Welcome to 5 Bites Friday: my weekly article where I share
the contents of my learnings from the past week in my life.
1 – what I read
Bluets by Maggie Nelson – a book of particular memoir that is told in relation to the color Blue, Nelson writes about a color that has fascinated her significantly by talking about what other writers have said on the nature of Blue as well as her own peculiar experiences with it.
2 – this week’s articles
Languishing: the feeling of Blah @nytimes – described as the
middle-child between depression and optimum performance, this article gives
name to a feeling of low-energy and lack of motivation that most of us find
ourselves going through, be it because of the pandemic or our particular
situations in life. Consolidating.
How fit can walking get you @GQ – while to attain a muscular
body, you need muscle mass in your body and good amount of serious work-out,
thankfully for the majority of us being healthy and in some-what shape can be
attained through walking only. How? This article explains.
Twelve months to live, this is what I want to say@bostonglobe – a recap of a life and of what mattered and what not as the author,
who once jokingly wrote an essay about living the last months of his life, now
actually has a dozen of them to live.
Not a career @warzel.substack – challenging the narrative of
‘building a career’ as one’s main motive in the beginning-to-later years of
life, this article presents as a current-day perspective on this narrative and
show how hallow and manipulative such a path can be.
3 – this week’s podcast
The best books of 2021 @nybookreview – the host of New York Book
Reviews and the panel discuss the 10 best books (5 fiction and 5 non-fiction)
of 2021 plus one book of their personal favorites. As last year, after listening
to this podcast, I am convinced to read some of these books.
White nationalism @throughline – starting from Madison Grant’s
1916 book ‘Passing of the Great Race’, this episode of @throughline, along with
a guest, explains the roots of the recent surge in ‘white nationalism’ under
Trump, as well as the influence this racist phenomena had on Hitler.
4 – my stats from using Pocket (app) during 2021; rewarding
5 – this week’s quote
Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the
present.
Albert Camus