November Update
I feel very sheepish about posting half-baked ideas, particularly the ones that I am still labouring to process. However, I am a practicing imperfectionist, who is learning to embrace the idea that: if I wait for all my ideas and research to be perfect, then I may have missed the most valuable element: time. Or, in the words of Alex Hormozi, whose work ethic I revere: “By the time you have complete information, the opportunity has closed.”
So here I am, squirming to post these raw, unrefined thoughts but posting them nonetheless. 🥂 To stepping outside of our comfort zone.
November came and went in the blink of an eye. I am still trudging through my “third-life crisis”, trying to discern which axioms to best live my life by. While I have been holding tightly onto the people who love me and remind me of the essence of who they know me to be, I also know that I have strayed into the company of vague acquaintances and surfaced conversations. My excuse is that: after long hours of working, learning, and deliberating about the directions for the next stage of my life, sometimes my mind just needs a break, an escape. While I am not too proud of those nights out, nor the company that I had kept, I think they just might be necessary to preserve my sanity for the moment.
Besides my struggle to equilibrate between Romanticism and Pragmaticism (as per my October update), I have also been vacillating between living in the present and planning for the future. Specifically:
How Does One Hope for the Future and Live in the Present Simultaneously?
There are countless wisdom and philosophies about the only path to pure and absolute happiness in living in the present,
and just as much teachings about striving for the future. Here’s what I mean:
Present
True happiness is… to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have. Make the Now the primary focus of your life.
Eckhart Tolle
You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.
Henry David Thoreau
Future
We have always held to the hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life, a better world, beyond the horizon.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Albert Einstein
Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.
Nelson Mandela
Our human compassion binds us the one to the other – not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future.
If these two concepts weren’t dichotomic, then perhaps I wouldn’t be having such a hard time.
Anyways! Here are some photos for those of you who are more visually inclined:
November in Pictures



That’s it from me! Thank you for reading, and for being part of this journey with me💙 Until next time!
One approach could stem from observing the past, reflecting on the things that made you feel contented and/or gave the wisdom to avoid life’s pitfalls.
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lovely! ” I am a practicing imperfectionist, who is learning to embrace the idea that: if I wait for all my ideas and research to be perfect, then I may have missed the most valuable element: time. ”
👍🏽💞
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Thank you, Cindy!💙
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Beauty ☺️
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Thank you, Nene💙
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Nice photos and the quote from Albert Einstein appealed the most to me. I am always busy with the future, I guess I should try to in the present once in a while.
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Dear Michael, I often struggle to stay in the present, too. Perhaps it’s something we can both work on! 💙
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Yes, we should definitely do that. Maybe we can support each other and exchange tips for doing so.
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Andie,
You can only work and think so much. Blowing off steam is part of the creative process. No need to feel guilty about it.
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I don’t think there is necessarily any conflict between the two. It is still valid to plan for the future. I think the point is to drop any attachment to the outcome. Planning is always done now, in the present. Be aware of that. When taking action as part of the plans, be fully present as you do so, be the action itself. Embody the process without worrying about the ends.
As John Lennon said: “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”
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Dear Graham, thank you for this much needed reminder! Dropping expectations and attachments is definitely something I need to continue to work on💙
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don’t we all? 😉
😌🙏✨
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Excellent point Andie, about not waiting until everything is perfect to do something–odds are you may end up just waiting and never doing it. Thank you.
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Balancing between Romanticism and Pragmatism sure can be a handful. It’s like mixing water with fire and then you get hot steam.
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Great quotes and advice, perfection never comes, and if it does, it is often brittle and sad.
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“Brittle and sad” is the best I’ve ever heard anyone describe perfection
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Better to be flawed and flexible for sure.
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Beautiful photos great quotes! Well shared thanks.👍
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Oh, thank you dear Priti!
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Welcome. Do read my story also.😁
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Reblogged this on anastasiakalantzi59.
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