Saturday-Pentacle

Saturday-Pentacle – Week 33 – 2017

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Saturday-Pentacle, Week 33 Issue

“Saturday-Pentacle”

Saturday-Pentacle - Week 21 - 2017

Post of the week –

Q&A Tuesday

Q&A Tuesday – In the last week, on the Independence day eve (15th Aug), I did a Q&A Tuesday post, which was published later in the week. In this Q&A, I answered an interesting question sent by Ankita from Mumbai.

Question. Being workaholic is not always being effective at the workplace, so how do I make myself more effective and keep my work more sorted?

Check out my answer and details in the podcast.

Listen to it –

  • iPhone users – click here.
  • Android users – click here.

My most popular Instagram post recently —

The Beatles

There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life.

When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance.

We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create.

Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.

― John Lennon

Article(s) I’m enjoying (and pondering) —

Coconut Oil Tea – Today it’s not an article what I’m sharing but a recipe. I recently learned about this one and oh boy it made my Green Tea taste so good.

Summary of the article – Make your green tea in the normal fashion and add one tablespoon of Raw Coconut Oil. Stir it well for 5 minutes until the goodness of the oil melts in your Tea and Tada!! I recommend reading the article for more in-depth details like double antioxidant properties etc.

I’m reading/watching/listening to —

Bridge of Spies – If you love historical thrillers spy movies! You are in for a treat!

This Steven Spielberg movie starring  Tom Hanks as  James Donovan who was a lawyer in Brooklyn is turned into a negotiator by situations and does the job so amazingly is thrilling in itself.

The best part of the historical war or spy movies is that you get to experience the era long before you, which is untouched or unseen by you and now can never be seen again. That fascinates me.

This particular movie is about a specific scene when James Donovan is made the defender of a Soviet Spy Rudolf Abel. The whole country feels against the defending of this Soviet spy but James predicts that he might be useful in exchange of our soldier/spy in the time of the cold war with Russia. It turns out to be true, the prediction. Gary Powers who was a pilot of experimental super high altitude aircraft U2 is attacked over the clouds. He and his aircraft go down in Soviet Territory and eventually, James’s prediction comes true. US government then sends James himself for the negotiation of this exchange. Where instead of just getting Gary Powers the pilot, he also retrieves another hostage  Frederic L. Pryor who was an American PhD student at the time in Germany and was held by the Germans in the time of cold war.

Some scenes in the movie will feel spine shivering if you are a war movie fanatic.

Here is a trailer to get you curious –

Quote I’m pondering on lately –

“He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight”

— Sun Tzu (The art of war)

Until Next Saturday!

Thanks for reading.

Himanshu

A couple of things I could use your help with:

  1. Have a relevant topic, which I should be covering? Write to me directly or fill out this form and let me know.
  2. Join my reader’s list – It helps us a lot when you become a subscriber, it smoothens you experience on Lifestyle Architecture Lab. Being on email list provides you additional benefits like some exclusive content, webinar’s, free goodies and all of it will be FREE. Please click the link above to join now or put your email address in the below box and hit subscribe.

No spam, ever. Only great stuff.

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Saturday-Pentacle

Saturday-Pentacle – Week 32 – 2017

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Saturday-Pentacle, Week 32 Issue

“Saturday-Pentacle”

Saturday-Pentacle - Week 21 - 2017

Product of the week –

Fast&Up Reload

Reload is an amazing product from Fast&Up. Designed specifically as an ‘in workout’ hydration drink. It comes as tablets in a tube bottle. 2 tabs for 500 ml of water, which can provide sufficient hydration for a 10k run (as per my experience).

Just in case if I got you curious, you can go check out this Amazon link (affiliate link) – Fast&Up Reload

My most popular Instagram post recently —

Remember me.

Nick was watching through the barbed wire window, from the other side wall of the graveyard.⠀

After that day he couldn’t confront her, even when she was dead.⠀

They both were standing near the highway 8, car parked off the road, gates were open.⠀

It was a very pitty thing on which they started arguing. They were frustrated and hence got into this meaningless fight.⠀

Without her knowing she had moved to the edge of the road.⠀

A guy in a blue porche, was talking over phone and he too was arguing with someone over the phone. Probably another case of boyfriend girlfriend trouble.⠀

Bang!⠀

Porche hit the girl and ran over her.⠀

While Nick just froze in his feet.⠀

“Carla!!!!”, he shouted after a few seconds as he unfroze.⠀

She was not moving much, her head was smashed under the front left wheel of the porche. Blood stream came down from her head and spread covered a big part of the road.⠀

Porche guy was frozen too. But before anyone could do anything, he speed up and ran from the scene.⠀

Nick came running to Carla. He was crying like a baby saying, “Baby, get up! Don’t leave me, Don’t go!”⠀

She just said, “Remember me” as she slowly drifted into deathly darkness.

Today Nick was looking at her grave from outside, as he couldn’t gather the courage to get past the gate of the graveyard. A voice came back to his head, “Remember me”.⠀

Tears rolled down his cheeks and he swayed away from the wall.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXwBEPJhkRb

Article(s) I’m enjoying (and pondering) —

The Neuroscience of Seeing an Ex – An interesting scientific dissection of the phenomenon of meeting an ex after long. The end of this article seems to be inspired by one short article written by yours truly.

Summary of the article – The people in our life either the ones who are there right now or an ex, play an important part in shaping and making who you are today. You are nothing but a pile of experiences.

I’m reading/watching/listening to —

Hicksaw Ridge – I saw this World War II movie this week and usually I don’t break a tear, but the performance of Andrew Garfield as the WWII American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss broke my resistance of a heart felt cry. Desmond Doss who served during the Battle of Okinawa, refused to kill people and became the first Conscientious Objector in American history to win the Congressional Medal of Honor.

This movie is directed by Mel Gibson, the legendary actor and director, who is known for producing movies of this grit. But Andrew Garfield just nailed this one with his epic performance. His accent felt very close to real life Desmond Doss, the emotion he carried, the perseverance he showed in this performance and the historical dialogue ‘Please Lord! Help me get one more, help me get one more’. It was Faith, Grit and Glory.

Desmond Doss carried 70+ injured soldiers alone from that ridge on that day of War. That is why he got the biggest military award of America.

This movie is worth the time spent. Here is the trailer to give you some chills.

Quote I’m pondering on lately –

“It is impossible to learn that which one thinks one already knows”

— Epictetus (Greek Stoic philosopher from AD 50 – 135)

Until Next Saturday!

Thanks for reading.

Himanshu

A couple of things I could use your help with:

  1. Have a relevant topic, which I should be covering? Write to me directly or fill out this form and let me know.
  2. Join my reader’s list – It helps us a lot when you become a subscriber, it smoothens you experience on Lifestyle Architecture Lab. Being on email list provides you additional benefits like some exclusive content, webinar’s, free goodies and all of it will be FREE. Please click the link above to join now or put your email address in the below box and hit subscribe.

No spam, ever. Only great stuff.

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Saturday-Pentacle

Saturday-Pentacle – Week 31 – 2017

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Saturday-Pentacle, Week 31 Issue

“Saturday-Pentacle”

Saturday-Pentacle - Week 21 - 2017

App of the week –

TunnelBear

This app will make you teleported to another country, any country you want!

Just kidding, if not teleport YOU, at least it will teleport your IP address to look like one from UK or USA or NZ any country you want.

How is it helpful you ask?

Because there are many apps and services which are available to certain countries for example – Spotify, which is not available in many countries including India. But with a private VPN app like TunnelBear, you can temporarily change your device IP to not only download this app, but it will keep your Spotify app running until next reboot of the device or 14 days, whichever is earlier. But that’s just Spotify app, there are many more services, like Hulu, Netflix (I know Netflix launched in India, but the catalogue of shows in US and India are very much different). So this app magically changes your IP through VPN tunnelling and helps you use any services available in another country.

Plus its totally legal service and free till 500MB use per month. To change your IP just start it and stop this app after some time and your IP will remain changed to the logged in apps. So that won’t let you consume 500MB of the VPN service. Just in case you do, you can upgrade to the paid plan where you get unlimited data of VPN tunnelling.

Just in case if I got you curious, you can go check out this app –

My most popular Instagram post recently —

Sailing on my shoes!

It was a long day, we were so tired that our feet were killing us, somehow we reached the end of the world. We stood there for few moments then sat on the edge of the world. In front of us was the endless ocean. Our tiredness, our failures of the day everything fell away. Then I stretched my legs and before even I knew, I was sailing, sailing on my shoes.

I hold her hand and whistled like a happy lad.

Article(s) I’m enjoying (and pondering) —

THE CANVAS STRATEGY – This is a gem of an article from one of my favourite authors Ryan Holiday. Originally I read about this strategy in his book ‘Ego is the enemy‘. A very interesting article for anyone who is just starting up their career or a job.

Summary of the article – “Find canvases for other people to paint on.” One way of looking at this quoted statement is – Make other people look good, which may mean a lot of ass kissing (working) and giving up credit for your ideas. But the other way of looking at this approach is finding the direction someone already intended to head and help them pack, freeing them up to focus on their strengths. Ryan points us to a very important word from the Roman history in this article which is – anteambulo and it meant a person who clears the path in front of their patron. But the indirect point Ryan making is – The person who clears the path, ultimately controls its direction, just as the canvas dictates the painting.

What I’m reading/watching/listening to —

Billy Graham: On technology and faith – This is a video from 1998 of Reverend Billy Graham’s legendary talk at TED 1998. In this talk, he marvels at technology’s power to improve lives and change the world.

He puts up a very interesting question which is till date to be solved through technology. The question was “How do we solve the evil inside the humans?”

Even though I tend to keep religion and related things away from my writing and articles. But I found this particular talk very interesting when one of the most important clergymen talked about technology and took everyone through the historical times of David.

P.S.: This is a YouTube link below if you want to go to the original TED talk link go here.

 

Quote I’m pondering on lately – Today’s quote is one of the quotes mentioned by Billy Graham in the Ted talk above.

“The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of… We know the truth not only by the reason, but by the heart.”

— Blaise Pascal (French mathematician, physicist, inventor of calculator, writer and Catholic theologian)

Until Next Saturday!

Thanks for reading.

Himanshu

A couple of things I could use your help with:

  1. Have a relevant topic, which I should be covering? Write to me directly or fill out this form and let me know.
  2. Join my reader’s list – It helps us a lot when you become a subscriber, it smoothens you experience on Lifestyle Architecture Lab. Being on email list provides you additional benefits like some exclusive content, webinar’s, free goodies and all of it will be FREE. Please click the link above to join now or put your email address in the below box and hit subscribe.

No spam, ever. Only great stuff.

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Saturday-Pentacle

Saturday-Pentacle – Week 30 – 2017

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Saturday-Pentacle, Week 30 Issue

“Saturday-Pentacle”

Saturday-Pentacle - Week 21 - 2017

App of the week –

Pocket

This is my favourite app for ‘Read it Later’ purpose. For example – If I’m reading any article on the interwebs (internet), so I just need a pocket chrome extension for 1 click save that article to Pocket. So that you can get back to that article later for later reading.

This app is silky smooth and comes with good functionality like dark mode for reading on a pure black screen, brightness adjustment (on iPhone and Android apps) and also other display settings like changing the reading font, font size, line space etc.

Once you use it, you’ll feel like never reading an article on any site, you’ll always want to save it to the Pocket app and read it from there.

Just in case if I got you curious, you can go check out this app –

My most popular Instagram post recently —

Turning back from the hills.

As I stood there in the midst of the road leading to the city. The hills were right behind me, it was ethereal the way the clouds were striking into these hills and making the whole atmosphere moistly cold.

Should I turn around and just get lost in the hills and never go back? My heart thought.

You’ll be free from the prison of a concrete jungle where you are chained to the rhythm, cutting your life short day by day in this vicious circle of eat, sleep, work repeat! Heart whispered again inside me.

But taking a deep breath and then exhaling into a sigh, I turned back…back from the hills.

Article(s) I’m enjoying (and pondering) —

The AI Revolution: The Road to Superintelligence – If you are interested in what future hold and want to learn in detail about AI (Artificial Intelligence) then this long article is for you. Tim Urban of WaitbutWhy.com has written this article in 2015. But till today it feels like reading something completely mind boggling. There is a lot (like a lot lot) of knowledge put in this article.

Summary of the article – This article can’t exactly be summarized because there is a plethora of topics covered, but or a very broad level it argues on how the progress of human growth has always been exponential instead of linear and we might just be sitting at the edge of a curve where a life altering human progress boom might be brewing. Tim also talks mainly about AI and how it can be so intense that serious people like Elon Musk are also terrified by AI. AI’s calibre has three major categories as defined by Tim in this article –

1) Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI): A Weak AI, Artificial Narrow Intelligence is AI that specializes in one area. Think of it as a robot who knows how to defeat someone in a chess game but that’s the only thing it knows.

2) Artificial General Intelligence (AGI): Sometimes referred to as Strong AI, or Human-Level AI, Artificial General Intelligence refers to a computer that is as smart as a human across the board. This is where the problem starts and where AI may be a curse in disguise. That’s the point where job cuts may happen and machines start replacing humans in a workplace.

3) Artificial Superintelligence (ASI): Oxford philosopher and leading AI thinker Nick Bostrom defines superintelligence as “an intellect that is much smarter than the best human brains in practically every field, including scientific creativity, general wisdom and social skills.” This is where terms like immortality or extinction come in picture. Either this level of AI makes the human race better (immortal) or it breaks it and we extinct.

What I’m reading/watching/listening to —

Elon Musk’s interview with Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval at the NGA 2017 SUMMER MEETING – As you guys know already, I’m an admirer of Elon Musk and really appreciate what he’s doing in the world of technology (software & hardware). He is the real Iron Man of our world, literally the version similar to what Robert Downy Jr. played in Marvel Studio version of the Film. He has a vision towards which he works, he loves to solve problems and doesn’t have boundaries of domain when he’s trying to solve a problem. Like Paypal solved a big cross border transaction problem, Tesla solved a fuel problem, SpaceX solved the problem by being able to commercialize the Space Travel (well, still a long way to go, but a very good start) or the Hyperloop, which will be solving the problem of road travel by cutting down the times significantly (think Los Angeles to San Francisco in 35 minutes with an average speed of 600 Miles per hour), even though it’s on paper but recently the actual trial started and it’s a step in the positive direction.

So the point is Elon is solving problems which probably would have been solved after a decade or two and that is really fascinating.

Last week when I came across this interview of Elon with Brian Sandoval (Governor of the state of Nevada), it was a treat.

He discussed a wide range of topics including Artificial Intelligence, Tesla, SpaceX, Solar power etc. What I found intriguing was the fact that Elon Musk was urging the government to regulate the development of AI. Because as good as it can be to human race, AI can also become a danger to the human existence, he mentioned.

Elon also answered a few interesting questions asked by some state Governors and the general public.

Please enjoy this treat of an interview.

P.S.: This is an abridged version of the original interview.

Quote I’m pondering on lately – 

“Optimal lives are designed, not discovered.”

— James Clear

Until Next Saturday!

Thanks for reading.

Himanshu

A couple of things I could use your help with:

  1. Have a relevant topic, which I should be covering? Write to me directly or fill out this form and let me know.
  2. Join my reader’s list – It helps us a lot when you become a subscriber, it smoothens you experience on Lifestyle Architecture Lab. Being on email list provides you additional benefits like some exclusive content, webinar’s, free goodies and all of it will be FREE. Please click the link above to join now or put your email address in the below box and hit subscribe.

No spam, ever. Only great stuff.

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Saturday-Pentacle

Saturday-Pentacle – Week 29 – 2017

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Saturday-Pentacle, Week 29 Issue

“Saturday-Pentacle”

Saturday-Pentacle - Week 21 - 2017

App of the week –

Momentum

This week it’s not a mobile app but a chrome extension with which I’m in love from past 2+ years. It’s the best focus and productivity extension in the browser.

It has features like a big beautifully curated wallpaper which changes every day, a big sleek clock, weather, ToDo list apps integration inbuilt (this one is my favorite), so your favorite Todo list apps can be integrated with this dashboard and it can display the ToDos as well in this dashboard itself. You have to experience it to believe.

If I got you curious, you can download it for Chrome from here – Momentum

Unfortunately, it’s not available for Firefox browser, but I found a very good alternative to Momentum and it’s simpler than Momentum, it’s called Moment. It features a Big beautiful clock and a plain focused background and is highly customizable. You can download it from the Firefox Add-On Store.

My most popular Instagram post recently —

Don’t give up.

When you feel like giving up your dream, force yourself to work another day, another week, a year.

You will be amazed what happens when you don’t give up.

Doesn’t matter if you don’t have arms, doesn’t matter if you don’t have any other limb, if you have your will and your heart you will reach there…

P.S. This video contains real imagery of an artist painting live from “Indian mouth and foot painting artists” club.

Shot and narrated today by yours truly.

Article(s) I’m enjoying (and pondering) —

5 ways social media can help you travel – This is an interesting article pointing out a few very good tips and tools to help you with your travel via social media.

Summary of the article – Before going to a place, get a visual vibe of the place from Instagram with its geolocation tagging, it hits the bullseye for getting a visual of the place you are thinking to go. Don’t hesitate to ask your friends on Facebook about the place you are about to visit, you may get some good info. If you are brave enough to ask strangers, twitter is your place to go. Remember, Facebook is friends and Twitter is the world.

Lastly, If you’re willing to take some risks in the form of advice from strangers, talk to locals once you are there physically, you could end up with a memorable experience. Just make sure to be specific in your requests.

What I’m reading/watching/listening to —

Infinity And Back – This documentary released on 8th July on YouTube and Facebook and I’m proud to say that the protagonist of this docu film is my friend Kuntal Joisher.

He is a vegan and a mountaineer (how awesome a combo) and he climbed the Mount Everest last year (2016) on May 19. I found him very down to earth but a determined guy. So in 2015 when I was first introduced to him he was working hard towards his goal (climbing the highest peak in the world) and as his journey unfolded and finally he stepped on to the top of Everest last year. It was nothing short of the proudest feeling towards a friend.

Put on your headphones and watch this short film, as Kuntal and the editors of this movie take you to Kuntal’s journey of climbing the Everest. I promise you it’s Epic and the 21:59 minutes of your life will be worth it.

Quote I’m pondering on lately – 

“If someone is slipping up, kindly correct them and point out what they missed. But if you can’t, blame yourself—or no one.”

— Marcus Aurelius

Until Next Saturday!

Thanks for reading.

Himanshu

A couple of things I could use your help with:

  1. Have a relevant topic, which I should be covering? Write to me directly or fill out this form and let me know.
  2. Join my reader’s list – It helps us a lot when you become a subscriber, it smoothens you experience on Lifestyle Architecture Lab. Being on email list provides you additional benefits like some exclusive content, webinar’s, free goodies and all of it will be FREE. Please click the link above to join now or put your email address in the below box and hit subscribe.

No spam, ever. Only great stuff.

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Saturday-Pentacle

Saturday-Pentacle – Week 28 – 2017

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Saturday-Pentacle, Week 28 Issue

“Saturday-Pentacle”

Saturday-Pentacle - Week 21 - 2017

App of the week –

MyFitnessPal

Diet tracking isn’t a very entertaining task. But if you are really serious about making your diet and exercise plans work. Then diet tracking has to be one of the top most priorities for you.

MyFitnessPal is my personal favourite for this purpose. I’ve been using this app even before it was acquired by Under Armour back in 2015. What makes this app useful is the fact that they have a website complimenting their mobile apps and that’s a huge plus. When you are in office having a few moments, you can log your diet from there or when you are commuting you can log your diet from mobile apps. It’s really easy.

Secondly, they have a large collection of foods and meals, which even includes Indian dishes or meals. So logging a meal is a buttery smooth experience.

In my experience of diet tracking, this app has been really useful and just even the idea of having a look at what you are eating at the end of the day makes sense. It makes you conscious towards your eating choices.

Just in case if I got you curious, you can go check out this app –

My most popular Instagram post recently —

Returning from our morning adventures, saw this beautiful panorama.

Sometimes sky meets the land right in the water and we never mind to notice.

Today we did and never was I in more awe, than seeing those creamy dreamy clouds, peeking themselves in the mirror of still water. And then there was this flock of birds wandering above!

Article(s) I’m enjoying (and pondering) —

How Quantum Suicide Works – Well! Don’t just go on the title literally, it’s not mainly about suicide. But about quantum physics.

Summary of the article – This article basically explains the Many-Worlds theory. According to the Many-Worlds theory, for each possible outcome to an action, the world splits into a copy of itself. This is an instantaneous process called decohesion. It’s kind of like a choose-your-own-adventure book, but rather than choosing between either exploring the cave or making off with the treasure, the universe splits in two so that each action is taken.

What I’m reading/watching/listening to —

Kyle Maynard: No Arms and No Legs Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro – A few days back I saw this video and it instantly boosted my confidence from being in a deep pit (of confidence level) to feeling like I can do it.

Kyle Maynard who was born with a congenital condition that stunted the growth of both arms and legs. But, that did not stop him from being a wrestler, owner of a fitness gym, MMA fighter and conqueror of Mount Kilimanjaro. He is indeed a true testament of human spirit and determination.

There were a few moments in between I couldn’t stop a few tears rolling down, the tears you get from an overwhelming feeling. Feeling of perseverance.

Quote I’m pondering on lately – 

“You can shear a sheep many times but you can skin him only once.”

— American Proverb

Until Next Saturday!

Thanks for reading.

Himanshu

A couple of things I could use your help with:

  1. Have a relevant topic, which I should be covering? Write to me directly or fill out this form and let me know.
  2. Join my reader’s list – It helps us a lot when you become a subscriber, it smoothens you experience on Lifestyle Architecture Lab. Being on email list provides you additional benefits like some exclusive content, webinar’s, free goodies and all of it will be FREE. Please click the link above to join now or put your email address in the below box and hit subscribe.

No spam, ever. Only great stuff.

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Saturday-Pentacle

Saturday-Pentacle – Week 27 – 2017

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Saturday-Pentacle, Week 27 Issue

“Saturday-Pentacle”

Saturday-Pentacle - Week 21 - 2017

Post of the week –

Google Translate

This week I’m sharing the app which recently blew my mind. It’s a simple app but works magic!

Apart from translating text. It also translates audio recording (spoken clearly). But the part that blew my mind was live translating!

Just open the app click on the Magic  Camera button and point your phone camera towards anything with a foreign language, it’s translated in real-time. Like shown in the image below. Istn’t it magic?

Just in case if I got you curious, you can go check out this app –

My most popular Instagram post recently —

Aide-mémoire!

I came out of that wooden door and it shut back on its own behind my back. She was sitting on the couch right in front. Her face was a little red, I couldn’t understand. As soon as I approached her, I saw tears rolling down her eyes!⠀

She didn’t even know I had come out until I sat right next to her on the left. She quietly said in her Israeli accent. “Hey….you are back.”⠀

I couldn’t say a word, I was presumably sad. But seeing her jotting down something in her handmade diary, which she bought somewhere from middle India while her explorations, I said, “What are you writing?”⠀

“I’m in love. So I’m writing about it before the moment passes by.” She replied while struggling to smile.⠀

I smiled back even though I too was feeling sadness.⠀

I waited another few minutes, for her to finish. Then I asked, “May I see it?”⠀

She said, “No, I can’t let you see, it’s personal. It’s between me and Mama India.”⠀

I giggled, listening to her kiddish response. But I respected her decision of not showing me the mémoire.⠀

Then she laughed through her tears while spilling a few of ’em (tears) on my face when she shook her face with laughter, and said, “Oh! my dear, I wrote about this entire journey I took through India and people I met, like you! It’s really difficult for me to think about the fact that I’m leaving in a few hours. I love India and every time I come back I experience something new through which I find a new piece of my soul.That’s what makes me keep coming back.”⠀

“Will you come back again next time?” I asked.⠀

“Of course, I will. To touch the surface of this great country, To touch the water of the mother Ganges! To meet you!! I pretty sure will come back!” She replied smiling while still having her eyes wet.⠀

She moved forward teary eyed and we hugged each other.⠀

“Is she an old Indian soul, who crave for her motherland while being in the body of an Israeli woman?” I thought while we hugged.⠀

After hugging I looked into her eyes and I had the answer.

Article(s) I’m enjoying (and pondering) —

How to Create a Chain Reaction of Good Habits – This one is classic article by one of my favorite writer James Clear. This article explains how to ignite chain reactions toward creating a good habit chain. If you have 5 minutes, read that article, if you have just one minute, read the below summary in two sentences.

Summary of the article – Any habit follows another habit in our live, for example, when you wake up, you brush your teeth and take a bath afterwards, which are interconnected activities to get clean. So If you hit one domino it will automatically strike and let the next domino fall, creating the domino effect.

What I’m reading/watching/listening to —

Jobs (2013)

I had been contemplating to watch this movie from a long time now and this week I did.

I’ll rate it 9/10. One point off for that Ashton Kutcher smile, which I couldn’t relate to Steve Jobs. But apart from that Ashton did justice to the Jobs and Portrayed the character very well. This movie is motivational but in a strange way. It provoked the emotions it should have and also did well in most of the parts to provide the vision and spirit Jobs had.

2hrs 8min well spent.

Here is a YouTube link which is working and I think Apple might as well let it be working as they would want it to spread to as large an audiance as it could, afterall it’s a movie on their crazy Superhero!

If you don’t wanna watch the free version hers is a paid version (It’s just Rs. 25) – Jobs (2013).

Quote I’m pondering on lately – Today I’m going to give you two quotes.

1. Which is inspired by the movie – Jobs (2013)

“When you grow up, you tend to get told that the World is the way that it is. Your life is just a live your life inside the world and try not to bash against the walls too much but that’s a very limited life.

Life can be much broader. Once you discover one simple fact and that is that everything around you that you call life was made up by people that are no smarter than you and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use. It’s to shake off this erroneous notion that life is just there and you’re just gonna live in it vs embrace it, change it, improve it, make your mark upon it and once you learn that you’ll never be the same again.”

– Steve Paul Jobs [ ‘Jobs’ The 2013 Movie – seek to 1:55:00 – 1:56:00 ]

 

2. Which is from the book – The Dip by Seth Godin

The opportunity cost of investing your life in something that’s not going to get better is just too high.

Until Next Saturday!

Thanks for reading.

Himanshu

A couple of things I could use your help with:

  1. Have a relevant topic, which I should be covering? Write to me directly or fill out this form and let me know.
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Saturday-Pentacle

Saturday-Pentacle – Week 26 – 2017

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Saturday-Pentacle, Week 26 Issue

“Saturday-Pentacle”

Saturday-Pentacle - Week 21 - 2017

Post of the week –

Looking back an annual Review – 2016

Finally, I could finish up my long overdue Annual Review post for last year – 2016. Coincidentally last year also I posted it in the middle of the year and this year too.

But interestingly that delay gave me the leverage of putting a few learnings from past year into the new year 2017’s resolution list and work on them till this Annual Review was published (meaning now).

I would encourage you to check out my post for interesting insights, patterns and stats. Click here or just click on the picture above to access the article. 

My most popular Instagram post recently —

Looking through the window of a moving train!

It was a long day. Glad we made out alive at least for today from this black hole of a place filled with white collared labourers.

We were walking through the subway tunnel, our hands sometimes brushing each other’s.  It was a strangely good feeling. We were on the platform, awkwardly waiting for the train. Praying in our minds that train never comes. Her eyes were shyingly looking at mine. But never really making the contact.I was pretending to be looking

I was pretending to be looking inside my phone like my universe resides in there.  But I was never actually looking inside my phone but always pretending for not having the courage to look into her eyes.Then the moment of my life came. I looked up, to look right into her eyes.

Then the moment of my life came. I looked up, to look right into her eyes. Those brown coloured eyes, always shy. But they had this odd light. In that light, I saw myself. Loved.

It was a moment’s contact between her eyes and mine, why did it feel like ages. Why didn’t her talks said what I could see in the depth of her eyes? I was still trying to figure out when we heard the horn of the approaching train. It was my train. And then we heard the horn of the second train going the other way. This was her train.

I took her hand and squeezed it gently in affection. She just stood looking at my face as I entered my train. I waved her good bye and signalled to catch her train before it leaves. She smiled shyingly as usual and turned around to get into her train and she did.

Both our trains honked once again at the same time almost in sync like both our lives were now, in sync with each other.

My train was empty, I took the right side window seat and looked outside. She was standing in the gate of that train boggy. Our trains started moving.

I was looking at her through the window of the moving train. As our trains crossed, I saw her smiling at me.

I smiled back at her.

And I know now!

I know now.

Article(s) I’m enjoying (and pondering) —

Entropy: Why Life Always Seems to Get More Complicated – This is an article for which you should free yourself from other trivial things, go to a coffee shop order a Latte and nibble on this article. It’s about life and how we get it to be more complicated.

You’ll find a gem or two in this one. A good one from one of my favourite authors – James Clear.

What I’m reading/watching/listening to —

Well! This is the best piece of content I stumbled upon this week. It’s a video of Steve Jobs 2005 Stanford Commencement Speech. He told 3 Stories and not a single one of them left me without giving goosebumps.

It’s a must not miss video. Please watch and get some inspiration.

Quote I’m pondering on lately –

“Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you’re a man, you take it.”

—MALCOLM X, Malcolm X Speaks

Until Next Saturday!

Thanks for reading.

Himanshu

A couple of things I could use your help with:

  1. Have a relevant topic, which I should be covering? Write to me directly or fill out this form and let me know.
  2. Join my reader’s list – It helps us a lot when you become a subscriber, it smoothens you experience on Lifestyle Architecture Lab. Being on email list provides you additional benefits like some exclusive content, webinar’s, free goodies and all of it will be FREE. Please click the link above to join now or put your email address in the below box and hit subscribe.

No spam, ever. Only great stuff.

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Patreon Exclusive

Looking back (An annual review – 2016)

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[rt_reading_time label=”Reading Time:” postfix=”minutes” postfix_singular=”minute”]

From past three years, I’m doing an annual review of my life. Cause I want to pause and reflect back on my successes and failures of the previous year and publishing it here in this Blog keeps me accountable for the next year.

Looking back (An annual review - 2016)

 

This is my fourth annual review, you can access my previous reviews for 2015 (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), 2014 and 2013. This year also I’ll answer three questions, same as past 3 years:

  1. What went well this year?
  2. What didn’t go so well year?
  3. What’s am I working toward?

So this is gonna sound cliché but I’m the man of making resolutions and working on them, every year. So this year also I created a list of new year resolutions like last year. Coincidently I’m posting this annual review almost at the end of second quarter of the year like last year.

I think I’m liking this schedule as it gives me some more visibility on the new year’s resolutions and I can add some more context to the happenings of the year. If that doesn’t make sense, just read it as I was feeling lazy!

Just kidding.

After the successful year of 2015, last year was not that successful overall but it was no less satisfying. I also experienced various sort of serendipities.

serendipity
sɛr(ə)nˈdɪpɪti

noun
the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.

Ok! That was not an editorial mistake I knowingly put that word definition above. Why? Because I’ve fallen in love with this word “Serendipity”.

Serendipity in my own definition is a state when we fall in love with the universe and start accepting and loving the present moment, then the universe starts loving you back in the strangest of ways.

There happened many serendipitous events in the year of 2016. Through which I felt strange new feelings derived from wandering, wondering and affection.

I’m keeping this post as a single post, unlike last year’s 3 part post which took so much time and complexity to get published. Hope it will be insightful and interesting for some of you.

Lets cut to the chase.

Looking back (An annual review – 2016)

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Saturday-Pentacle

Saturday-Pentacle – Week 25 – 2017

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Saturday-Pentacle, Week 25 Issue

“Saturday-Pentacle”

Saturday-Pentacle - Week 21 - 2017

Post of the week –

Review of the Katy Parry/Neil deGrasse Tyson Talk – Witness Worldwide

As you know, I really love audio production and love creating podcasts and interviews on SoundCloud. This Anchor radio app which I featured on this Saturday-Pentacle issue of week 22 as well, really blew my mind when I first used it this week to see how much time it takes to create the similar 8 minutes podcast production, which usually takes me 2 hours to produce and publish through my blog and believe me or not the total process took 10 minutes including the 8 minutes of recording.

So this above piece is the first recording or segment (as they say in Anchor app) from yours truly. It’s a review of an interview which I heard very recently and it blew my mind. This interview was part of promotion I guess of Katy Parry’s latest album Witness and this particular interview/talk event was called ‘Witness Worldwide’.

Guess what? After this interview, I’ve started liking Katy Parry more than I usually did. Psss… I always thought her as a teenage dreamer.

Guess what one more time? She is 32! Not a teenage dreamer after all!

P.S.: If you are not able to see Anchor Player window above. Click here to listen to this review.

My most popular Instagram post recently —

Underneath the air traffic control!

Go…go…go!

A piece of a vlog from a few weeks back!

Article(s) I’m enjoying (and pondering) —

51 Popular Books Summarized in 3 Sentences or Less – In a hurry but want some quick wisdom? This article from James Clear is a neat collection of 51 books review in 3 sentences or less. Of course, many of us don’t have time to read the number of books we should generally read as humans or some of us aren’t just readers by choice. But this collection can really help you level up your wisdom in many areas like -Intellect, Business, Productivity, Goals settings etc with the least investment of time.

What I’m reading/watching/listening to —

Well! This talk event really blew my mind. So putting the original video in this section this week.

I was so thrilled after listening to it, that I did a review of it on my Anchor Channel.

I see Katy Perry in a new light now and hats off to Neil deGrasse Tyson!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ujWVbjKBCo

Quote I’m pondering on lately – Pss…This week’s quote is also referred from the Neil, Katy talk.

“The Bible shows the way to go to heaven, not the way the heavens go.”

— Galileo Galilei

Until Next Saturday!

Thanks for reading.

Himanshu

A couple of things I could use your help with:

  1. Have a relevant topic, which I should be covering? Write to me directly or fill out this form and let me know.
  2. Join my reader’s list – It helps us a lot when you become a subscriber, it smoothens you experience on Lifestyle Architecture Lab. Being on email list provides you additional benefits like some exclusive content, webinar’s, free goodies and all of it will be FREE. Please click the link above to join now or put your email address in the below box and hit subscribe.

No spam, ever. Only great stuff.

Continue Reading