5 Things I Consumed Last Week (live like a mighty river)

"And that’s how we measure out our real respect for people—by the degree of feeling they can register, the voltage of life they can carry and tolerate—and enjoy. End of sermon"~ Ted Hughes, 1986

Hello Nello!

I feel very happy to be back in the groove. The past few weeks have been tough, most of my waking hours are spent working and trying to manage life on the margins. I am not complaining and I know if I prioritize things, I shall be able to make the most out of my free time.

But the thing is….

My sense are numb (reading feeling tired almost all the time). It takes some spirit to be able to survive on 5 hrs sleep cycle, make it to an early morning workout, prep a warm meal, brew coffee, obey your reminder to take vitamins, read on the road, be on your toes at work all day and come back only to have late dinners. No, this is not to give the wrong idea that I do all of this every-damn-day, but to tell you that each one of us goes through the same struggle to keep ourselves afloat and trying to wing it.

Amidst all of this, I was struggling to find content that really lights up that spark within me (mediocracy is not an option), leave me ambushed or else force me to press that share button and I could only find a few. (will keep the format breezy this time)

My latest find has been this newsletter - ‘Letters of Note’ by Shaun Usher is a goldmine of history’s most interesting letters and this one written by Ted Hughes knocked me off my feet.

In 1986, twenty-three years after Plath’s death, Hughes wrote to their twenty-four-year-old son, Nicholas, and advised him to embrace his “childish self” so as to experience life to its fullest.

I mean, just read this beauty:

And the only thing people regret is that they didn’t live boldly enough, that they didn’t invest enough heart, didn’t love enough. Nothing else really counts at all.

And that’s how we measure out our real respect for people—by the degree of feeling they can register, the voltage of life they can carry and tolerate—and enjoy. End of sermon. As Buddha says: live like a mighty river. And as the old Greeks said: live as though all your ancestors were living again through you.

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I nearly gave up on reading in the morning ride to work and that’s when I found this gem of a show - Tiny Beautiful Things

Most things will be okay eventually, but not everything will be. Sometimes you'll put up a good fight and lose. Sometimes you'll hold on really hard and realize there is no choice but to let go. Acceptance is a small, quiet room.

The drama is based on Cheryl Strayed’s 2012 collection of essays of the same name, which were themselves based on the responses she used to write for the Dear Sugar problem page of online literary magazine the Rumpus.
Extremely sweet, a cent percent tearjerker, a thoughtful exploration of grief, motherhood, emotions and keeping your relationships alive. I loved every bit of it. (I have not read the book, so can’t compare)

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My first acquaintance with Cheryl Strayed was through Tim Ferriss’s podcast. I precisely remember the place where I was running while listening to this and I remember that little spark within me when I heard this conversation. It’s extremely inspiring. I hope you like it too.

Equally inspiring is one of my favorites ‘Dear Sugar’ column - ‘The Future has an ancient heart’ (which is also in the series)

I hope you will be surprised and knowing at once. I hope you’ll always have love. I hope you’ll have days of ease and a good sense of humor. I hope one of you really will bake me a pie (banana cream, please). I hope when people ask what you’re going to do with your English and/or creative writing degree you’ll say: Continue my bookish examination of the contradictions and complexities of human motivation and desire; or maybe just: Carry it with me, as I do everything that matters. And then smile very serenely until they say oh!

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I spent an evening watching this documentary - The Elephant Whisperers on Netflix. Set against the gorgeously green cover of the Theppakdu Elephant camp in Tamil Nadu, it is a brilliantly shot account of how two care-takers successfully managed to raise a pair of orphaned baby elephants.

Certainly a sumptuous visual treat!

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While I was gone, a lot of you subscribed to this newsletter. I started writing on Substack last year and we are a community of over 1200+ subscribers now. While I have stopped checking the subscriber dashboard as frequently as I did last year, my heart still skips a beat whenever I see a new subscriber and when I see people who unsubscribe - it’s just a sinking feeling. (no complains though)

It’s almost unimaginable when I stop and think about the quantum of people connected - imagine fitting all of you into a room?!

Being a writer has it’s own gradient of emotions, and I am in absolute awe of how Lyle Mckeany has described it in this piece on Just Enough to Get Me in Trouble

Publishing to an email subscriber base is a double-edged sword. On one side, each post is another swing at the bat—another chance to knock one outta the park. But on the other side, as anyone who has done this before would quickly counter, each post is another invitation for subscribers to click unsubscribe. It’s a weird paradox for those of us who do this regularly.

On the really bad days, usually when I’m tired and feel like I don’t have any ideas to write about, all of this—the slower growth recently, the not going viral, etc.—can make me question if I should even bother to keep writing (this is the part where you leave a comment telling me that I’m crazy and that, of course, I should keep writing).

I am extremely thankful to all those who reached out during this break and I hope to be consistent with this again :)

Until next time, happy reading!

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If you enjoy reading this, maybe share it with your colleagues, friends and family; it would mean the world to me :) or else Order a handrwitten postcard for them.

You can always reach out to me on dearhummingbird1@gmail.com. or connect with me on IG at _i__cook or use the comment section!

Always grateful for the love,

The Hummingbird🌺

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