Tag: content writing

Nostalgia

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“n. a sentimental longing or wistful affection for a period in the past.” from Oxford Languages

Nostalgia is derived from the Greek word nostos, meaning “a return home”. This alone can evoke so much emotion, in addition to a deep longing for something that happened in the past. All the feelings permanently etched in with that memory, the guttural reaction to incidents already transpired, leading to a re-enactment in our heart of what has been, and perhaps what never will be.

What is the purpose of this? The fondness forever tied to seemingly inconsequential events, random happenings that bear no specific use for later, other than to remind us of happier times. Going to grandma’s house for endless treats, walking down the same street where I once played as a child with friends….

A warm hug for my heart in troubling times. A return “home“.

Nature

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vs. nurture.

2 sisters; born to same parents, same mother who ate the same type of food during gestation, led the same lifestyle habits, cared for by the same doctor in the same hospital and grew up in the same house. One of which is like an alien, literally, no idea from which universe she came from while the other is a replica of her dad.

How much is nature and how much is nurture? Is there a dominant one? There is recent evidence of “brain synchrony” where 2 people’s brain, when participating in meaningful engagements together, display synchronized frequencies of neural activity, showing the brain’s potential to be influenced by external factors. And yet even after years of living together there can still be such disparities between 2 people who share the same DNA pool.

Nature vs. nurture, the eternal question.

Adulting

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“n. the practice of behaving in a way characteristic of a responsible adult, especially the accomplishment of mundane but necessary tasks” from Oxford Languages

Alternative definition #1: the option of plonking oneself on ground and throwing a tantrum is just not viable anymore.

Alternative definition #2: pretending to give a sh*t in front of others even though care factor is less than zero.

Alternative definition #3: seeing through the irony that all those years spent pining to be a grown up was really not the smartest way to spend precious, truly carefree time.

Alternative definition #4: realization that life is 90% filled with the accomplishment of mundane but necessary tasks, like having to write through a haze induced by multiple days of sleep deprivatiozzzzzzzzz ….

Addicted

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“adj. physically and mentally dependent on a particular substance” from Oxford Languages

I MUST get up, my coffee needs me.

No further elaboration needed.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . my name is h, and I am a coffee-holic.

Homeostasis

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“n. any self-regulating process by which an organism tends to maintain stability while adjusting to conditions that are best for its survival.” from Encyclopedia Britanica

The meaning of homeostasis, when considered from its origin of the Greek words “same” and “steady” is intuitively self-explanatory – keeping things same and steady; maintain equilibrium.

Our bodies have in-built physiological mechanisms to drive this process, when the body needs sustenance, hunger sensations are triggered. Dehydrated? You feel thirsty. These are “primordial feelings” according to Dr. Google.

What about when we’re depressed or angry? There aren’t any in-built mechanisms to actively restore homeostasis in episodes of anger or sadness. It’s rather ironic considering how powerful emotions can be.

There is a HBR article on the topic of resilience. It states “the key to building resilience is: give it all you’ve got, stop and recharge, then try again. Resilience isn’t about how much you can endure, but rather how well you can recharge yourself in between bouts of trying as hard as you can.“

This act of “recharging” echos closely to the physiological mechanism for homeostasis. Instead of the recharge being something that is triggered automatically, it takes conscious effort to implement.

A coffee and a nap sounds perfect right about now.

Chronophobia

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“n. a persistent, intense fear of time or of time passing” from Oxford Languages

“How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before it’s afternoon.

December is here before it’s June.

My goodness how the time has flewn.

How did it get so late so soon?” ~ Dr. Seuss

How did it get so late so soon? In the blink of an eye it is already June. It is such a paradox each day can seem never ending yet a month can go by without a flicker of additional thought. What constitutes as worthy of memory? Is there in intrinsic factor that makes it ineffaceable?

This passing of time seems like a loss; a continual, inexorable loss. An inability to hold onto what has transpired, destined to be fleeting, destined to leave you longing for the good times to stay a little longer.

Perhaps this is what makes it ineffaceable, knowing you can never have it again.

CRAZE

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“n. an enthusiasm for a particular activity or object which appears suddenly and achieves widespread but short-lived popularity.” from Oxford Languages

I must admit I do enjoy being under the influence of a craze from time to time. The all consuming, all encompassing feeling that blocks out reason & logic, and so resolved in having you do its bidding, is.. hypnotic…

It’s like being on a rocket, propelled up and up and up, soaring above the mundaneness of every day life, succumbing to the whims of whatever has taken ahold of you.

When life is filled with calculated and controlled actions, this sense of freedom is such a relief, however short-lived.

Relativity

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Disclaimer – this is not about Einstein’s famous theory.

A phrase from a children’s book says: “how does a nose know there’s something to smell? And does it still stink if there’s no nose to tell?” The intricacies between the 2 subjects (smell and nose) and the nature of their dependency on each other requires rather profound contemplation to truly appreciate – what does it really mean to be happy or sad, clean or dirty, high or low?

Can one truly appreciate being happy if they haven’t gone through the equivalent extent of sadness first hand? What is “clean”, if there is no “dirty” to put it on a pedestal for all to admire?

There should be a way to press a button and reset, so that every time I eat chocolate it’s like the first time ever, with that high of discovering such deliciousness coursing through my veins, over and over and over.

Fantasy

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“the ability to fantasize is the ability to survive, and the ability to fantasize is the ability to grow” by Ray Bradbury

Reality seems like such a downer. From the quote, one cannot survive without imagining a life outside of reality.. is this truly how things roll these days?

Early civilisations came up with fairy tales and folk lore, to explain the things they don’t understand and bring a sense of control over the frightening unknown. The society now intends to create a world that is not real, to enable people to escape the world they do know. This 180 degree shift somewhat validates that truely, ignorance can be bliss?

What would you, if you could, choose to be ignorant about in exchange for bliss? Then again there is already ignorance pre-set in life; like how unreservedly you offer your love to your pet, not knowing then that when they die, you will be crushed in equal amounts by how much love you gave them; or a child wishing nothing more than to grow up, only to realize being an adult can truly suck.

Maybe it’s not wishing for ignorance or fantasy, I choose to have the ability to just stay (blissfully!) in a moment in time.

Ineffable

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“adj. too great or extreme to be expressed or described in words.” definition from Oxford Languages

How do we categorically say something can be fittingly described as such? Where can one find such things? Why the constant longing for “greatness”?

Human psyche is an endlessly fascinating pool of conundrums waiting to be picked apart for analysis. You think you would know what is best for yourself, but one can argue it is in fact, the polar opposite. The endless (and recurring) mistakes we get ourselves into, the habitual self-denial to not break away from the known errors plaguing lives everyday… the counter argument goes on.

Yet the longing, wishing, hoping continues. This hope that has sutured itself to our psyche, and refuses to stop rearing its head. Comforting, in times of despair, knowing not all is lost.

This is ineffable.