Sunday Supplement #66 (August 14th, 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:
“If you look for the bad in people expecting to find it, you surely will.”
– Abraham Lincoln
Book of the Week:
Roadwork – Richard Bachman
After the early success of Stephen King’s work, the author decided to publish a few books under the pseudonym, Richard Bachman.
In the Bachman books, King describes in an introduction why he created the pseudonym. The short of it was that he wanted to see if he was lucky with his first books or if lightning could strike twice.
Roadwork follows a grieving father and husband as he deals with the news that a new highway expansion project plans to demolish his workplace and home through eminent domain.
Dawes, the husband and father, begins to unravel and is unwilling to turn his house over to the government.
Most of the King books I’ve read under his pseudonym Bachman explore much darker areas of society and humanity.
Roadwork isn’t a book that should be carelessly read, but if looked at in the right light, questions about what’s important in life are there to be explored.
Movie of the Week:
Fight Club follows an anonymous narrator working for an unnamed car company as a product recall specialist.
The stress of his job, compounded by frequent business trips and jet lag, brings on recurring insomnia. A doctor tells him to visit a cancer support group to see what real suffering is like.
The narrator’s journey to find release and peace connects him with a fellow support group poser Marla Singer and an extremist Tyler Durden.
Fight Club delves into the themes of meaning and connection, masculinity, identity, order, and chaos.
Edward Norton plays the narrator, Brad Pitt plays Tyler Durden, and Helena Bonham Carter plays Marla Singer in the film. The cast is brilliant.
I’ve seen many people view the movie as toxic and self-aggrandizing. However, the story shows the dangers of both sides and has a Buddhism-like message of balance underneath.
The book by Chuck Palahniuk and David Fincher’s adaptation are both worth checking out.
Brainfood of the Week:
10 Signs You Lack Self Awareness | Psych2Go
This Psych2Go starts by discussing metacognition— a higher form of thinking that gives you the ability to be aware of how you think.
The video highlights how self-awareness by reflecting and evaluating your thoughts and feelings are vital to better understanding yourself.
Ten different methods are explored as indicators of a lack of self-awareness. The signs include lack of emotional intelligence, self-serving bias, and difficulty making realistic goals.
While these are worth being aware of, I thought the utility of the video comes from learning about the signs and seeing how you can incorporate or increase the inverse in your life.
Psych2Go’s mission is to make psychology and mental health more accessible to everyone.
They create lighthearted content about psychology, mental wellness, and relatable stories, and have interviews with psychologists, professionals, and experts.
Psych2Go’s YouTube page has just shy of 10 million followers, and their videos with over one billion total views are worth checking out.
Closing Spiritual Passage:
“A frog in a well does not know the great sea.” (井の中の蛙大海を知らず)
– Japanese Proverb.
This Japanese proverb reminds me to be aware of perspectives in my life. Just because I’m viewing something from one point of view doesn’t mean it’s the right one to look at.
The frog in the proverb can speak only from the second or third-hand experiences of life outside its well.
I’m personifying the frog in this case, but I still think it’s important to view the proverb from different viewpoints and see what meanings connect with you.
The frog can refer to oneself or others. It reminds me not to stay stuck in a well and to take the opinion of a frog in the well with a grain of salt.
This Japanese proverb was another timely reminder for me to work on my awareness of my thoughts, surroundings, and actions.
Be aware of your thoughts and actions, and have a blessed week ahead!