#45: Peaks and Troughs

#Marriage #Art #EmotionalRecursion #LanguageRevolution

Nov 17, 2023

👋 Welcome to this week's Pursuit. My name is Amir, and each week I go over 10 hours of content in pursuit of living a meaningful, fulfilling and balanced life. I'm grateful to share my findings with you and hope I can have a tiny impact on your life. Subscribe now if you haven't already!

This week’s discovery:

💼 Advice on Making Love Last… From a Divorce Lawyer
⚪ The Creative Act
⛰️ Peaks and Troughs
🉐 Solving the Chinese Character Set Puzzle
🗒️ A Quote I'm Pondering On
🎵 Music I'm Listening To

💼 Advice on Making Love Last… From a Divorce Lawyer

I shared this episode with many of my married friends. Understanding the reasons behind a marriage's dissolution is as crucial as, if not more than, understanding what makes it endure. Even if you're not married, I urge you to listen to it to become a future partner who is well-informed and compassionate. Here are some of the highlights:

In a healthy marriage, both partners prioritize understanding each other's wants and needs. This involves taking turns in fulfilling those needs and being open to exploring different roles within the relationship. Being submissive in certain aspects, such as deferring decision-making or showing trust, can strengthen the bond between partners. It is crucial to create a culture where each partner feels comfortable expressing their dominant or submissive sides without shame.

Money can be a major source of marital conflict, rooted in trust and communication. Open discussions about finances are essential to build trust and address potential issues. Couples should consider maintaining separate as well as joint accounts to maintain a certain level of autonomy. This allows each partner to make individual financial decisions while still being transparent about shared expenses. Regular check-ins regarding the financial situation and mutual agreements on spending limits can help prevent misunderstandings and build a strong financial foundation in the marriage.

🎧 Listen - 1h 6min

⚪ The Creative Act

One of my dear friends, Gufran, gave me this book as a gift. As I glanced at the first page, the passage below captivated me. While I don't consider myself an artist, if you have even a bit of an artistic side, you'll probably enjoy this book. Or you can gift it to an artist friend 😉

Through the ordinary state of being, we're already creators in the most profound way, creating our experience of reality and composing the world we perceive. To live as an artist is a way of being in the world. A way of perceiving. A practice of paying attention. Refining our sensitivity to tune in to the more subtle notes. Looking for what draws us in and what pushes us away. Noticing what feeling tones arise and where they lead. Attuned choice by attuned choice, your entire life is a form of self-expression. You exist as a creative being in a creative universe. A singular work of art.

📚 Buy the book

⛰️ Peaks and Troughs

Whether you’re at a peak or a trough: most feelings are recursive. They end and they begin. If you’ve felt it once you’ll feel it again. All the joy and delight. All the loneliness and rootlessness. If I’ve lost once I’ll suffer loss again. If I’ve loved once, no doubt I’ll love deeply again. To orbit gently across these cycles with humility, with an open heart: that’s the game.

📖 Read - 3min

🉐 Solving the Chinese Character Set Puzzle

Did you know that the Chinese character set was nearly the downfall of China's rise to technological superpower status? The problem was fitting the massive character set onto a QWERTY keyboard. Mao himself even advocated for getting rid of the characters altogether or adopting an alphabet. But Professor Wang Yongmin, also known as the Chinese Steve Jobs, developed the Wubi method, breaking down Chinese characters into their components and assigning each component to a key. This allowed users to input the characters by typing the components. The ingenious method saved the Chinese language from being replaced and became widely popular, even winning in typing competitions. However, the Chinese government has promoted phonetic-based input methods like Pinyin to unify the language. Despite this, Wubi and other shape-based methods continue to be favored for speed and preserving character writing.

🎧 Listen - 57min