Sunday Supplement #102 (April 23rd, 2023)
Below is another Sunday Supplement with a quote worth sharing, a book worth reading, a movie worth watching, brainfood worth consuming, and a spiritual passage worth pondering.
Please take something away from these recommendations that enriches your week ahead!
Quote of the Week:
“The way we experience the world around us is a direct reflection of the world within us.”
– Gabrielle Bernstein
Book of the Week:
Man’s Search for Meaning – Viktor E. Frankl
Man’s Search for Meaning frequently appears whenever I peruse lists for best self-help books or similar searches on the most influential books ever published.
Viktor Frankl was a psychiatrist and a Holocaust survivor. His memoir Man’s Search for Meaning recounts his time in various concentration camps and what he learned.
In the book, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering, but we can choose how to cope, find meaning, and move forward with purpose.
Frankl’s theory of logotherapy (the primary human drive as the pursuit of meaning, not pleasure) is explained in the book.
Reading about Frankl’s experiences is enough for a recommendation of this book, but it also provides a perspective worth taking a look at.
Movie of the Week:
The 2021 film Drive My Car won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film and was nominated for Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Achievement in Directing, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi wrote and directed the film about a renowned stage actor and director who learns to cope with a personal loss after accepting an offer to direct a production of Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya.
Hamaguchi adapted the screenplay from Haruki Murakami’s collection of short stories, Men Without Women. Murakami is one of my favorite authors (although I’ve only featured him in Sunday Supplement #5), and this film brilliantly captures his writing.
The film explores themes of trauma, grief, guilt, and recovery in a way that honors Murakami’s writing and provides a special cinematic experience.
I highly recommend checking it out.
Brainfood of the Week:
5 Life Changing Journaling Habits from the Stoics | Daily Stoic
The intro of this video is of Ryan Holiday discussing his journaling journey and the different prompts you can focus on for journaling.
Holiday then moves on to the video’s main focus, which is a general guide of five tips for journaling.
One of my favorite parts is when Holiday discusses the Anne Frank quote, “Paper is more patient than people.” He goes on to discuss the utility of journaling in this context.
I featured Ryan Holiday’s book The Obstacle is the Way on Sunday Supplement #36. His Daily Stoic YouTube channel has over a million subscribers.
The video is worth checking out, and if you like it, check out more of his work.
Closing Spiritual Passage:
“He who refuses to obey cannot command.”
– Kenyan Proverb
This Kenyan proverb reminds me of the necessity and value of listening to others and keeping an open mind.
I sometimes find myself tuning out when someone offers advice or tells of their experience, which I don’t think has any connection with me.
When my mind wanders, I try to snap back to the present moment and listen without judgment. It’s in these moments that I find a connection.
I think it’s sometimes difficult to listen to others with an open mind, but I think it’s worth doing so even if you later reflect that there wasn’t something to gain.
The exercise of reflecting on ideas from outside ourselves helps us continue to grow and be open to new information.
Be open to new information, reflect on how we want to move forward, and have a blessed week ahead!