Note: Meditation in this context is used as a practice of clearing the mind and focusing on something.* 
+
+Meditation has been used for centuries. The Psalmist said in Psalm 1, verse 2:
+
+> But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
+
+> And in His law he meditates day and night. (NASB1995)[^1]
+
+Strong's Bible Dictionary gives the usage of "hagah", the Hebrew word for mediate used above, as follows:
+>The Hebrew verb "hagah" primarily means to meditate or to ponder deeply. It conveys the idea of a thoughtful, reflective consideration, often accompanied by a low sound or murmur, as one might do when speaking softly to oneself. In the context of the Hebrew Bible, "hagah" is frequently used to describe the act of meditating on God's law, His works, or His words, suggesting a deep, internalized engagement with divine truths.[^2]
+
+Meditation is also described in the book *Psycho-Cybernetics*[^3]. This book highlights the importance of using one's mind to become better and to develop good qualities. Maltz, the author, says to use mental images of who you want to become or when executing a process, keeping the end-goal in mind.
+
+Chad Brewer, a minister at my church, preached[^4] on mediation in January of 2025. He recommends taking 30 minutes to an hour and thinking about a verse or some quality of God. He also recommends thinking about some character's perspective during an event recorded. I want to expand on this. It is through mediation and using the idea of mental pictures that we can become more like Christ. After all, Christ took time to think and pray to God alone, so if we want to be more like Christ, we should meditate on His Word. 
+
+[^1]: Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
+
+[^2]: https://biblehub.com/hebrew/1897.htm (https://archive.fo/7C47S)
+
+[^3]: Maltz, Maxwell, 1899-1975. Psycho-Cybernetics: Updated and Expanded. New York: Perigee, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2015.
+
+[^4]: https://jordanpark.org/media/sermons/2025/01/12/meditation

hugo.yaml

@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ params:
     domain: blog.cybershell.xyz
     outbound_link: true
     selfhosted_domain: "stats.andrewnw.com"  # Self-hosted plausible domain
+    gitstar: true
 
 
 module: