Sunday Supplement #141 (January 21st, 2024)
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:
“No man steps into the same river twice, for it’s not the same river, and he’s not the same man.”
– Heraclitus
Book of the Week:
Slade House – David Mitchell
Every nine years, in an alley down the road from a British pub, a unique someone who’s different or lonely will be extended an invitation to Slade House.
The novel spans five decades, starting from the 1970s, and the people who enter Slade House find that they don’t want to leave but later learn they can’t.
David Mitchell’s Slade House is an excellent blend of paranormal fiction with elements of horror that combine for an enthralling read.
I’ve featured one other David Mitchell book, Cloud Atlas, in Sunday Supplement #35, and though the books are wildly different, the quality of writing is of the highest caliber.
Movie of the Week:
Sophia Coppola’s Lost in Translation focuses on a faded movie star’s and a young woman’s experience of disconnection in their respective marriages.
The film is set in Japan, where the faded movie star, Bob, goes to promote a whiskey, and the young woman, Charlotte, accompanies her husband on a business trip.
The two disillusioned Americans keep bumping into each other on their respective trips, and an unlikely kinship forms from their search for connection.
Coppola won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, Billy Murray as Bob was nominated for Best Actor, and the film was nominated for Best Picture.
Brainfood of the Week:
4 Zen Stories That Will Change How You Think About Life | The Art of Improvement
I’ve featured The Art of Improvement in a few previous Sunday Supplements. Their videos focus on self-improvement and feature a variety of topics based on various sources.
This video starts by stating we sometimes get stuck overthinking and worrying in life, and an easy way to get out of a negative thought loop can be experiencing a good story.
The Art of Improvement video then tells four short zen stories: The Farmer’s Horse, The Learned Man, The Couple on the Donkey, and The Move.
Each story is a fun little parable with a lesson worth listening to. The end of the video reminds us that if you’re in a funk, stories can help you change your perspective.
Closing Spiritual Passage:
“Before long, alas, this body, deprived of consciousness, will lie on the earth, discarded like a useless log.”
– Dhammapada 41
At first look, this Dhammapada verse can be a little disheartening and a downer. But looking at it a little deeper gives me much to take away from it.
The obvious lesson is that we all die one day, and we should make sure we live a full life before we do. But I think the power of this lesson comes from the idea that we shouldn’t fear failure or negative experiences.
Along with the bumps and bruises of living life, this verse points out consciousness as a significant marker of life. We often go through life with periods of unconscious behavior, and this verse reminds us to try and stay as conscious as possible.
Continue to experience life consciously each day, and have a blessed week ahead!