Things that are blowing my mind
Updated 25th Apr 2024
100. Oh the 100th link and how fitting an article for it. This 4 part series (special bonanza, 4 links in 1 to celebrate the 100th!) on curating our milieu had me so engrossed I forgot to breathe. No words, just awe at the beauty of this collection of words, of how can someone express using words such emotions and feelings, it beats me!
“In the split second before speaking, we project ourselves into the position of our addressee, imagine how they will take what we’re about to say, then adjust our communication to fit those expectations. This mechanism, performed in milliseconds, leads us to utter not what we’d intended, but an edited version that accounts for — protects against — the ways that the psychic representation of our addressee thinks and feels.
The instinct to fit ourselves to our milieu is tricky. It often leads us astray. If not deliberate, we end up internalizing behaviors and values that do not serve us. But it can also, in this way, be a strength: by actively curating your “audience”, as well as what you let into your senses, you can leverage the instinct to conform in your favor. You can create an environment that pulls you in the direction you want to go.”
99. Some writings move you and some soothe you, this one is the latter. Such a simple story written carefully using words that soothe you like a balm.
Updated 24th Apr 2024
98. What beautiful words, how beautifully put together and what traits to deeply reflect on. So, who do you admire?
Updated 20th Nov 2023
97. The most impactful 8 mins at making one feel insignificant and equally gain perspective. If nothing matters then let’s fuck the rules and at least have fun at not mattering!
96. We grow out of clothes, hobbies, people, places all the time. The silence of it, the slowness described without exaggeration and romanticisation, so beautifully in this Joan Didion piece. New York in the story can nimbly be replaced with any other place or thing and the sentiments would resonate still.
Updated 29th Jul 2023
95. The year in quiet quitting. We’ve all seen the world change, some moments in history make you stop and question the origin of things and it profoundly changes how humanity thinks for forever on.
94. Those who don’t flair, do they not live? A heart-touching piece on what a quiet life can be remembered for.
Updated 19th Nov 2021
93. Do we? Do we? Do we have a mind of our own?
Updated 14th Sep 2021
92. Shortly before the Americans left, they dynamited her house, apparently in response to the Taliban’s firing a grenade nearby. With two rooms still standing, the house is half inhabitable, half destroyed, much like Afghanistan itself. She told me that she won’t mind the missing kitchen, or the gaping hole where the pantry once stood. Instead, she chooses to see a village in rebirth. Shakira is sure that a freshly paved road will soon run past the house, the macadam sizzling hot on summer days. The only birds in the sky will be the kind with feathers. Nilofar will be married, and her children will walk along the canal to school. The girls will have plastic dolls, with hair that they can brush. Shakira will own a machine that can wash clothes. Her husband will get clean, he will acknowledge his failings, he will tell his family that he loves them more than anything. They will visit Kabul, and stand in the shadow of giant glass buildings. “I have to believe,” she said. “Otherwise, what was it all for?”
Updated 31st Aug 2021
91. And a video to augment the previous article
90. Conversational narcissism is something we have all been guilty of. “The more comfortable you are, the more difficult it is to empathize with the suffering of another.” This hit home hard. Read, so we can all have better conversations.
Updated 26th Jul 2021
89. As I sit in a veranda staring at the sea, living my best life, listening to the relentless gushing in and out in and out of the waves, the wind blowing on my face, cooling my feet to the degree of chilliness I can just about tolerate, this article made its way into my life and I am proud to say it didn’t sink my insides into a hollow pitch, instead it made me smile and feel validated for having chosen a path in life that celebrates the short life — every day.
Updated 16 Jul 2021
88. Much of last year Rega’s newsletter was the flutter of joy one would wait eagerly for every Monday. I went from savouring each newsletter, saving, relishing, sharing, reading it out loud to others, reading it out loud to myself and starring them in my inbox. As the weeks passed, from waiting for each Monday, the newsletter became the reminder of a Monday and then eventually finding them on a Tuesday or Thursday and realising oh Monday is long gone. This is how the year progressed as well, slowly, slowly, faster, faster and then a blur. Last two newsletters from her now stay unread but starred in my inbox, just like the pop star poster you still relish but don’t feel like going back to, because…too much emotional commitment. I keep waiting for a magical slot of time when all the stars will align and I will ceremoniously enter the magical bubble bath of the newsletter and take my time to soak in. I wonder if this is the story my subconscious created to protect me from what felt like a hormone spike, and hence threat, every Monday. I can’t tell but here we are, another medium, still equally real, very touching, very detailed and as always super relatable. Rega doing her thang one more time.
Updated 13th July 2021
87. What a great read, its Animal farm all over again, people have suddenly seen whats on the other side and they liked it, the power-hungry type bosses are angry because it takes autonomy away, what was sold as ‘family culture’ ‘team bonding’ at work is no longer lucrative because people spent time with actual families and found such freedom owning what has all along being their own time. It is always a balance that wins, an extreme (of anything) always drives imbalance. I think after having pendulum-ed the extremes, we will settle for the hybrid middle.
Updated 04th July 2021
86. What an entertaining read after, what seems like, a long time!
Updated 26th June 2021
85. This is the most out of this world thing you will ever ever see. Go down this rabbit hole, you will not regret it!
85.a) And then read how it was brought to life, Anton & Irene are Gods!
Updated 01st June 2021
84. A short and brilliant note applicable to anyone in the writing hobby or profession
84. https://www.portent.com/blog/copywriting/lexicon.htm
Updated 26th May 2021
83. For some laughs
Updated on 16th May 2021
82. A brilliant article on the nuances of interviewing people, which personality test to follow, if you must, and how to think of people as dynamic beings. If such human behavioral aspects intrigue you, this is a must-read
But you really can’t see another person clearly unless you can first see yourself clearly: both of you are together creating the interaction you are in. If you’re holding your breath while you speak, you may cause the other person to hold their breath and then you might experience them as nervous. If your question implies a value you place in competitiveness, that part of them may come forward in the answer in a way that would not in other settings.
82. https://grahamduncan.blog/whats-going-on-here/
Updated 29th April 2021
81. The full link is below but this passage from Jeff Bezos’ letter to shareholders before leaving just hits the spot!
“Staving off death is a thing that you have to work at. Left to itself — and that is what it is when it dies — the body tends to revert to a state of equilibrium with its environment. If you measure some quantity such as the temperature, the acidity, the water content or the electrical potential in a living body, you will typically find that it is markedly different from the corresponding measure in the surroundings. Our bodies, for instance, are usually hotter than our surroundings, and in cold climates they have to work hard to maintain the differential. When we die the work stops, the temperature differential starts to disappear, and we end up the same temperature as our surroundings. Not all animals work so hard to avoid coming into equilibrium with their surrounding temperature, but all animals do some comparable work. For instance, in a dry country, animals and plants work to maintain the fluid content of their cells, work against a natural tendency for water to flow from them into the dry outside world. If they fail they die. More generally, if living things didn’t work actively to prevent it, they would eventually merge into their surroundings, and cease to exist as autonomous beings. That is what happens when they die.” While the passage is not intended as a metaphor, it’s nevertheless a fantastic one, and very relevant to Amazon. I would argue that it’s relevant to all companies and all institutions and to each of our individual lives too. In what ways does the world pull at you in an attempt to make you normal? How much work does it take to maintain your distinctiveness? To keep alive the thing or things that make you special?
I know a happily married couple who have a running joke in their relationship. Not infrequently, the husband looks at the wife with faux distress and says to her, “Can’t you just be normal?” They both smile and laugh, and of course the deep truth is that her distinctiveness is something he loves about her. But, at the same time, it’s also true that things would often be easier — take less energy — if we were a little more normal.
This phenomenon happens at all scale levels. Democracies are not normal. Tyranny is the historical norm. If we stopped doing all of the continuous hard work that is needed to maintain our distinctiveness in that regard, we would quickly come into equilibrium with tyranny.
We all know that distinctiveness — originality — is valuable. We are all taught to “be yourself.” What I’m really asking you to do is to embrace and be realistic about how much energy it takes to maintain that distinctiveness. The world wants you to be typical — in a thousand ways, it pulls at you. Don’t let it happen.
You have to pay a price for your distinctiveness, and it’s worth it. The fairy tale version of “be yourself” is that all the pain stops as soon as you allow your distinctiveness to shine. That version is misleading. Being yourself is worth it, but don’t expect it to be easy or free. You’ll have to put energy into it continuously.”
Updated 23rd Apr 2021
80.
Updated 18th Apr 2021
Updated 06th Apr 2021
Updated 16th Feb 2021
Updated 04th Dec
73. The last line, uff the last line. Sigh.
Updated 17th Nov
72. Do we dare to love?
71. The title and the last line, did it for me, everything in between, lets just say, is ‘fun’
Updated 01st Nov
Updated 23rd Oct
66. I haven’t heard a single podcast from here yet, but gawd this is like a dream come true, I had ALWAYS wondered if I could somehow get a sneak peek into someone’s therapy session, voila!
65. That last letter at the end ❤
Updated 14th Oct
Updated 14th Sep
61. This one is pure Magic in itself. Such a fine collection of facts that have the power to bring warmth to your heart. If the ‘current times’ are bogging you down, please do read this.
Updated 10th Sep
60. “If you are a woman who can manage menstrual pain and still achieve an enormous amount of work, more power to you. But if you call a period leave frivolous and assume that a woman wants to be mollycoddled for asking for one, you are doing as much harm to the gender movement as men who call women ‘feminazis’ for just wanting to lead full lives.”
59. “So what would happen if suddenly, magically, men could menstruate and women could not?Clearly, menstruation would become an enviable, worthy, masculine event: Men would brag about how long and how much. Young boys would talk about it as the envied beginning of manhood. Gifts, religious ceremonies, family dinners, and stag parties would mark the day.”
Updated 07th Sep
Updated 05th Aug
56. Brene again! This one is another masterpiece with a surprise at the end which leaves you in stitches
Updated 30th July
55. Such a short, simple but crucial point applicable to everything in life. I feel like some people are just born with this understanding while a whole lot of us take a very long time to a) understand and then b) implement this in our lives. Either ways, this balance will set a lot of us free, eventually.
Updated 25th July
Oatmeal blast this time and oh, if you’re an oatmeal virgin, hold tight! This will blow your insides
53. If my dogs were a pair of middle-aged men - PART TWO - The Oatmeal
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theoatmeal.com
50. I wanted my 50th to be special and it is the biggest coincidence that without looking for it I stumbled across this gem again. If I was given the power to ensure that my 50th is read by everyone in the world, I would without a doubt be the happiest that it happens to be this. There is nothing else I want to say about this one except, everyone NEEDS to read this, TODAY.
Updated 24th July
49. Hands down, the best counter argument you will read. You may not end up choosing a side by the end of this (that isn’t ever a purpose of reading anyway) but definitely something that will broaden your mind amidst the mass uproar and noise that may make it seem like cancelling a person is the only available option. It isn’t, never is.
Updated 23rd July
48. Best 20 mins you will spend today
47. Rega blast coming through
46. “Idiotically, I never treated pain this way. In sadness, free from the mandate to show it off, I remained still, present, attentive. I felt my pain in full. Even though interrupting pain to accurately describe it to close friends could make it more tolerable, I didn’t. And though interrupting joy to package it for strangers online dilutes it, I did.”
Updated 16th July
44. Some really good arguments on the responsibility social media platforms (should) hold
Updated 09th July
43. Marketers will totally relate to this
Updated 08th July
42. Extremely short, crisp and profound read
Updated 28th June ‘20
41. When words melt like butter on hot pav and murmur like the sea breeze but stab you in the end like lights at the end of a movie in a theatre, you knows its a story narrated well.. (please use browser on mobiles, does not work on the app)
Updated 27th June ‘20
(please use browser on mobiles, does not work on the app)
39.This led me to write this (please use browser on mobiles, does not work on the app)
38. This one broke my heart (please use browser on mobiles, does not work on the app)
Updated 24th June ‘20
37. Art makes everything easier, yes, even cryptocurrency.
Updated 13th June ‘20
Two incredible videos:
35. This was recommended by a dear friend and am so glad I finally came around to seeing it:
Brené Brown: The Call to Courage
34. Disclaimer (or rather showing off), this one is my brother:
Updated 04th June ‘20
33. Its a video today and oh my, what a video! goosebumps!
Updated 30th May ‘20
32. Not the greatest site or writing but it has some interesting points on marketing small businesses
31. This one is not as much a ‘read’ as it is a great collection of things. It is an incredible source of reference links and pointers on marketing, writing, design, photography and related sectors, especially love the ‘links’ section.
Updated 29th May ‘20
30. Kind of a hard and possibly a triggering read, but what beautiful writing
29. A really easy, simple, short read
Updated 22nd May ‘20
Updated 18th May ‘20
27. Gregory David Roberts — you have my heart is all I can say about this below article. I want to say that if there is just ONE thing you read during the lockdown PLEASE let it be this (but then I realise I want to say that about a lot of links on this page) BUT please, READ this!
http://shantaram.com/index.html
22. (This below one is a pdf because I didn’t think everyone would have a subscription to the website, so it appears this way, please click on it, it will take you to the document)
Updated 13th May ‘20
Updated 10th May ‘20
20. While every link here has moved me in some absurd proportions, this article here truly blew my inner being apart. Every word fired up my neurons, every sentence made me stop and just marvel first at its beauty then its depth then the sheer brilliance of a human having put them together and eventually the second last paragraph left my eyes brimming with glistening tears of lightheadedness, I could not bring my face to stop smiling and I could not bring myself to do anything but stare into space with unfocussed eyes and body slumped into a chair, with no will to do anything else but just let it all soak in. Oh the brilliance of human mind that composes words in such elegant artistic beauty.
Updated 09th May ‘20
Updated 08th May ‘20
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Updated 02nd May ‘20
