“Cogito Ergo Sum” – “I think, therefore I am”. – Rene Descartes When it came to naming this ingredient, I considered calling it a ‘Great Mind’. But I thought that would imply that one needed to achieve or find ‘great’ things that rocked the world in order to be successful, when the truth is, success…
Oh, snow. It’s pretty at first, but then it turns grey and slushy, getting into your shoes and freezing your toes. Then there’s the winter wind that makes your nose turn red and your eyes start to water. In Japan, the cherry blossoms came to mark the beginning of spring. The air is warm with…
A question that I often ask myself is why on earth am I leading a minimalist lifestyle? Why don’t I just settle down in a nice town, get my own apartment, a steady job and live like a normal person? The answer is simple, I don’t want to be normal. I want to travel. I want…
The breeze is running through your hair. It smells so sweet and fresh. The sound of the sea waves parting under the boat is regular and calming. The sun is setting over the mountains and the sky is tinged in a deep pink and orange. You take a deep breath and there is just one…
Last month, it snowed. A lot. This photo was the view outside my dorm. It had been piling up for a few days, and got pretty deep. One morning, I was rushing to university when I very nearly fell flat on my face. Thankfully I saved my dignity by doing an ungracious twirl with about…
Chopsticks. Right now, millions of people are digging into their food with two sticks that have stood the test of time as a utensil for humans, even when countless thousands of other tools, gadgets and products haven’t. But what’s so special about them? What can we learn from mere chopsticks? Personally, I have used them…
“Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it”. ~Lao Tzu If only we could be more like water – strong, life-giving and beautiful. It trickles and surges, ebbs and swirls, here and there, following the natural course of life without attachment or resistance. Even when it appears to be quite still,…
Humans are social creatures. We like to fit in. As the old saying went, “the nail that sticks up gets hammered down’. If you act too differently, you’re labelled ‘wild’ or ‘crazy’. At school, from our parents and through the media we are told all the things we should want. We ‘should’ want a big…
“Not all readers are leaders but all leaders are readers” ~ Harry S. Truman For a lot of people, reading is ‘boring’. To them, books remind them of something they ‘had to do’ at school. Until recently, I didn’t realize the extent people actually rejected reading, as if it was something to avoid. I’ve seen…
They say that it’s best to aim for the low hanging fruit. A lot of the time this is true, but it isn’t always the case. In the short term, it might make sense to take advantage of whatever comes your way first. The low hanging fruit are easy to reach, but they aren’t necessarily…