1) Write about yourself [check]; 2) Make it snazzy [check]
Elevator pitches are still not my strong suit. I’m constantly torn between “don’t say too much” and “don’t say too little” which accurately reflects the mental strain I put on myself with any life decision.
So anyways, about me:
Don’t strive for outlandish reading goals; just start reading
I read 25 books in a year. And yes, I know that number is a bit anticlimactic when compared to those who read 100+ books a year, but my experience taught me this: small habit changes can have a much broader impact than you initially intended. Let me explain.
A year ago, I was in a reading drought. Well, more accurately, I was addicted to one fictional series whose books are absurdly long and thus did not leave much room for other books; I’m more of a one-book-at-a-time type of person. …
Judgment & kindness are two-way streets
Two months ago, I tried to write a post about why perfectionism is a terrible standard to live by. I ended up not posting it because I didn’t feel it was good enough. The irony should be obvious.
When I took my initial stab at the subject, I felt there was a missing piece in my understanding. While those writers who claim “trying to be perfect is limiting you” make a valid point, I knew there was more to it. Why exactly do we aim for perfection in the first place?
Well, I think it’s because we project that expectation onto others. …
We need to stop seeking external solutions to our problems
When was the last time you let yourself be sad or upset and didn’t seek a remedy? You let yourself cry without a shoulder to lean on or a bottle to drown yourself in because, damn-it, you will make that pressing sorrow go away.
I’m currently reading Pema Chördrön’s When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times, not because my life is in dire straits, but more so because I recognized my life was in transition and wasn’t sure how to handle it. …
What history has really taught us
If history has taught us anything…
In the past year or so, I feel this phrase has made an abnormal resurgence. Beyond being an obvious cliche, we use this saying as a catch-all explanation to capture anything complex. We use it to explain why people make certain choices or why trends come and go; to belittle our enemies and uplift our closest friends. …
Stoic thought deserves a revival
Reading Marcus Aurelius's Meditations (translated by Gregory Hays), his words emphasized that in the almost 2000 years since his existence, societal circumstances surely changed, but not people. Modes of thought come and go, but human nature is constant.
For me, Meditations surfaced one realization: people have strayed so far from staying in their own lane. The advent of social media has blown age-old gossip out of proportion, to the point where we are more concerned about what other people think of us than what we think of ourselves. …
Thought-provoking questions for intentional answers
In a few days, I will be heading back to school to pursue a graduate degree. As I make this known, it is easy to default in seeing this as one moment in time, as if I made the decision yesterday. But that is not the case; it took me two years of internal debates, research, and contemplation to come to this conclusion, but the mere fact of starting tends to get all the credit.
Many people may be questioning if they should go back to school; we are told it is a great place to learn new ideas, gain new skills, and make new connections. And while all of this may be true, I believe there are more variables to weigh. If I had made my decision based solely on those ideas, I might have never taken a gap period after undergrad; but instead, I took my time to make my decision, because I wanted to get to the bottom of why I should continue my education. …
The speed that time travels is not fixed — it’s fluid
The human relationship with time is interesting. Often people clamor, “Life is too short!” Other times, the sentiment is “Life is long, there is no need to rush.” I believe this dichotomy is a reflection of how people live their daily lives. This is similar to Newton’s First Law of Physics, which says:
an object will not change it’s motion unless a force acts upon it.
If we translate this to people’s relationship with time, those who feel life is short must feel short on time in their daily lives, unable to slow down their tumultuous sprint. …
Two simple questions that can help you cultivate more mindful behavior
We live the smallest portion of our lives in pure curiosity and wonder about the world. At least most of us, and yes you probably guessed it, it is during our childhood. When we are children, everything in the world is new, fascinating, peculiar; we are filled to the brim with inquisitiveness, but as we age, and as the external expectations lay heavier on our shoulders, we lose this curiosity of the world. We take whatever knowledge is already stored away to apply judgments to people and objects throughout our life. …
Lessons of a non-literary future from a 70-year-old sci-fi novel
According to the dictionary, books are:
a written or printed work consisting of pages glued or sewn together along one side and bound in covers.
However, author Ray Bradbury thought of books as more than just pieces of bound paper; in his novel Fahrenheit 451, written nearly 70 years ago, Bradbury portrays books as vital keys to our humanity. Painting a dystopian world where book burning is the norm, many of us probably feel we are far distanced from such a culture. But are we?
In our contemporary world, we still have writers who tell compelling stories and offer sound advice, and we still have readers that consume their words. However, we also have a growing cultural stigma where the simple act of reading a book is seen as an indulgence many feel they cannot afford. …
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