Things I read, saw, lived and loved through the week
Things which I have loved doing these past few days, and which I have to share with you!
I am reading Clear Thinking by Shane Parrish, the creator of the incredible newsletter Farnam Street. It is a clear-eyed level-headed book, of how little tweaks can change our lives. First of all - how can we stop fooling ourselves. Though that sounds flippant, it is at the heart of how we need to transcend ourselves to reach our true nature and potential. The best part of the book is - it’s not pedantic. It flows like a clear stream - you can dip in anytime, anywhere and come out reinvigorated. Brilliant book.
And since we are at it - Farnam Street. Don't seriously say - you don't know about it? Because if you haven't, you're missing out on a newsletter which has the most tightly-packed knowledge possible on one page!! It describes itself as -" a weekly newsletter full of timeless ideas and actionable insights you can use in life and work." And, kid you not, it does it brilliantly! Get it here!
I have just finished seeing the British TV series (3 seasons of it!) Slow Horses. I will write about it separately. Suffice to say - it upends, polishes, embellishes, excites (I have now run out of such-like embellishments!) the entire spy genre. Its main protagonist is an obnoxious s-of-a-b - smelly, foul-mouthed, abhorrent. The cast is full of losers, who have been consigned to the dustbin of spy-dom called Slough House. But cometh the time, and the losers rise!! And, oh, the things they achieve whilst they blunder through. The humour is coruscating, the story is bristling and the writing is beyond brilliant. On Apple Plus.
I completely flipped out on this four minute speech by Fredrik Backman, the Swedish author of A Man Called Ove and Anxious People. It is beyond hilarious, as he talks about creative anxiety, how Swedish depression differs from any other version, the brilliance of his procrastination and how he gets to travel into the future. He is all-fun and all-heart. Like his gorgeous characters and books.
I do a fair bit of volunteering with a number of nonprofits. And it is beyond humbling to meet people who have dedicated their lives to make a difference. They make me feel two things every time -
what have I been doing with my life, really, what??
how little I know of the world I live in
The place I visited recently is a school set up for tribal girls, to teach them how to live off the soil, by learning from the ancient knowledge which is a legacy we have from our forefathers, and how they can go back to the villages they come from (and not migrate to cities) to make a living and be the difference, instead of learning skills which would make them just a cog in an ever-growing machinery of heartless and relentless cities. Called Adhigam Bhumi, the school already has 500 children and will go upto 1000 girls by next year. It’s a mind-boggling endeavour, and just being there was life-changing. It’s a privilege supporting them.
I share some photographs clicked by my son Devang -
I listen to music obsessively and continuously. Whilst jogging, working, reading, eating. It’s not always playing into my consciousness, as much as it skims the surface. But I am completely convinced, I perform better when music surrounds me!
So - this is the song I am hearing on loop just now. It was a major hit when it released in 1990. Freedom! '90 by George Michael. I rediscovered it in this lovely Jockey ad. And revisited the iconic original video!!! It features the supermodels of the time, and is chocobloc with symbols - a burning jacket, a breaking guitar, blood shared from mutual pin-pricks (those were HIV days!). Since then, of course the song has, amongst other things, become an anthem for the LGBT+ community!!
See the scintillating official video directed by David Fincher ( yes, director of Seven, Gone Girl, Mindhunter, et al), featuring the most gorgeous models of the day -
See the story behind the iconic video -
And then a dear friend shared this incredible poem:
Rumi’s Field
by Bella Mahaya Carter
“Out beyond ideas of wrong-doing and right-doing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.”
—Rumi
One day you realize your sleet and fog are imagined, and you may go to Rumi’s field any time you wish. You don’t need directions or a map. Nothing in your closet requires mending. You don’t need clothes or a compass. Branches, stones, and stars don’t tremble; they sway, polish, and shine. And so can you. Neither wind nor dark skies matter. Wear dynamite in your shoes and explode if you must, but know that you are the funnel, not the wine; the vase, not the lilies; the artery, not the blood. Surrender paints her lips red. Kiss her. Often.
And my take on it -
Bella's Meadow
One day you realise that holding stones in your heart is not like pearls nestling in a shell. That regrets never break out of clams, they break you when they sprout. When you mull how to live life, think of yourself as a temple’s crumbling wall, the moss-ringed path, the unsonorous bird singing alone. Be a beautiful disaster. Give yourself permission. Walk unadorned. Be the pain, the hurt, the devotion. Because you know, you are the circumstance now. There’s no direction, no guidebook. And things change, because you are gentler with yourself. Then in one hand you hold your past, in another a crystal ball. And you smash both till there’s nothing left but fragments. You move into an empty house. And open a window into an endless meadow.
* inspired by Rumi’s Field by Bella Mahaya Carter. A little help from singer Leon.
Hope you have a brilliant weekend and a week to match it all!
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Lovely read. Do keep sharing such wonderful insights!