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Tag: Stephen Hawking

Nadia Comăneci, The Dark Tower Series, The Theory of Everything, Sadhguru, and Matthew 6:21

Sunday Supplement #139 (January 7th, 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:

“Enjoy the journey and try to get better every day. And don’t lose the passion and the love for what you do.”

– Nadia Comăneci

Book of the Week:

The Dark Tower Series – Stephen King

If you’re new to my blog, you might not have seen me feature Stephen King before. For those who have read the blog consistently, I apologize for another Stephen King entry.

I’ve featured eight Stephen King books before this, but The Dark Tower Series was the start of my reading King’s works. They are arguably his magnum opus, and many of his other stories tie into the world of The Dark Tower.

Roland Deschain, a member of a knightly order known as “gunslingers” and the last of the line of “Arthur Eld” (his world’s analogue of King Arthur), attempts to seek the Man in Black in a world that has “moved on.”

Roland’s journey crosses over many worlds, including our own. The tale blends dark fantasy, science fiction, western, and horror genres.

There’s no easy way to describe The Dark Tower in short, which is surprisingly one of his lesser-read works. I believe it to be his best writing and can’t recommend it more highly. 

Give the series a try (read at least the first two books). King spent over thirty years completing the series, which should show how important it was to him.

Movie of the Week:

The Theory of Everything

Stephen Hawking was a theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author who was the director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge.

The Theory of Everything is a 2014 film that captures Hawking and his wife, Jane Wilde’s relationship, as they met at University in the 1960s through their struggle with Hawking’s diagnosis of motor neuron disease.

Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones star as Stephen Hawkins and Jane Wilde. Redmayne won the Oscar for Best Actor, and Jones was nominated for Best Actress.

The film was nominated for three additional Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Writing – Adapted Screenplay.

Anthony McCarten adapted the script from Jane Hawking’s novel Traveling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen. It’s a powerful story and beautifully captured in the 2014 film.

Brainfood of the Week:

Playfulness and Passion | Sadhguru

Sadhguru is an Indian yogi and bestselling author. His YouTube page has over 11 million followers and over 1.5 billion video views.

Sadhguru begins the video by talking about how playfulness can often be frowned upon as childish. He then explains how being too serious makes everything about you.

Approaching problems with a sense of playfulness will also help you not get overwhelmed by the difficulties you encounter. By being playful, you are not becoming entangled in the problem.

At the end of the video, Sadhguru talks about passion and being consumed by it. He discusses how burning passion opens up new possibilities.

I’ve featured Sadhguru in a few previous Sunday Supplements. If you like this video, check the other posts out.

Closing Spiritual Passage:

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

– Matthew 6:21

This Bible passage from the Book of Matthew discusses how we shouldn’t store our treasures on earth but should store them in heaven. It then states the verse above.

I believe this verse speaks to the passions and love we have in our lives. 

Whether toward the ones we love or our pursuits of meaningful achievements, the treasures should be in the doing and not tied to the outcomes.

As I’m starting my 2024 journey, I’m focusing on bringing as much love to the people in my life and my passions as possible.

Bring love and passion to the treasures of your life, and have a blessed week ahead!

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John Wooden, A Briefer History of Time, Birdman, Jocko Willink, and an African Proverb

Sunday Supplement #121 (September 3rd, 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:

“Failure isn’t fatal, but failure to change might be.”

– John Wooden

Book of the Week:

A Briefer History of Time – Stephen Hawking with Leonard Mlodinow

Stephen Hawking was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and bestselling author who received wide praise for his scientific contributions.

Hawking’s worldwide bestselling book A Brief History of Time was lauded for its contents in the various fields of science.

The book covered an array of topics, including the nature of space and time, astronomy, modern physics, and the history and future of the universe.

Hawking wrote the book for readers without prior knowledge of these scientific fields, but some felt the book was still difficult to understand.

A Briefer History of Time makes the content even more accessible to readers and is worth the read for those looking to delve into the world Hawking explores and explains.

Movie of the Week:

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Birdman follows a washed-up superhero actor who attempts to revive his career by writing, directing, and starring in a Broadway production.

The film brilliantly brings the viewer into the story that flows almost non-stop from the build-up of rehearsals to opening night.

Michael Keaton was perfectly cast in the lead role, and Naomi Watts, Edward Norton, Zach Galifianakis, and Emma Stone all put in stellar supporting performances.

Birdman won the Oscar for Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Achievement in Directing, Best Writing – Original Screenplay, and Best Achievement in Cinematography.

The film was nominated for five additional categories, including three for actors. The recognition for the film is well-warranted.

Brainfood of the Week:

Learning and Moving On From Failure | Jocko Willink

In this clip from episode 151 of the Jock Podcast, Echo Charles reads a question from a listener asking for advice about moving on from a failure.

Jocko answers the question by stating how he would have accepted the situation, asked what he could learn from it, and what he could do next.

He explains that you should learn from the past, but there’s no point in dwelling on it. After learning from it, you should look for the new opportunities that come your way.

Jocko Willink is a retired Navy SEAL, bestselling author, host of a top-rated podcast, and co-founder of a multimillion-dollar leadership and management company.

I’ve featured Jocko’s bestselling book Discipline Equals Freedom in Sunday Supplement #39. Watch the rest of the video to get the full breakdown and to see if you like his content. 

Closing Spiritual Passage:

“Trouble does not discriminate. It comes to everyone at some point.”

– African Proverb

This African Proverb reminds me to stay as calm as possible when encountering troubling situations.

Whether these situations come in the form of anxious moments or external conditions that need addressing, being levelheaded is vital to making the right decisions.

The proverb is a great reminder that trouble or bad luck doesn’t skip over people. Knowing that it is a likely occurrence in life shows me that it isn’t something to dread.

Trouble can come in many forms, including failure, but I believe if you do your best to face the challenge, you can move forward.

Don’t let failure get you down. Learn from it, move forward, and have a blessed week ahead!

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Stephen Hawking, Invisible Man, The Last King of Scotland, Bright Side, and a Quran Passage

Sunday Supplement #94 (February 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.

I hope you take something away from these recommendations that enriches your week ahead!

Quote of the Week:

“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.”

– Stephen Hawking

Book of the Week:

Invisible Man – Ralph Ellison

Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man won the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction in 1953 and is on many best novels lists of the 20th century.

The book is told from the point of view of an unnamed Black man who lives in hiding at the start of the novel and recounts his life up to that point.

Without spoiling the entire plot, the novel covers the narrator’s time in school, living and working in New York City, and making speeches at rallies for an activist group.

There are many themes in the book around identity, illusion, and race that are brilliantly explored in the vivid narrative. 

Ellison’s novel is on so many best novels lists for a reason. If you haven’t checked it out yet, put it on your list.

Movie of the Week:

The Last King of Scotland

The Last King of Scotland is based on the events of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin’s regime during the 1970s.

The 2007 film follows Scottish med school graduate Nicholas Garrigan as he goes from working at a missionary clinic to becoming Idi Amin’s personal physician.

Garrigan realizes how naive he was when he started his journey and realizes few are willing to help him escape the country as events escalate.

Forest Whitaker won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Idi Amin. The rest of the brilliant cast is rounded out by James McAvoy, Kerry Washington, David Oyelowo, Gillian Anderson, and Simon McBurney.

Whitaker’s performance alone is worth watching the movie for, but the film itself is well-written and has much to appreciate. 

Brainfood of the Week:

11 Optical Illusions That Will Trick Your Eyes | Bright Side

For this week’s Brainfood of the Week, I decided to share a fun video that goes over 11 different illusions that challenge the brain.

Some of the illusions are ones you might have encountered before, but there are sure to be a few that have you scrolling back to see what you missed.

I think this video is a fun reminder that everything we encounter isn’t always as it appears.

Bright Side is an amazing YouTube channel with over 44 million subscribers that uploads three videos daily. 

Their channel covers a variety of great topics, including recent discoveries, space exploration, true stories, valuable tips, fun tests, riddles, and more.

Closing Spiritual Passage:

“Know that the life of the world is only play and idle talk, and pageantry, and boasting among you, and rivalry in respect of wealth and children; as the likeness of vegetation after rain, whereof the broth is pleasing to the husbandman, but afterward it drieth up and thou seest it turning yellow, then becometh straw. And in the Hereafter there is grievous punishment and also forgiveness from Allah and His good pleasure; whereas the life of the world is but matter of illusion.”

– Surat Al-Hadid 57:20

I don’t prescribe to any religion in particular, but I find many passages from various religious texts contain much wisdom.

In this passage of the Quran, the emphasis on the illusion of the world is a fascinating look at how we can mistakenly place great emphasis on things or thoughts.

Regardless of whether or not you have faith in a God or an afterlife, the example of how fickle a perspective can be should give us pause in our own beliefs.

This Quran verse reminds me to continue to grow, have patience and understanding, and not be disillusioned with my own narrative.

Try to be patient and understanding, and have a blessed week ahead!

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