✏️ A Letter to Myself
I have recently heard the idea that life happens in 12-year cycles — ages 0-12, 12-24, 24-36, and so on. When I think back on my own life, I can more or less see a different version of myself in each of these time blocks. The versions of Alex that existed at age 10, 17, and 24 are in many ways similar and in many ways much, much different. The people in my life, what was important to me, what I looked like, how I carried and thought of myself: all these things have evolved drastically over time.
I like the idea of a 12-year life cycle. Being 24 at the moment, I have the feeling that I am starting a new and exciting phase of life. I am slowly but surely finding the strength to take my own advice and follow my own path, and I feel like the steps being taken are moving in the right direction, even though I don’t know where that direction leads. Sometimes all you can do is live out the questions that are posed to you by life, and hope that you are able to find the answers one day.
I think I am exactly where I am supposed to be, and doing what I am supposed to do: putting one foot in front of the other.
📸 Photo of the Week
A list of all the Nobel Laureates in Physics.
📖 Book of the Week — Great Canadian Speeches by Brian Busby (editor)
A collection of great speeches given by influential Canadians, from Wilfried Laurier to Mackenzie King to Jean Chrétien. I found this book at the cottage of a school friend and was captivated by the eloquence and passion in these speeches. In a way, it is a history of Canada through the words of our leaders.
💭 Quote of the Week
It is difficult to find happiness within oneself, but it is impossible to find it anywhere else.
Arthur Schopenhauer
🔭 Sunday Best
Choral Classics from Cambridge — the ultimate background music for reading.
Self-Control and Grit: Related but Separable Determinants of Success — an annotated white paper on self-control and grit as determinants of success.
Rachmaninoff - Vocalise, Op. 34 No. 14 — arranged by Zoltán Kocsis.
Advice for my 24-year-old self
💡 Food for Thought
What you want is often exactly what you don’t need.
AT