Saturday-Pentacle // Issue 173 // Week 9 // 2020

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By Himanshu Sachdeva

Hello there!

How are you? Really.

Have you asked this question to yourself anytime before? We talk about self-care, self-love and treating ourself as we would to our best friends and family. But have you asked this question to yourself anytime before?

If no, then it’s the right time to ask it to yourself. If you are not able to think clearly, use paper or a diary and note down how are you feeling right now. Physically and emotionally.

Stop thinking about what you should have done, what you would have done or what you could do. You are going to miss this moment, the right now, this moment. (Yes this one!)

Ask yourself the hard question and try to answer it honestly.

I did ask this to myself recently and in the process of answering it, I arrived at quite an interesting derivation about my well being. That gave me a new goal and direction to work on and made me course-correct myself and start living in the present moment once again. I totally recommend you do this exercise.

The only thing which will help you grow apart from generating ideas is following through by doing reflection exercises on a consistent frequency. (This Saturday-Pentacle newsletter has become that for me, a weekly reflection exercise) It helps me re-calibrate the upcoming week, after reflecting on the past week.

This is a leap year day, 29th Feb 2020. So happy B’day to all who were born on 29th Feb. Wish you next after 4 years. Here is a fun Ad Ryan Reynolds’ (the Deadpool actor) company Aviation Gin made for a lady who was born on 29th Feb and turned legally 21 (actual biological age 84). What a video. Watch it here. (This is a bonus piece in today’s pentacle)

Coming on book listening progress, I’m finishing up on Homo Deus (88% done) and finished “A Study in Scarlet” of Sherlock Holmes series and started the next one in this series “The Sign of the Four” (which is almost 20% done). So even though Home Deus is not finished. Still, I’m near to my goal (certainly didn’t breach the goal). So hopefully till the March End, my 6 books are over (Jan – 1, Feb – 2.5 and Mar 2.5). Hoping for more consistent listening time daily.

Coming back to the Saturday-Pentacle, let’s cut to the chase.


Issue 173 // Week 9 // 2020


A Podcast I loved

That Creative Life Podcast Episode with J.N. Silva and Dave Krugman – Making a Living on Instagram – This conversation was epic. Got so many insights from real photographers (who are not just insta-go-lucky) but really on another sphere of photography.

1 hour well spent. Here is the Spotify link to check it out (if you are not able to see the player below).


Artist, I’m curious about

Recently my podcast guest Delton Dsouza mentioned about Sam Kolder as one of his inspiration while creating videos on YouTube.

Once I saw Sam Kolder’s work on YouTube. It just swept me off my feet. His videos are unlike anything I’ve ever seen. So much editing work done with all those magical transitions and every second making your jaw drop a little more wider.

Here is a video from him (and you can get down the YouTube suggested video rabbit hole from here and you won’t be disappointed) –

KOLD – The Creative Process

A meditation session I Loved —

The Last Time You’ll Do Something – This meditation session by Sam Harris on the app “Waking Up” shares a significant insight about our lives. Just like a reminder that everything you do may be the last time you do it. Not just maybe because you’ll die tomorrow, but also maybe you might just not do that thing due to any number of reason ever again. So think about it, whenever you are doing anything, is that last time you are doing it?

When was the last time you took a walk just to take a walk?

Sam Harriss

Check out this video (made by someone else, but this same meditation session) –


A playlist I loved

Songs to Get lost in – This past week this playlist had been on heavy rotation. Loved many of the songs from this playlists. Great for chilling or light focus.

Check it out.


Quote I’m pondering on lately – (this one is also from Sam Harris)

The only thing that permits human beings to collaborate with one another in a truly open-ended way is their willingness to have their beliefs modified by new facts. Only openness to evidence and argument will secure a common world for us.

Sam Harris

Before saying “see you next week”
Here is a podcast episode I published in the past week. Episode 18 with Delton Dsouza. We talk about adventure filmmaking, his creative process and much more.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7vQ6MhePvajayNFKCCW5oh?si=T485rI5qTdKYYgZX5Df-SQ

Until Next Saturday!

Thanks for reading.

Himanshu


Hey friends, I’m Himanshu, a technology professional working in Mumbai, India. I spend most of my spare time making Podcasts, YouTube videos and write on Lifestyle Design and sometimes stories. Every Saturday, I send out an email newsletter called “Saturday Pentacle”, a list of the cool stuff I explored in the past week, including quotes, photos, books, articles, movies, documentaries and so on!


No spam, ever. Only great stuff.

Saturday-Pentacle // Issue 173 // Week 9 // 2020

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Saturday-Pentacle – Week 2 – 2019

Saturday-Pentacle – Week 2 – 2019


“Saturday-Pentacle”

Saturday-Pentacle - Week 21 - 2017


An alternate browser I’m trying out –

Vivaldi – This is also a chromium-based browser. The platform on which Google Chrome and many other browsers are built upon. However, this is much more customizable than Chrome. Vivaldi gives you more control over your history along with many other useful features like grouping similar tabs or taking note in the browser window side by side. Especially the themes are amazing. I’m using a dark theme which brings my work in center stage and almost puts the browser away from being a distraction.

Vivaldi is available for all three major desktop platforms – Windows / Mac / Linux, just go here and download.


most popular Instagram post recently

Chameleon!
.
Click the photo below to read the entire story.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BsJ-uQ7F9EN/


An article I found useful  —

The Surprising Benefits of Journaling One Sentence Every Day – I love journaling but it’s difficult to stick to it on a consistent basis. This article provides insight on how it can be made simple as writing just one line each day.

I know the power of journaling or writing down the thoughts on paper. It brings out so many unexpected ideas. Directly or sometimes even indirectly. It makes you align to your goal. Most importantly it makes you aware of your own self and your thoughts. Cause your thoughts are what will make or break you. Good Article by James Clear.


A podcast I’m loving —

The Waking Up Podcast  – Here is the podcast I’ve been listening in Awe. Sam Harris is one of the smartest persons I know about who is alive in our times and you should listen to what he has to say. Sometimes it feels like just listening to him speak makes you hypnotized. I’m serious. Here is the first episode of his podcast –


Quote I’m pondering on lately – 

“To understand and be understood, those are among life’s greatest gifts,
and every interaction is an opportunity to exchange them.”

― Maria Popova


Until Next Saturday!

Thanks for reading.

Himanshu

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No spam, ever. Only great stuff.

Saturday-Pentacle – Week 2 – 2019

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