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Tag: Jennifer Connelly

Anatole France, Moonwalking with Einstein, Dark City, Sprouts, and a Bhagavad Gita Passage

Sunday Supplement #105 (May 14th, 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:

“An education isn’t how much you’ve committed to memory or even how much you know. It’s being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don’t.”

– Anatole France

Book of the Week:

Moonwalking with Einstein – Joshua Foer

Joshua Foer’s journey of writing Moonwalking with Einstein started with his curiosity for tangible evidence of who was the smartest person in the world.

His quest led him to the realm of mental athletes and the world of competitive memorization.

Moonwalking with Einstein recounts Foer’s research into these societies, his subsequent initiation, and his quest to compete in the U.S. Memory Championship.

The book breaks down a few of the critical components of memory that have been taught and forgotten throughout history.

Foer’s book is primarily a memoir/non-fiction, but it is entertaining and has excellent insight into the tricks of memory and the world around them. 

Movie of the Week:

Dark City

John Murdock wakes up alone in a strange hotel and discovers he’s wanted for a series of murders. The problem is that he doesn’t remember if he committed them.

The film Dark City brilliantly explores the concepts around memory and personal identity and what it means when both are tampered with.

Rufus Sewell, Jennifer Connelly, William Hurt, and Kiefer Sutherland star in the Alex Proyas-directed and co-written movie about memory and identity.

Dark City came out a year before The Matrix and was ultimately overshadowed and forgotten in the wake of the immensely successful Matrix films.

If you enjoy films that explore areas of existentialism, check out this Sci-Fi Noir film that offers a thought-provoking narrative worth checking out.

Brainfood of the Week:

The Memory Palace: Can You Do It? | Sprouts

The Memory Palace is a technique to remember facts, numbers, or other things and has been around since ancient times (known as the Method of Loki).

I’m posting this video as the Brainfood of the Week because it’s a valuable technique to learn. 

Joshua Foer discusses it in Moonwalking with Einstein, but I thought I’d include a short video of how the method works for those who don’t want to read the book.

Sprouts is a YouTube channel with over a million subscribers. They feature educational videos about psychology, pedagogy, and child development.

I featured another one of Sprouts’ videos in Sunday Supplement #92. Check it out if you liked this video.

Closing Spiritual Passage:

“Anger leads to clouding of judgment, which results in bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, the intellect gets destroyed; and when the intellect is destroyed, one is ruined.”

– Bhagavad Gita 2:63

This passage from the Bhagavad Gita reminds me how important it is not to allow emotions to overtake the reasoning side of the brain.

Emotions are good indicators of how certain things are affecting us. However, getting permanently caught up in our emotions leaves us powerless to change our situation.

The Bhagavad Gita passage focuses on anger and how that emotion can affect our memory and, in turn, our intellect.

Anger can be one of the worst emotions to get lost in. It is often in these times when we make our worst decisions.

Think about how your memories affect your current experiences, decide how you want to move forward, and have a blessed week ahead!

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James Baldwin, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, A Beautiful Mind, The School of Life, and a Bhagavad Gita Verse

Sunday Supplement #98 (March 26th, 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:

“Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.”

– James Baldwin

Book of the Week:

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larson

Stieg Larson’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo centers around the disappearances of the scion of one of Sweden’s wealthiest families.

Years later, her aged uncle hires Mikael Blomkvist, an investigative journalist caught up in a libel conviction, to investigate the disappearance.

Blomkvist heads to a fictional small island in Northern Sweden and begins to untangle the mystery. He receives help from a computer hacker with a mysterious past, Lisbeth.

The novel is an exciting read with an intriguing plot and interesting themes. Larson crafted brilliant characters and a fantastic story.

I’ve only read the original trilogy of the Millennium series. Larson died before completing the third novel, and the series has since been continued with a new author.

Movie of the Week:

A Beautiful Mind

Ron Howard’s A Beautiful Mind is a biographical drama about the asocial mathematician John Nash and his battle with schizophrenia.

The film follows Nash’s journey as a mathematician, his work on game theory, and his relationship with his wife, Alicia Larde, as he faces his hallucinations.

A Beautiful Mind won the Oscar for Best Picture at the 2002 Academy Awards. It is currently #143 on IMDBs’ Top Rated Movies list.

In addition to the Best Picture win, Jennifer Connelly won an Oscar for her role as Alicia, Ron Howard won an Oscar for Best Director, and Akiva Goldsman won an Oscar for Best Writing – Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published.

The 2001 film is an excellent film with a fantastic story and is one of Russell Crowe’s best performances as John Nash. Check it out if you haven’t seen it.

Brainfood of the Week:

How To Love | The School of Life

The School of Life’s video starts by describing the puzzling question of why some people are so awful. The often simplistic answer is that there are terrible people.

The video then offers an experiment of looking at others through the eyes of love. It requires stamina and is best attempted at a quieter, less agitated time of day. 

We often identify people at their worst moments and can be ingenious in our judgments. The enemy of generosity in this context is the sense that we may be beyond fault ourselves.

The video offers an interesting look at how we can rush to judgment and overlook our capacity to view the world through the eyes of love.

I’ve featured The School of Life in a few previous Sunday Supplements. Their channel consists of content from psychologists, philosophers, and writers devoted to helping people lead calmer and more reliant lives.

Closing Spiritual Passage:

“The only way you can conquer me is through Love, and there I am gladly conquered.”

– Bhagavad Gita (Krishna)

The Bhagavad Gita is a 700-verse scripture that dates back to around 500 BCE and is considered one of the holy scriptures for Hinduism.

There are phrases like “kill them with kindness” and “turn the other cheek” to emphasize the futility of answering violence with violence.

This particular verse addresses the God Krishna’s views on the power of love. The Krishna quote shows me the way to overcome all obstacles.

It can be taxing to be aligned with love in all matters, but it is worth striving for. I only find when my heart is full of love that I am truly at peace.

Try your best to approach yourself and others with love, and have a blessed week ahead!

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