Sunday Supplement #57 (June 12th, 2022)
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.
I hope you take something away from these recommendations that enriches your week ahead!
Quote of the Week:
“Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.”
– Paulo Coelho (Matthew 6:21)
Book of the Week:
The 4-Hour Workweek – Timothy Ferriss
I’ve featured Tim Ferriss in seven different Sunday Supplements, but they all were in the Brainfood of the Week Category with interviews he’s conducted on The Tim Ferris Show.
In addition to being a brilliant interviewer, Ferriss is famous for his “life-hack” blog posts and bestselling books on various topics.
Tim’s The 4-Hour Workweek is the first of his bestselling self-help books. It delivers anecdotes and how-tos on eliminating unnecessary work and maximizing results.
I haven’t always been a fan of Ferriss’s tone on his podcast and in his writing, but I’ve liked him more in the past year or two since his deeply personal podcast episode.
The 4-Hour Workweek is a throwback to his days when he came off out of touch at times with different audiences, but some of the content he covered was excellent.
The book’s time management and work negotiation sections were some of my favorite and had tips I continue to use today.
Read with a grain of salt, but there is sure to be something useful you add to your own routine.
Movie of the Week:
Mike Nichols’s The Birdcage was adapted from Jean Poiret’s play and starred Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Gene Hackman, and Dianne Wiest.
The story follows a cabaret owner and his drag queen companion as they agree to put on a false straight front so their son can bring his fiancée’s right-wing parents to meet the family.
The film carries a comedic tone throughout but champions LGBTQ+ issues in serious moments at a time (1996) when it was taboo to cover them.
Williams and Lane star as the partners and parents pretending to play it straight. The story utilizes both actors’ brilliance to help the film shine.
The Birdcage was nominated for only one Academy Award (Best Art Direction-Set Decoration) and arguably missed out because of the movie’s story.
Nichols’s movie stands the test of time and is one to check out for many reasons, including one of Robin Williams’s best performances.
Brainfood of the Week:
TED Talks: There’s More to Life Than Being Happy | Emily Esfahani Smith
In this TED Talk, Emily Esfahani Smith discusses her journey from the pursuit of achieving happiness by achieving success to finding out how to live a life of meaning.
Smith went to graduate school for positive psychology to find out why she and others struggled despite achieving success.
Data showed Smith that chasing happiness can make people unhappy.
Suicide rates reached a 30-year high in America. Even though life has improved objectively by nearly every conceivable standard, more people feel hopeless, depressed, and alone.
Research shows that this despair comes from a lack of meaning in life. Is there more to life than being happy? And is there a difference between being happy and having meaning in life?
How can we each live more meaningfully? Smith spent five years interviewing hundreds of people and reading through thousands of pages of psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy.
Smith found what she calls the four pillars of a meaningful life— Belonging, Purpose, Transcendence, and Storytelling.
In the video, Smith details each pillar and how they affect our lives.
This Ted Talks is genuinely one of the best videos I’ve come across about the meaning of life. Please take the time to give it a watch.
Closing Spiritual Passage:
“I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live.”
– Ecclesiastes 3:12
This bible passage reminds me not to chase happiness and to look for the moments to help others when I have the opportunity.
The words ‘be joyful’ don’t describe a state achieved through outside influences. In Ecclesiastes, the words read to me of an emotion that comes from within.
I believe we can be affected by outside influences, consciously or unconsciously, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But we can always choose or work on choosing how to respond.
And when we go about our lives, I believe we have the ability to tap into whatever emotion we want. For me, this Ecclesiastes passage reminds me to tap into joy.
The other part of the passage reminds me that acts of service ‘doing good’ are our most powerful ways to contribute and experience life.
I believe doing good can come in small acts as well as grand acts, and sometimes it’s the small acts that can make a massive difference in someone else’s life.
Act from joy, watch for the moments to do good, and have a blessed week ahead!