Suffering & Limitation - Issue 22 - 14th August
It’s vital that we accept our limitations and take action to become better instead of decrying our own bad luck and misfortune. The world can be a cruel place. We can be very unlucky, but to accept this fate and work is to accept the way of the world. In the movie Bruce Almighty, a man feels that God punishes him, that he is incredibly unlucky and cries out for answers from God. He then meets God and God gives Bruce his job. Bruce must do God’s work. At first Bruce answers everyone’s prayers and chaos emerges. Everyone wins the lottery, loses weight without trying etc. and riots erupt. It’s this symbolism that portrays what the world would be like if everyone got what they wanted without working for it or deserving it. We should not want to get everything we want because our limitations literally give us something to do. Without them, we’d be bored and complacent. If we were all lucky, no one would be. Further, if given the power of God, would we choose to be selfish and provide ourselves with all that we desire?
The Hobbit - Issue 21 - 7th August 2022
Let’s explore a story that we can relate to with plenty of symbols and metaphors relating to struggle. Bilbo Baggins is a little hobbit, living a pleasant life in his little hobbit hole, situated in the beautiful and lovely Shire. He lives a life of contentment and comfort, warm and cosy in his little hobbit hole. The End.
Unpredictability - Issue 20 - 31st July 2022
As I sit here beside the window of my flat in the centre of Edinburgh, rain battering the window, I am reminded of the unpredictability of the world. One minute it’s sweltering outside, people complaining that it’s too hot, thenext, the heavens open and we are drenched to the skin whilst we walk home, livid in our t-shirts and shorts. The world can be a very uneasy and unpredictable place to live, however the practice of embracing struggle leads us to a path of anticipation and calm. We can prepare ourselves for whatever the world throws at us, because we’ve been struggling this whole time, so what’s some unpredictable struggle going to do? It will only make us stronger, but only if we let it. The unfortunate binary of the world is that theburden of suffering can break one and reinforce another. It’s down to you to decide which one you’ll be. Will you be the one who bitches and complains on their way to retirement, or will you buckle up, (wo)man up and achieve something meaningful, never thinking of retirement because life is worth living now, in the present, not longing for a future of old age and inaction.
Take Responsibility - Issue 19 - 24th July 2022
Taking responsibility is difficult. From children, we try to avoid blame, for fear of trouble or the disappointment of adults. However, as adults we try our hardest to instil into our children that taking responsibility is morally right and that being honest will make life easier later. In other words, thetrouble that comes your way will either be insignificant now that you have taken responsibility or significant if you blame someone else now and come clean later. Most of us learn this lesson either straight away or via failure to avoid blame and responsibility. We learn through the negative consequences of not taking responsibility. However, many of us seem to have lost this ability or at the very least only learnt this lesson at a surface level. When we do wrong or make a mistake that is obviously our fault, we own up, however it’s amazing how little is needed to slightly muddy those waters of responsibility so that we do not take responsibility and blame other people.
Struggle Creates Magic - Issue 18 - 17th July 2022
The year is 1994, a woman has just divorced her husband after filing a restraining order against him, and has now fallen into a deep depression. She is now jobless, her marriage is over and she’s living off of welfare benefits in order to take care of her five year old daughter. Prior to these events, her mother died from multiple sclerosis, the relationship she had with her father had deteriorated and she suffered a miscarriage. She was on the verge of suicide after this cruel fate of suffering and unexpected struggles.
Failure Breeds Success - Issue 17 - 10th July 2022
The year is 1985, less than ten years after Steve Jobs founded Apple, he was fired. Right in the prime of his success at the ripe age of thirty, Jobs was forced to resign by the then CEO Jon Sculley. It would take nearly 12 years before Jobs came back to the company that he started. Shortly after returning in 1997, Jobs took Apple into the stratosphere and completely revolutionized personal computers, handheld technology and the way we consume information. We know Jobs today as one of the titans of tech, a giant of Silicon Valley and a legend of the business. To the majority of us, a failure like this would cause a slow decline into self-pity, chaos and destruction, but not Steve Jobs. During his time away from Apple, he founded the company NeXT which developed computer workstations and funded Pixar Studios contributing to its exponential growth.
The Struggle To Be The Best - Issue 16 - 3rd July 2022
There is a small minority that, even though some don’t know they’re doing it, embrace struggle and progress further than the majority and achieve success and fulfilment.
The year is 1978, a sophomore student tried out for the varsity basketball team at Laney High School. When the list of players was posted, his name was not on it, he was instead asked to play on the junior team. He was told that he did not have enough talent and had not proven himself as an outstanding basketball player. The 15-year-old student was heartbroken by this crushing blow and cried in his room, convinced that he should give thesport up until his mother convinced him otherwise. Instead of letting this unexpected struggle defeat him, he played on the junior team and worked on his game relentlessly.
Struggle & The Buddha - Issue 15 - 26th June 2022
Christianity is not the only religion that has “life is struggle” as one of its core tenets. Buddhism began with Siddhattha Gotama who lived in North India in the 6th century B.C. His father, Suddhodana was the ruler of thekingdom of Sãkyas (modern-day Nepal). Siddhattha married a beautiful princess named Yasodharã at the age of sixteen, lived in a luxurious palace and had an incredibly opulent life ahead of him. However, at the age of twenty nine after the birth of his only child Rãhula, he decided to find a solution for mankind’s suffering by leaving his life of luxury behind and searching for the universal solution to this universal problem. Throughout his journey of epiphany, he met religious teachers and followed their systems and teachings, however he did not find the answer that he sought. He decided that in order to find the one true solution, he must tread his own path. It was at the age of thirty five, whilst seated under ‘The Tree of Wisdom’ that Siddhattha became Enlightened, after which he became known as The Buddha (The Enlightened One).
Travel Log - Lisbon & Cascais, Portugal - Issue 14 - 19th June - 2022
I have just returned from Cascais, a small coastal town just outside of Lisbon and it was a struggle to return. The town was screensaver beautiful, the sun beat down on my Scottish, pale skin and I ate and drank like a king, so of course, the taxi ride to the airport, the flight returning home and thetaxi journey through grey and cold cobbled streets was a struggle. However, this sort of struggle; the struggle of not accepting life as it is, the struggle of yearning for more is just what motivates me to keep working and bettering myself, so that I won’t dread returning to work in a job I have no passion for, watching what I spend and being constrained creatively. If I don’t work on myself and embrace struggle, I’ll keep feeling that struggle of returning each year. I’d rather live a life full of exploration, curiosity and fulfilment and in order to do that, I must struggle.
Newsletter Holiday Break - Issue 13 - 12th June 2022
I am currently writing this in Cascais, Portugal, so this will be a very short newsletter as I am taking this time to get some clarity and headspace so I can work and create better upon my return. I’m planning on reading three books, exploring the Portuguese cuisine and culture and explore theunfamiliar. In the meantime, I’ve included a quote to ponder below.