Gathering thoughts…
A world of little thoughts.
Do music help us to form narratives in our head? Do some music make us think about conflicts while others about compassion? Do our brains have the ability to translate the signals from music into more structured words, sentences and stories? Recently I have been inspired to think and write about topics that I feel are…
A spiritual guide once to told me that "God is everything or God is nothing. What was my choice to be?" Once, when leaving a spa, the massage therapist told me "Walk on mother earth as you would want your children to walk on you." My entire life, like so many others, has been a life of spiritual seeking. Even when I…
Hoje começo este novo projeto, que me convida a escrever um texto por dia durante um ano. Não tenho um objetivo master ao criá-lo, além do de cuspir palavras ao vento, contar pra mim mesmo e para você (oi, tudo bem? que saudades que eu tava de conversar com você) sobre a minha vida, pra ver se entendo melhor o que…
Writing is hard. It’s even harder when you don’t have anyone to tell you whether the writing sounds good, or whether it’s something that would appeal to them. When you’re in this situation, how do you write well? How do you write something that others will enjoy reading, or find useful? Here’s a rule I’ve been using…
It is totally awesome to be free of the external judgement. To create without the fear to be misunderstood, to express any opinion being equal in probability to be discussed free of prejudice. Such an approach gives an adequate perception of the surrounding phenomena, allows to connect cause and consequence without…
You’re likely familiar with the rebuke to “be present!” wielded whenever someone draws for their camera or smartphone during a dinner or a vacation. Think about how many people you know who “hate Instagram” because it’s “so fake.” Granted, between the daily Starbucks chroniclers, new human/ plant/ pet parents, sunset…
To be synthetic is to recognize redundant patterns in information. Familiarity arises when these patterns align with what we already know, while differences emerge when they don’t. Synthesis is about compressing this new information into a rule or simplified understanding, a process that is inherently personal. What…
So far so good I suppose, I'm comparing this experience to my micro.blog experience. The "write post" editor is not quite up to my standards and could use some improvement but it works very well. It feels like I'm writing in notepad, and I hate writing in notepad. Maybe I'll come back here and update my post with more…
My son eyes aren't teaming properly. They create blurry images. To compensate his brain shuts off his weak eye and overloads his dominant eye. This knock-on effects are reading fatigue, inability to stay focused, etc. We may have scratched this up to ADHD and sought medication. Thankfully, my wife kept pulling the…
there was a study with mice where "the mice have a lever that they can press any time they want. When they press the button, a special optical sensor, which controls specific neurons in their brain, activates their dopamine neurons" anyway they pressed the button until they died with no desire of food or drink if…
Why are we so unhappy with our work? And if we are unhappy? Why are we doing it? Who is making us do it? Is it the govt? The society? Your family? The ‘top 150’ people who run the world? Why are they called ‘top 150’ anyway? Is happiness even a correct measure of us working? Or should we just be satisfied? Is it…
Frenchman Jules Allix, in the mid-nineteenth century, popularized a kind of organic Internet made out of snails. Drawing upon the physician Franz Mesmer’s theory of “animal magnetism,” which postulated the existence of a universal magnetic force connecting living things, it was predicated upon the idea that any two…
I've noticed that, for some reason, I write when I'm unhappy. More generally, I often seem more creative when I'm less happy. How could that be? Perhaps it's because when I'm less happy, it's like there's a hole in my life that I need to fill. My instinct is then to find or make things to fill that hole. The feeling…
I‘m thankful for all the beautiful people I have in my life. I‘m grateful for all the amazing experiences I have made so far. I love being me. I truly appreciate all of this.
At some point, you find you've become become 'senior'. No advance notice is sent of this and it does not figure on any meeting agendas. When someone introduces me as 'highly experienced', I look over my shoulder to see who they are really talking about. As seniority hits, I'm finding myself learning more and more from…
During intense work phases, I often find myself deprioritizing social interactions to maintain focus and minimize distractions. While solitude often boosts my productivity and I enjoy my own company, I also realize how much I like to engage with open and inspiring people - they energize me. The last two days, I hosted…
É meu primeiro dia de volta ao trabalho depois da cirurgia que abriu minha barriga em três lugares. O céu chora compulsivamente em SP ilustrando bem meu estado de espírito. Eu quero muito ganhar na loteria para não ter que trabalhar. Passaria o dia inteiro pintando, fazendo cursos, cantando e dançando nua e aprendendo…
i have been thinking of my design ethos. i find the best way to develop is by listening to mentors. they way the speak. the way the create. the language they present. all have underlying fundamentals which can be adapted to my own thinking. i believe this is how to truly think outside-of-the-box...
Tried weights to stretch my ears for the first time. They seem to work very well. I’m trying to get back to 38mm like I had a few years ago. I went from 32mm to 35mm with this first time using the two 32g weights. I think I’m going to stay at this size for awhile and let my ears get use to it before I try moving up…
Some days, my brain can be a chaos of endless worries and scenarios that give me anxiety. These thoughts can be exhausting, but deep in my heart (very deep inside), I appreciate this aspect of my mind. It probably comes from my survival instinct, a part of me that is trying to anticipate and prepare for any possible…
We have steadily become trained to gather inspiration like a humpback whale gulping down thousands of krill. The constant inundation of images and concepts can confuse the mind and stifle your own creative spark. Really, the most profound moments of inspiration happen, not within the outer noise, but within the inner…
In life, shouldn't this be my goal? What can I do to make sure I wake up excited each day? How can I structure my future days to improve the probability of this happening for me and the people I care about? I won't share an answer (because I don't have one yet) but I'm confident this is a question worth asking.
When it comes to marketing, I'm confused about the 'who'. Conventional internet wisdom says you should pick a tight niche. But the reality for most successful products is that they cater to more than one type of person. Think Canva, or Uber, or Freshdesk, or Basecamp...do any of these market to a specific niche? The…
Often most of our earlier memories in our lives are associated with a particular sound. It is how we recognize many things in our life like the sound of raindrops falling over a rooftop, the sound of an ice cream truck that is right around the corner, the sound of a bell rung at the end of the class, or the sound of…
This is hard to admit, but I've been struggling with reading long form content. Today, I opened an article, and half way through, I put my phone down cos I just couldn't take it. I forced myself to go back and read the rest of it. It's worrying me that my attention is not mine anymore, and there's a bunch of reading I…
Happy Halloween. May your candy bucket be full and the odds ever be in your favor.
It's a toxic question. We like to press ourselves with it all the time. We use it to police each other. Diagnose the problem. Administer medication. It's how we like to handle problems. The question points our attention inwards and focuses on the mess we're swirling in. A better question is: What matters to you? This…
Imagine a time when the institutional machinery (read: governments & other agents that mass-organise people and resources) successfully pulls off something beyond belief. I am not talking about the run-of-the-mill political propaganda. I am talking about upheaving lives and livelihoods in a single decision. (Think the…
Moving is expensive, specially when its to a country where you can only reach by plane, the baggage allowance is limited, so there is so many things that you have to buy. Everything is so expensive and I just realized that there are so many teeny tiny things that as a whole they add up, from spoons, plates, pots,…
I'm unconvinced astrological signs mean anything, but I think the time of year that you're born does have an impact on your life. Children born around holidays get different levels of attention than kids born nowhere near holidays. They could get less because everyone is paying attention to the holiday, maybe more if…
You need someone you can tell everything. I share with my friends. They know a lot about me, but they don’t know everything. You can tell your journal everything. This essay and the next are examples of how I use my journals as a best friend. You may be surprised when your journal gives you an answer. I often clear my…
Woke up around 2:20am feeling impending doom. Worries about taking care of people. Worries about not being able to do what I want. Worries about always being at others' beck & call. Watched some food & self-help videos on YouTube. Got back to bed better listening to train "chu-CHUNK=chu=CHUNK" noises to distract me.…
I am the type who like analogies. I understand things better with analogies. I am aware that this type of thinking is not dynamic, and perhaps out of touch with reality. But as a thought exercise i enjoy doing this in my head. sometimes it helps me avoid bad startup ideas outright. And many times it makes me believe a…
Have you had a distant relative of yours who came to you and asked, 'Oh, you have changed so much,' only to realize later that you are not the person they thought you were? Apart from the personality changes we experience in our lives, which we often refer to as phases resulting from significant life events, the truth…
Louis Pereira, Nicheless founder, wrote recently that we shouldn't over-congratulate ourselves on our choices because they are shaped by the people we happen to spend time with. I agree, but the influence of chance on our choices goes well beyond the company we keep. I was idling in London after graduating from law…
I kind of want to read Holzfällen twice, in German then in English because I feel that the voice is completely different. perhaps I should read Murakami again, in Japanese. or try to... Philip Gabriel's translations of Murakami is such a special voice and I really really enjoy it but what does Murakami actually sound…
Boa noite. Hoje eu acordei de madrugada pra me despedir do meu companheiro que foi curtir o carnaval de Salvador. Voltei a dormir e acordei algumas horas depois pra levar minhas doguinhas no passeio. Estava com muita saudades de levar elas pra sair, de torcer por xixis e cocos saudáveis, por forçar interação delas,…
As writers, we long to express (our) thoughts and be heard. In today's climate, we castrate authenticity from artists willing to push (against) the global consensus. Luckily, those daring enough, regardless of the consequences — barge through any boundaries that are societally placed within (our) psyches. I adore the…
This morning I went on a walk, the first walk of hopefully many. I've always used my own two legs as main mode of transportation. Whenever I would read about walking as part of one's practice, I would think something like: 'I don't need that, I already walk everywhere!' But yesterday it hit me: I walk, I move my legs,…
“But the wise ones took flasks of olive oil with their lamps.” Matthew 25.4 NET. Preparation is key. The Day will come unexpectedly. The New Testament tells us how to be ready. MORE: Jesus said preparation is the deciding factor between those who will enter the Kingdom of heaven and those who won’t. That is why the…
Week two of the new routine and its going pretty well, but there are a number of hangups that I am having trouble with. The first thing is that I had a cigar last night and ended up staying up until 1AM which pushed my wake up to 8:30AM, which in turn, pushed everything else out. I have yet to do my piano and Spanish…
I had a dream that Kiese Laymon, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Damon Young were hosting a writers' retreat somewhere verdant. It was me, Young, Laymon, Coates, Kenny Smith (of the NBA), and some writers I can't remember right now but we were all Black and saw ourselves as men. One was named Joel, I think. We were in the big…
I woke up today with anger. I’m just so angry and so frustrated. Nelson told me about how he reacted to Pandu saying that your girlfriend is only not on your side, don’t talk. He was so upset then that I wasn’t on his side. And now he realises that he never thought about it from my side. That unless I saw the logic,…
we never smile at people, thinking it's trivial. never greet upon meeting, cause it's said without meaning. never thought to reach out and stay, because-what will others say? we wanted to help them, there, but will the others spare? never went ahead to dance with our dear, we'll get judged-came this fear. never enough…
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the premiere for ‘Ola: Health is Everything,’ my first feature documentary. I remember that night at the Hawai‘i International Film Festival vividly; the sold out theater, the crush of the crowd after the credits rolled, the inescapable feeling that lightning had struck. It’s…
There are many reasons to want a journaling habit. What’s your reason? A specific reason to journal is not required. Like any daily habit, having a why will keep you motivated. A quick internet search will yield a list of the benefits and research behind journaling. Your why may or may not be listed among the…
It hit me today. The realization didn't hit me like a ton of bricks. (Like some people would say.) But it did arrive to my conscious awareness. What am I talking about? Well, the fact that people don't do that of taking time and space out of their mundane routine. Like what I can write in the following paragraphs can…
Despite my scientific background, education, and critical thinking skills — I am extremely superstitious. I am not religious. I love the contrarian viewpoint. I am able to think for myself. Yet I am incredibly superstitious. It is primarily because of witnessing too many improbable events. In healthcare, some of the…
