1: Reading
I finished The story of a shipwreck sailor by Gabriel Marquez this past week.
It is a retelling of a true story of a survivor of the destroyer ship which had
sunk during its sail from USA to Colombia, in 1995. It is at once both gripping
and insightful. On one hand, Marquez has told the story with incredible details
and realism from the first-person point of view, and it is really captivating
experience to read Luis’s survival for 10 days at the unforgiving sea. On the
other hand, it also comments about the aftermath of a survival story where Luis
becomes a hero for not dying, which is absurd, and then his story is advertised
and politicized everywhere, which really takes from away the mightiness of this
event. And when the excitement dies, he is a hero no more. It is a really
interesting and entertaining book to read if you have time. Plus it is only 100
pages long.
2: Listening
For this week’s podcast, I’d like
to talk about the Tim Ferriss’s podcast with Dr. Gabor Mate. This talk is mainly about addiction, but as you
listen to the whole 2:30hr podcast, you find yourself reconnected with the
deepest parts of yourself. Dr. Mate is, as you listen to him speak, a very
deep, compassionate, and incredibly wise person – which makes him not only a
doctor but a mentor as well. I found great amount of insights through this
podcast about myself, my addiction, my personality, and my love for myself and
my childhood. There is also a great deal of information about psychedelic experiences and practices,
which is really fascinating and horrifying at the same time. You really have to
listen to this one – it is not hard at all for plug you earphones and just
listen.
3: Confession about relationship
difficulties
I have always had a very rough
experience with close relationships, whether with myself or with girls. I was
failed at my early attempts because I was too eager to get in with someone.
Later, after many rejections and a few break ups, I realized that it was me
that I needed to get close to. And I don’t want to make it sound all gooey and
unfathomable: I really had to learn to explore about myself and see what was it
that I was so desperate to get. And the answers were quite shocking, which I
can’t really go through here. However, after I was started on exploring, I
learned a thing or two about love and self-love as well: books, a new
relationship, movies, podcasts, YT videos – they all helped me mature my take
on love and relationships. But still – I find it very hard to continue with my
partner in love. It shows how even knowing things cannot help you, because you
not only have to know it, but accept it and change yourself accordingly. And
when you love and get into a relationship with the same person, it really
becomes hard to remain sane. At this point, I am looking for more advice and
really a way through to explain myself very clear and precisely to my partner.
Love is a skill, which is very hard and painful to learn.
4: Diet update:
This is the last update about my,
now, 3 weeks mature diet plan. Last because I have decided to make it a
lifestyle, which means I can now continue without the things I had started to
eliminate from my diet, and at the same time, not be so strict areas where I
have to compromise: say a dinner outdoor with friends, a cup of tea once in a
week, and so on. I am also giving the update a pause because not much is really
happening, or at least not something that I can share clearly. Plus it would
leave room for me to write about other interesting stuff I did during the week.
5: Quote
“If you go outside and your feet
hurts, you can do two things: you can wrap the whole world in soft sheets, or
you can get yourself a safe pair of shoes.” – Ramana Maharshi
Extra: Songs I listened to most
-
Dance Monkey (Tones and I)
-
Don’t Call Me Angle (Ariana, Miley, Lana)
-
Memories (Maroon 5)
-
Ransom cover (Conor Maynard)
-
Lose You to Love Me / Sorry mashup (Selena,
Justin)