And Jesus Said Unto Paul of Ryan …

And Jesus Said Unto Paul of Ryan … https://nyti.ms/2nuAhRk

Swimming

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of going for a swim at the RSF after getting home from work. It had been my first time swimming in a while, so it fantastic.

I shared an article from the New York Times a few days ago about the loss of introspection in a world where ever second of boredom is filled with technology in our hands. Well swimming is still one of those times that preserves introspection. It’s a solitary exercise. Repetitive. You are in the water so you can’t listen to music. You are pretty much staring at the bottom of a pool the whole time. What better time to think about ourselves, the world and the greater meaning of life?

I used to hate swimming. Sure I was on varsity all 4 years of high school and went to CIFs once so I had to be somewhat decent. But the long cold practices, the fumes from chlorine, the nausea from endless flip turns, and the clock that told me I already missed my interval so I had to start the next one without any rest. I loathed all of it and always looked forward to when I would no longer need to go to swim practice.

Yet as I was swimming yesterday, I thought about how cool it was that I was swimming in the same pool Missy Franklin swam in. I realized that I only have about a year left to swim in the pool at Cal. Given that I don’t go very often, that leaves probably less than 20 times I’ll be swimming in Berkeley. Once I leave Berkeley, there’s no telling whether I will keep up swimming at the pool. Probably not. Even if I do, the peak of my athletic ability will quickly within a few years. From then on, it’s downhill for my body. My days of swimming are numbered.

This train of thought isn’t supposed to make me appreciate my years of swimming or motivate me to swim more often while I can. It was simply just an introspection I had while swimming. I believe I should not give myself pressure to fulfill some kind of “duty” towards swimming but simply do what I find enjoyable. And yesterday I really did enjoy myself swimming.

Le Petit Prince (Deux)

“Good morning,” said the little prince.

“Good morning,” said the merchant.

This was a merchant who sold pills that had been invented to quench thirst. You need only swallow one pill a week, and you would feel no need of anything to drink.

“Why are you selling those?” asked the little prince.

“Because they save a tremendous amount of time,” said the merchant. “Computations have been made by experts. With these pills, you save fifty-three minutes in every week.”

“And what do I do with those fifty-three minutes?”

“Anything you like…”

“As for me,” said the little prince to himself, “if I had fifty-three minutes to spend as I liked, I should walk at my leisure toward a spring of fresh water.”

We should spend less time optimizing our lives and more time enjoying our experiences.

Le Petit Prince (Un)

“My life is very monotonous,” the fox said. “I hunt chickens; men hunt me. All the chickens are just alike, and all the men are just alike. And, in consequence, I am a little bored. But if you tame me, it will be as if the sun came to shine on my life. I shall know the sound of a step that will be different from all the others. Other steps send me hurrying back underneath the ground. Yours will call me, like music, out of my burrow. And then look: you see the grain-fields down yonder? I do not eat bread. Wheat is of no use to me. The wheat fields have nothing to say to me. And that is sad. But you have hair that is the colour of gold. Think how wonderful that will be when you have tamed me! The grain, which is also golden, will bring me back the thought of you. And I shall love to listen to the wind in the wheat…”