My Journey

As a writer and content creator who's putting their thoughts out in the public domain, it's always tempting to whitewash my words under the guise of making a positive difference. After all, one has to be aware of the impact they are putting out into the world. Who wants to leave behind a legacy of murky darkness and icky goo? We all want to put our best foot forward, uplift others, and be the hero. Yet, try as you might, you can't live a full life without being a villain in somebody else's story. Quite often we're villainous to ourselves.  Beef is a short but juicy story packed with meaty goodness and iconic entertainment; All with plenty of fun sprinkled on top. Unlike most stories that seem to inadvertently make me anxious to achieve something, this show is the rarest of rare unicorns that makes me feel sane. It's beautiful, funny, thrilling, and nice to look at. It also leaves you feeling like there's a lot to process once it's over. It has ten episod...

India has a culture that's more oriented toward the collective rather than the individual. The needs of the many always take priority over the needs of the few. This seems to be quite common in Asia as a whole. Perhaps due to the overabundance of people, there are less natural resources and opportunities as there are more mouths to feed and greater competition in all endeavors. On the other hand, people are also considered a great resource in themselves in these places. It makes sense then, to try to accommodate and make allowances for as many people as possible, in hopes of keeping the peace. Yet the people are very diverse here as well. Its history was wrought with endless conflicts between many of those groups. Some are old, others new. Some conquerors while others ex-rulers. When the Britishers came and gave us a common enemy, people got together one way or another. They still disliked those who were different, but all of them were forced to bow in front of this new power. Inte...

It's crazy how people can be so different from each other. By and large, we tend to stick with ones that are alike. Every now and then, unfortunately or otherwise, paths cross that are far more conflicting. What's more, there are also reasons to stay. Each party might have its own, but generally, it's not by choice. Something interesting happened today. A woman who's insisted on speaking to me every single day for months on end has finally seen too much.  I've always been somewhat of a loner, and for the most part, I've vehemently lamented it. In fact, I've largely considered it the bane of my existence. This sense of loneliness, how no one ever seems to choose me first out of their own accord, took much of my personal time in college. Then, when someone finally showed up, I essentially told her to fuck off. Funny how that works. Anyway, I stand by it 100%, I truly believe it was for the best. But the whole episode made me realize some interesting things.  M...

This is one of those shows with a massive audience of mostly casual watchers. I don't imagine a ton of critics swooning over it, or passionate filmmakers deciphering it in lectures at universities, unless it's a class related to makeup. A ton of people have dropped it, and people have varying opinions on the story. I binge-watched all 11 seasons of it in a matter of a few weeks, and I have to say, it was an excellent experience. Each episode has about 45 minutes to an hour in it, the first season had 6 episodes, the second one had thirteen (unlucky eh?), S03-S09 had 16 eps each, and finally, while S010 had 23, S011 had a whopping 26 episodes. Safe to say, it's a hefty show. I will also admit that the binging experience is reportedly far better than week to week, due to a variety of reasons. A little context: The Walking Dead was originally an American comic book by one Robert Kirkman. It then spawned a series of successful story-focused video games by Tell Tale studios, amo...

There is a popular common troupe in anime where the protagonist has some kind of special advantage in the story. Naruto had Kurama, the nine tailed fox, in his belly from when he was a babe. There are like nine of those things and this fucker had the most powerful one. Ichigo was the son of a Reaper and a Quincy who was also infected by a hollow. Cool as hell but kind of unlikely. Tanjiro learned Hirukami Kagura from his dad. The super saiyans were these OP race, and then recently there was something special about the Gum Gum fruit as well. Kinda sus if you ask me. They call it plot armor, I've always considered it a given for the power fantasy genre. If you're going to escape into a fantasy world, away from the stuggles of your real life, why not imagine yourself to be the most powerful one of all? Of course, there is an emergence of wonderful stories that subvert this troupe, in Mob Psycho 100, OPM, and now Mashle. So it's definitely a lot of fun and there's something...

I find myself having to think about what to write here. Throughout the day, I have certain feelings and ideas that seem impactful enough to unpack and explore further. Thinking to myself that I'll write about so and so, I have this vague image for the general vibe of an article I will write. Yet by the time I sit down, It's pretty much gone, wiped clean. I fear that I will lose the wonderful visions I had about all those fictional stories. On a practical level, if my ideas are flimsy enough for me to forget them so easily, they probably weren't worth that much to begin with. As you might know, I've always considered myself somewhat of an idea man, but I also knew early on that this makes me essentially worthless. That's because any joker can come up with an idea. While wars are won and history is made only and only through action. What matters most is to have ideas that I can actually act upon, those are the most valuable ideas of all. So should I just focus on idea...

One time, I was in a cafe with three other people, when one of them asked what it means to me mature. I was quick to start talking since most of the people were younger than me and I felt that I was the one being asked. I mentioned awareness and immediately got shut down by the person who asked the question. "I don't think so" she said. "I feel like I know many people who are mature that aren't necessarily aware of a lot. I don't think it's related." The group moved on to politics etc. It was always an odd bunch and we had gotten together for work anyway, but I was trying to say something else. I was referring to self awareness, and by extension, awareness of other people. At the end of the day, you'll never really know what it feels like to be someone else, but if stories have taught me anything, it's that you can develop empathy for people regardless, and perhaps a large part of that is getting in touch with the many parts of yourself. You ...

It's been more than a year since I left the kitchen. Three years and a culinary degree, only to realise that I wanted to work with storytelling. I've always been interested in stories. Something about them jsut felt right. Alternatively, something about ads always felt sinister. I grew up smoking weed and immersed in counter culture. Ads were the enemy, along with money in general. The liberal new age hippie wokeism ran rampant through my being like blood in veins. Not that there was anything wrong with it, but Anonymous, Spirit Science, and conspiracy theories just became the day to day for me.  So it irked me to find out in college that my personality is proably well suited for marketing and human resource in the corporate world. I figured it out myself, using personality tests and shit, and decided that I actually want to become an animation director, or a writer like Niel Gaiman. Unfortunately, my parents had gone broke putting me through college and so, I had to explore ot...

Wise men have told me before that being Okay is where it's at. Happiness is fleeting and sadness is cumbersome. Most days are spent running away from one and towards the other. While both are complementary and feed into each other, constant engagement must be soul crushingly exhausting. Hard times make you appreciate the good, and good times are what we all live for. But if there's something to be said about mediocrity, it's that there's no need to say anything about it at all, and that's the most beautiful thing. Perhaps that's what they mean by the little things. The every day stuff most taken for granted, content in being in the background, serving as a quaint sanctuary and providing peaceful serenity to all that are weary. They say that those are actually the most beautiful things of all. The ritual of making tea, the monotany of brushing your teeth, looking outside a window while it rains, sitting calmly in a room by yourself, and all the while doing nothin...

By now I'm no stranger to broken streaks and falling off wagons. A lifetime of destructive habits tend to guarantee that much. Nobody wants to live a hopeless life, after all. This is especially true for folks who feel they've got more time ahead of them than they do behind them. I should consider myself extremely fortunate to count myself among them. I have a tremendous amount of things on my bucket list. I'm of sound mental and physical health, I have access to various spiritual philosophies from which I'm free to pick and choose, and I have enough financial power through my parents to even choose my own vocation. Yet that makes me far from special, in fact almost everyone I have some personal relationship with seems to belong in the same category, with some exceptions. In fact, most of them seem to be doing pretty well, so at least they have some appreciation of their gifts, at least on the subconsious level. Or, more likely, their generally agreeable temperments res...

As the first month of the year comes to a close, my few regrets over how I've spent my time are easily eclipsed by my many accomplishments. Safe to say that so far, this has definitely been my year, and that I've made it happen all by myself. I mean perhaps not all by myself, I've certainly had some help, but I had a hand in it as well.  While there is a lot more to be done, and I'm quite frustrated by my pace, level of effort, and painstaking progress, I am optimistic about what's ahead. Usually by now, I would be burnt out and looking for a way out. Safe to say that I've learned to dig my heels in and stand my ground, if nothing else. For that, I'm quite proud of myself. One day, I hope to make others proud of me as well. I aim to be of great use to them and make a real difference. I want to have a much more palpable positive impact. I hope that the anger, sadness, and frustration I felt today, that insatiable hunger and drive for progress, will only grow ...

Summing up Part 1:  - Philosophical discussions feel more like self-aggrandizing circle jerks, wishful thinking, and fruitless games rather than a constructive and worthwhile means of actual growth. + - New Age and self-help cultures have done more harm than good in this regard, encouraging thoughtless behaviour, and divorcing causes from effects. (Ultimately knowledge only leads to empowerment when theoretical understanding translates into appropriate application. But the waters have been so muddied about the power of the mind that the subject has lost all credibility in public perception. Hence, for most people, it's become more sensible to focus on acting effectively rather than thinking clearly. Of course, the doing is where it all happens, but proper thinking is not only 20% of the efforts that lead to 80% of the success (see: Pareto's principle), it also allows one to identify and troubleshoot their process and circumstances. The greatest power of the mind is the ability ...