Reflections – 2
This is a collection of thoughts that are less developed than the stories in the main archive. Think of them as brief entries in my intellectual journal that I share every now and then.
These reflections are available for all readers. Enjoy:
- It’s surreal to leave your home without knowing if you’ll ever see it again.
- Follow-up thoughts on a piece that is loved and criticized.
- The great trade-off of reach is human connection.
- Every thought is an echo of one that has existed in the past.
- Following your passion is a lot harder than it sounds.
- Focus on the challenge, and not its byproducts.
- Its very pursuit is the cause of its dissolution.
- When conviction and compassion can coexist, a brighter future is possible.
- The more you oscillate between the two, the more meaning you derive.
- All of contemplative thought is grounded in these simple inquiries.
- Inquiry is the gateway to understanding.
- When the doors to the past and future are closed, fear has no place to wander within the halls of your mind.
- Your identity is constructed the moment you decide to embody it.
- It reminds me that a better version of myself is accessible at any time.
- Reason has a hard limit on answering life's most important questions.
- Freedom is less about doing what you want, and just allowing life to be.
- Compassion is to take active participation in another’s life, and to commit to that wholeheartedly.
- Self-reliance is about believing in your intuition and acting upon your curiosity.
- A disciplined mind is beautiful only if it can also embrace contentment.
- "It’s the height of madness to worry about being despised by the despicable."
- We work hard to achieve freedom, but this quest makes us believe we are never good enough.
- Free yourself from the thought that you deserve anything.
- How to balance inner exploration with outer acceptance.
- The best way to divorce pain from suffering is to give yourself space to talk about your pain.
- The pursuit of status is the antithesis of knowing yourself.
- How do we accept what we simply are, while also knowing that there’s something we’re trying to become?
- There's a fine line between transcendence and insanity.
- Creativity is a virtue because it's the purest form of self-acceptance.
- What seems like a “money” question is always a “story” one.
- "The goal is not to advance knowledge, but to be in the know."
- Knowing how to be alone is an antidote to loneliness.
- “If you zoomed out and saw my zig-zagged line, wouldn’t it look beautiful from afar?”
- "Whatever I am, that I want to understand."
- Focus on the craft before anything else.
- Instead of setting goals to desire, reflect on why you desire those goals in the first place.
- What does it mean to rest when you're valued by what you produce?
- If you have style, any old idea you communicate becomes new.
- The more money you have, the more you have to preserve. And the more you have to preserve, the more fear that surrounds its potential loss.
- Don't fall in love with your own intellect.
- Be open to any data point, but don't let it become your operating system.
- The pursuit of meaning is the distinguishing feature of our species. How do we harness it to bring out the best of ourselves?
- Our relationship with time defines this strange emotion.
- If you can't eradicate it, opt out of it while you can.
- If you view knowledge for its utility, you will never fully appreciate it.
- Dependency is not love, yet we often confuse one for the other.
- Shield yourself against the winds of external response.
- Decouple an interest from its practical value. That's how agency is born.
- A 2-step framework you can use to unearth ideas worth writing about.
- The best game to play is the one that requires no scoreboard in the first place.
- If you can master the art of the start, then any creative endeavor is possible.