staying footed
external storms, tiny habits, silence, our past, a granny learning to swim, and soulful food
Dear Reader,
Thank you for joining me. I hope you are having a great week.
I am sitting here pre-dawn writing this letter and counting my blessings. Things I have to be grateful for. After the uproars, comes the knowledge that nothing is as bad as it seems. Or as we think it will be. In the moment, we get whirled around by what seems like a storm but mostly it is just wind blowing a little faster than usual. And it has threatened to blow us off our feet before too. But here we stand, a little ruffled perhaps, little cold, our cheeks chafed, our hair thrown off, but here we stand. So why to fear? Why don’t we just acknowledge the stronger currents and walk with ever more surety, placing each foot with care and strength and consideration for others.
We can flourish without screaming, getting irritated, and feeling as if the world is coming crashing down.
Do you get ruffled by external storms?
For this week’s letter,
Some of my writing,
quotes I love,
things to read,
things to watch,
and
travel tips.
Articles Relevant For the Week
23 Small, Daily Habits to Build a Better Life
The power of compounding is a fact, not a hope.
This collection of 23 small habits is the one I always read to get into rhythm again. But also to remind myself that the power is in starting, not in starting big.
“You supply the actions; the universe will supply the time. The trick is to choose the actions that, when multiplied by this universal amplifier, will yield the result you want. To position your everyday actions so time works for you, and not against you.”
Jeff Olsen
Arm yourself with the tiny life-changing habits now. Or Pocket to get started later.
The Amazing Karnataka State
If you are in India, explore the amazing Karnataka state this winter. The places and experiences listed here are a collection from ten years of traveling in Karnataka. One could say it is my second home.
See the places and experiences to be relished in Karnataka now. Or Pocket for the weekend.
Quotes I Love
“To belittle, you have to be little.” — Kahlil Gibran
“Hey, kids! It's your old buddy Steve King telling you that if they ban a book in your school, haul your ass to the nearest bookstore or library ASAP and find out what they don't want you to read.”
Stephen King, courtesy his Twitter
Silence gives us an opportunity to appreciate a great deal of what we generally see without properly noticing; and to understand what we have felt but not yet adequately processed.
Alain de Botton
The past is much affected by the present.
Virginia Woolf
Now, for a brief instant, grasping it [past] at all seems an impossibility, since it is irrevocably altered by the present, the platform of time from which it is glimpsed.
Olivia Laing
The present when backed by the past is a thousand times deeper than the present when it presses so close that you can feel nothing else.
Woolf
If we keep putting step after step while complying with our inner selves, sooner, or later, we would find ourselves on the path we were ought to be on.
Yours Truly
What I’ve Been Reading
I’ve been reading short stories, books, articles, and so much more. I can’t possibly list all what I have read in the past week so I’m putting down the things I found most relevant and worthwhile.
Beautiful reads from the week,
Alain de Botton: how to travel from your sofa — Though written in the beginning of the pandemic, this is a timeless piece.
In our neglect of our memories, we are spoilt children, who squeeze only a portion of the pleasure from experiences and then toss them aside to seek fresh thrills. Part of why we feel the need for so many new experiences may simply be that we are so bad at absorbing the ones we have had.
Heart Failure by Rocky Lewis — Caring for our loved ones, squeezing out time for things that matter, despite how hard it seems — amidst the tragedy and unrelentlessness of life.
Why traveling to Burma isn't a good idea in the current situation — For those who were contemplating visiting Myanmar
The Dangerous Quest for Identity by Yuval Noah Harari — a must-read in today’s time.
Every human being is heir to the whole of human creation. People who in search of their identity narrow their world to the story of a single nation are turning their back on their humanity. They devalue what they share with all other humans.
Yuval Noah Harari
A French Village’s Radical Vision of a Good Life with Alzheimer’s — A French village humanizing (finally) those struggling with Alzheimer’s, a disease that alienates.
If we are what we remember what are they
who don’t have memories as we have ours,
who, when evening falls, have no recall of day,
or who those people were who’d brought them flowers.
Holding Virginia Woolf in Your Hands by Roxana Robinson — How it feels like to visit Virginia Woolf’s house in East Sussex, England.
There is a green comet out in the sky somewhere, but I have not been able to see it.
What I’ve Been Watching/Listening
that’s worth mentioning
True Hard Work of Love and Relationships — On Being in an interview with one of the most honest visionaries Alain de Botton. (The motto of the On Being project and podcast: Pursuing deep thinking and moral imagination, social courage and joy, to renew inner life, outer life, and life together.)
one of the most beautiful things I saw on the internet recently a granny learning to swim
possibly the only surviving recording of Virginia Woolf's voice
And for all my Wanderlusters.
Images from Tamil Nadu, from January 2020, right at the time when the world was coming to a halt. And unaware of the upcoming pandemic, these Tamil Nadu folks went on selling and making food and its ingredients.
I took these pictures in the local market of Salem town, a place close to the popular hill station of Yercaud. We stopped by to eat something and quickly settled on the banana fritters the old man was making (picture above).
( two thalis — a plate of various dishes eaten together as a meal — from other places in Tamil Nadu)
The old man was surprised to see two (seemingly) city people squeezing through little lanes and the crowded market shed to reach him. But where else could we go once we had seen him?
(In photos, dosas of Tamil Nadu as I don’t have more pictures of the fritter maker.)
that’s it for now.
Thank you for reading.
I hope you have an inspiring week ahead. Stay calm and joyous :)
Let me know what you think about this newsletter. Just press reply.
Yours,
Priyanka
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