A person who has grown habitual to mocking, imprisons himself by his words of derision.
The words he uses to elevate the failings of others
create a colossal fear of failing inside of him.
Driving him numb towards any possibility of exploration and thus freedom.
Some reflections from Austin Kleon’s discussion with Rob Walker
Writing is crystallizations of thoughts in a particular time
We often tend to think of the written word to be relevant for eternity. But in fact every written word is a thought that is relevant depending on the context of the time. With time and situations, thoughts change and the written word can lose its efficacy or relevancy.
Caring for something, you can fall in love with it.
We like to think that we need to be in love with something to care about it. Where in fact it runs both ways, if we decide to take care of one thing dearly, we can eventually in love with it. There is a physical and emotional investment in the things we decide to care about that can bring about love in our relationship to that thing. Find something to care about.
Smartphones are the anti-boredom machines of the worst kind.
Its important to be bored. More so for the creative as boredom allows for the mind to consolidate the thoughts and allows you to be present in the moment. It brings the learnings of the past clarity and fuses it with things that can be done in the present. Its easy to kill boredom by taking out your phone but with boredom one kills its benefits too.
Since I read the astounding mountain adventure book, Beyond Possible by Nimsdai Purja, I’ve gotten interested in knowing more about high alpine mountaineering.
In recent news, Mingma G has summited the true summit of Manaslu with his Sherpa and client team from Imagine Nepal. One of the strongest climbers in the community, he has shared a video to justify his claim. Manaslu has been shrouded in mystery and controversy for quite some time as many teams have taken their clients to false summits either knowingly or unknowingly.
For me both are commendable and am not a person who has ever ventured into this sport and I have deep respect for everyone who has even reached base camps. These are treacherous and really risky mountains and no one but a climber is allowed to judge anyone.
What entices me is the analogies it has with life. Each of us in some way is on a mountain and there are many peaks in life to be conquered. But if we don’t see the mountain that we are climbing for what it is and just believe what has been done to be the truth, it is like blindly trusting the rope to reach the false summit and believing it to be true. It takes great courage to move beyond what is already done, in the hearts and in the mind but it keeps you away from deceiving yourself.
I hope there will be no more fore summit in future. Top is always Top, no more ups, everything below you. - Mingma G