Tag: Journal

2019: The year in review

2019 was a roller-coaster ride, and it is now time to turn the page toward a new year. The ups and downs of 2019 have served to motivate my goals and aspirations, both of which share a common origin in the personal progress my life has witnessed thus far. The ride as a whole stabilized around November, providing me a chance to catch my breath, and get set for what I hope will be a much smoother 2020.

2019 arrived at a crossroads in various facets of my life involving my family, friends, and my career aspirations. Moving into 2020, I have about 1.5 years to go in completing my doctoral degree. 2020 also marks the continuation of a personal and introspective dialogue that has helped me come to terms with who I am as an individual, and who I wish to become in the future. 

Looking back, 2019 taught me an important lesson in being careful to not spread myself too thin in my efforts.  I had to set aside my “pen” and give myself time to contemplate in solitude. For so long, I had perceived said course of action to be foolish and of no use. 2019 and Yoda proved me wrong.

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I needed to be patient enough to first settle my doubts and misgivings before jumping on the irresistible bandwagon that included my lofty dreams and aspirations. I needed to ground myself in reality, and be a little more practical in my approach lest I go crazy with stress. More so, I had to learn to avoid being overly critical of myself which on many occasions led to frustrating results in my writing, and just about everything else, along with a veritable lack of confidence.

The last few months have served as personal rehabilitation. I took a step back, and relaxed. Occasional road-trips helped as well. Altogether, I let life sink in, and every now and then, pondered over the nagging doubts, slowly overcoming my insecurities while solidifying my personal vision for my future. With 2020 at my doorstep, I spent much of December gradually organizing the blue-print for a committed, productive, and practical schedule in my full-time pursuit of a career in writing.

I find writing to be a dynamic activity, and one that is heavily influenced by the writer’s state of mind and day-to-day experiences. What I needed to find was balance in my personal life (as well as share and help my family understand the ensuing changes, the toughest part of it all)  and 2019 has been a resounding success in that measure. So, having accomplished this, what exactly do I have in mind for 2020?

I love writing but I’m also too stubborn to give up my love for science. My efforts will thus take me toward a serious pursuit of a career “sun-lighting” as a science writer, and “moon-lighting” as  an aspiring author/comic-book artist. The Pensive Reverie  has provided me the chance to share my thoughts and opinions with my friends and followers around the world on a variety of topics. I hope to expand that empire of mine while focusing The Pensive Reverie as a hub where I can discuss my interests as an aspiring author/comic-book artist: comic books, book reviews, writing, poetry, anime, art and animation.

Meanwhile, I intend to gradually build a separate audience for The Procrastinating Scientist which will cover my interests as a science writer. While it doesn’t seem like much in the outset, there is a lot involved on both these fronts and I will do my best to post regular updates while fencing with my doctoral studies. With that being said, I wish everyone and all a very…

Transitions

Life is all about transitions. One moment, we find ourselves latched on to something, and the next instant there is something new around the corner that catches our attention. I have had to deal with my fair share of minute, but influential transitions owing to my absence over the last few weeks; ranging from decisions I have had to make on my academic career in pursuit of a PhD (which has incidentally become a wild-goose chase for funding opportunities), to my exodus in obtaining a driver’s license, and all the way to alighting upon the final stages of content editing my second book (Agent X)!

All of which brings me here today, back to my pensive reverie, during a stormy overcast in Edmonton that beckons me to take up the “keyboard” again, and get back to the blog posts I have been planning for a while. So without further ado, this is what we have to look forward to in the coming days!

Beginning with another recap of my “Adventures in Drawing” I will come full-circle as I complete my Drawing 101 course, and present a few more tricks I have learned over the past month.

Following this, we will shift gears, and in lieu with the current political “climate” (particularly with reference to the recent proceedings at the Paris Accords), I will provide a report on climate change, approaching the topic from a scientific, political, and socio-economic perspective.

I will also add another chapter to my review of Carl Sagan’s “Dragons of Eden,” as we explore the mechanisms of the human brain including the R-complex, the Limbic System, and the Neocortex.

Lastly, following up on a request from a reader, I will provide a learner’s review of Bitcoins, a crypto-currency, and modern digital payment system!

So, all in all, look forward to a good number of updates on the blog, and some healthy reading over the coming days everyone!

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You are not alone…

Holding your hand, I walk by your side. The joy in your eyes, a vibrant flame that nurtures the promise I made in a dream to cherish, and protect you forever.

With our continued acquaintance, I remain satisfied, the depth of our bond personified in a silence that renders words impotent amidst the emotions that persist.

I had found you in the void, where you lay alone, the light of your heart shimmering in the darkness that clung to your shoulders.

Unable to discern your truth against the tempest of your soul, I embraced you in a vow to help you break free of the shadows.

Urging you to smile in a struggle that perseveres, unyielding to the passage of time, I fail continuously to wrest the burdens of your heart.

But in this grudging hour, where I’m forced to accept the truth of my own limitations, I find a greater purpose to our journey together.

Encouraging me to stay strong, to remain at your side, to live for the moments when I can see your beautiful smile.

It is a sweet pain that indulges my efforts, to maintain my promise to you, so that even when I stumble, I find joy in the knowledge that you are a part of me, as I am of you, bound together and forever.

Believing yourself to be imperfect, broken, you collapsed under the weight of your doubts, falling victim to your own thoughts.

Inspired by the same, I will strive to help you understand, that beyond those imperfections and the broken reflection you may perceive, you are the innocent and graceful soul whom I love and wish to set free.

I wish for you to be happy, and though I may not know exactly what I’ll be able to do for you, if there is one thing that I would want you to remember, now and to the end of time, it is that I will be with you, and that you are not alone…

To the heavens, I will set my eyes, in hopes of the day when I shall find thee, flying free…

Falling sick was no fun!

Hi everyone,

I apologize for my brief absence. I fell sick with a severe cold coming into the first week of December, which pretty much brought my progress on a bunch of things to a stand-still. I’ve just made my recovery, and am now back on track to get the ball moving.

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Being sick is not fun!

I will begin by writing the next post on my read along of The Dragons of Eden, which will be up by the end of this week. I will also provide a comical summary of what I had been up to while I was sick. Though I was physically out of it, I was mentally surging with ideas, and with the approach of 2017 around the corner, there is a lot I have planned for, and which I will provide a brief summary of as well!

So, until the next post, toodles!

 

“An Incomplete Eloquence”

An Incomplete Eloquence – a pretty interesting article on the use of marginalia, and a reader’s relationship to a book.

I don’t agree with all the points made by the author. After all, it is quite possible a person who defers the use of marginalia, isn’t necessarily failing to build a “relationship” with the book, nor is guilty of not having “used” it well.  Simply, the book may just be boring, inciting no particular inspiration in the reader. It may also be a personal preference of the reader, who in reality, may enjoy an interesting read, and find the necessity to pause, and collect their thoughts rather distracting.

The article was a pleasant coincidence, as I’ve spent the past month raking in a variety of book purchases amidst the summer sales at Chapters (the bookstore), and been recently debating between either using marginalia in those books or to document my thoughts in a separate journal! For now, I’ve decided to use a separate diary to compile my ideas, and analysis of the passages on the books I’ve read.

Nevertheless, I must admit there is “An Incomplete Eloquence” in the extensive use of marginalia that I myself utilized to a great extent throughout the course of my undergraduate studies.

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I can testify that the content of a few of my undergraduate physics books in quantum mechanics, or statistical mechanics are pretty similar to this one, and could basically describe a book within another!