Greetings everyone,
Hope you are well. Thanks for reading today’s newsletter!
Alex
If you remember me, then I don't care if everyone else forgets.
—Haruki Murakami
✏️ On writing
Go into yourself. Find out the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depths of your heart; confess to yourself whether you would have to die if you were forbidden to write.
This most of all: ask yourself in the most silent hour of your night: must I write? Dig into yourself for a deep answer. And if this answer rings out in assent, if you meet this solemn question with a strong, simple “I must,” then build your life in accordance with this necessity; your whole life, even into its humblest and most indifferent hour, must become a sign and witness to this impulse.Rainer Maria Rilke
Writing holds a special place amongst the arts — there is something about it that is untouchable, all-powerful.
We build our world upon words. Our constitutions, our emails, our thoughts — everything is formed by words. Writing is the thoughtful distribution of words. To the writer, writing is not only a means of earning his daily bread: it is his means of understanding the world. It is his means of making sense of the convoluted and tangled nature of the human experience. It is the medium by which he learns, finds fault in himself, and expands. When we write seriously, truthfully, and with purpose, we discover a world within ourselves, and in others, that transcends mere words on a page. You see it in the classics — novels like Anna Karenina and The Count of Monte Cristo speak to truths that can only be felt in the human heart. And written by the human heart.
Writing is hard. It challenges you to be honest with yourself: it brutally exposes what you don’t know, and lays bare your limitations to the world. But this is exactly why we must write: we must get to know ourselves. One could spend a lifetime and never achieve it entirely. But we must try, for in knowing ourselves we can perhaps ease the burdens of those around us.
In science, writing is essential. Not all great writers are scientists, but all great scientists must be good writers. In science, we are in the business of critical thinking. We are trained in the art of questioning, studying at the school of truth. Writing is critical if we are to understand the world, let alone study it.
We write to learn. We write to teach. We write to become a better version of ourselves.
Aut cum scuto aut in scuto
Either with shield or on shield
💡 Food for Thought
To look to the end, however far, close or dark the road may appear, with gratitude and eagerness to meet one's fate. That is the attitude that will provide the strength to go on when the going gets tough and the road gets rough. That, and a love for mankind, and above all God.
🔗 Sunday Best
The Alchemy of Happiness — Baraka Blue
In a word, there is nothing closer to you than you. If you do not know yourself, how can you know anything else? .... you must seek out the truth about yourself: What sort of a thing are you? Where did you come from? Where are you going? Why have you come to this stopping place? For what purpose were you created? What is your happiness and in what does it lie? What is your misery and in what does that lie?
Al-Ghazali, The Alchemy of Happiness
Don't Be Triggered - Shaykh Hamza Yusuf
The word "triggered" is used to describe a strong emotional response to an upsetting event that reminds one of past traumas. The term has become popular for its colloquial use of feeling offended or hurt. Learning to handle negative or stressful situations is key to living a life of emotional and spiritual balance. In this episode, Shaykh Hamza discusses the sacred messages from the Quran which provide the antidote to negativity, teaching us to break free from the shackles of our base desires and find true freedom through the prophetic response.
Investigation of divergent thinking among surgeons and surgeon trainees in Canada (IDEAS): a mixed-methods study
Citation: Thabane A, McKechnie T, Arora V, et al. Investigation of divergent thinking among surgeons and surgeon trainees in Canada (IDEAS): a mixed-methods study BMJ Open 2024;14:e081367.
We found the divergent thinking level of surgeons and surgeon trainees was significantly higher but not meaningfully different from the average adult. Participants showed above-average ability to generate quantities and varieties of ideas but struggled to generate original ideas. The female sex was associated with higher divergent thinking ability. The results of the interviews highlighted the value of creativity for creative problem-solving in the operating room and the potential for creativity to mitigate stress and burnout. These results are likely generalisable to other surgical departments in Canada.
To live is to suffer. To survive is to find some meaning in the suffering.
—Friedrich Nietzsche
See you next week.
AT