Self Knowledge

This is a story about cake. You know that feeling that you get, the one where you walk into a café, somewhat knowing that you are wanting to have a bite of something sweet. Then you look at the cake display. A triple layered ganache cake with bitter chocolate shavings that look just too pretty to be eaten. Then that feeling settles in. That feeling of wanting to plunge your fork into its outer most corner of that triangle, the one pointing towards you saying eat me. That feeling where you know you will destroy the delicate beauty that is that chocolate slice. That conundrum. That inner conflict. That feeling of wanting to keep your cake in tact. That feeling of wanting to eat it too. Continue reading →

Our bearing on morality has been instilled in us ever since we were children, and due to our upbringing and nurturing, we are told we should behave in a certain way. In fact, we do behave in a certain way because it’s deemed proper, however, personal morality varies from person to person, some stricter than others. If you want to believe you are a good person, you only have yourself to prove to, no one else. Continue reading →

We live in a world where people make or break their words easily. It is still debated whether it is in our nature, as natural born liars, an evolutionary trait, or that it is our nurture, that our upbringing and surrounding has caused. Either way, I think that it is importance for people to have integrity, to keep to their word. Without integrity you would never be able to lead a good life, and fear the risk of others not holding onto their integrity in return. Continue reading →

It’s Saturday morning and the first light beams through a crack in the curtain. Rising is slow and a hot drink is prepared. Pressures are few and no plans have been made. The first sip of tea soothes a parched throat and the eyes wander to watch the outside world turn. Continue reading →

There are different expressions of emotion categorised as pain or pleasure. Our feelings provide guides for the survival of our bodies. Most animals are thought to feel pain and pleasure. We also know from behavioural experiments that pain and pleasure is triggered associatively, like the baby that hears a loud crash when seeing a toy. Repeated experience of this causes the baby to cry when it sees the toy again, despite the absence of the sound that time. Given that emotions play such a significant role in our choices and our perspective on things, how should we untangle bias and potentially harmful conditioning? Continue reading →

Most of us go through our lives coasting, never letting things shake up too much. Of all the important things out there, there is few and far between that are truer than how we choose our friends, and more importantly, why we remain with them. As soon as sociality kicks in as an evolutionary trait, we are taught that we should get along with each other. Because of this primordial belief that we need to get along to survive, we strive to be in groups that we consider important for our wellbeing. This is true… to a certain extent. Continue reading →

We as people crave adventure, be it going to the next town or the next continent. I know what you’re thinking, not everyone is an adventurer, but people are much more adventurous than you think. Do you ever get that feeling, that feeling of listlessness, that feeling that your feet are itching, that feeling that you just need to… go. That, my friend, is the feeling of wanderlust. That unbearable feeling, that screaming of your soul in your head, that longing to see the world, that longing to feel the world.
Continue reading →

We go through life with many people and issues to deal with, all at the same time without them knowing what we ourselves are going through. I recently came across this quote, originally by Portuguese born José Micard Teixeira, and as all things internet, it got misquoted as a Meryl Streep quote, but I digress. This quote, quite long and powerful, is simply titled “I no longer”. This quote speaks about how we will reach a stage in our lives where we have to let go of the things which make us unhappy. These can come in many forms, but as we all know too well, be it with family, friends or even acquaintances. As we grow and learn more about the world we constantly change who we are, our beliefs and who we want to be. Continue reading →

It really seems that there really is only one constant in life – change. Most of us go through life not wanting to face this reality, that we are ever changing and ever evolving creatures. Who we are when we are 30 is vastly different from who we are when we were 20, and who we will be when we are 40 will be vastly different from who we are when we are 30. This is an inevitable fact of life. Time is short and a very precious commodity, and that’s why it’s important to not waste any of it doing things we don’t love. We should never accept the life that is, but strive for the life that ought to be. We should always aim for personal growth. Continue reading →