The Lesson from the Bakery

It is quite difficult to cease reading the profoundly thought-provoking The Book of Understanding by Osho for a short while, but you gotta do what you gotta do, right? My writing mind has been throbbing, aching to share a sort of epiphany that pierced through my brain on my recent visit to a bakery near my home.

Photo by Robert Anderson on Unsplash

Inside the relatively small establishment, I was suddenly enthralled by the beauty of the creations displayed there. The experience was kind of peculiar since I had been there so many times but never felt the same way before. The cakes I saw imbued me with a very strong and deep feeling of appreciation and admiration; it was as if I was about to weep tears of joy for the wonderful works, created with an incredibly high level of precision and dedication. Marvelous! Perfection! Masterpieces! The feeling was so overwhelming that, had the baker(s) been present right in front of me, I would probably have commended them directly.

But then, my mind made a shocking, sudden turn, swerving into another dimension. What is the meaning of all of these? It felt as though poignancy was starting to sprout in my soul. All the grandeur the cakes were carrying, is it really something that people can enjoy? Is it something that can genuinely satisfy someone to their very core? These fancy products can certainly be purchased by those with enough money, but can these items really form bona fide smiles in their receivers?

In the same place, I noticed that there was a little girl accompanied with who I believe was her dad. Apparently, she was buying a birthday cake for her mom, uttering to the cashier the birthday greeting to be written on it. Judging from their appearance, they were not a part of the affluent, probably getting a cake that was cheaper than most of what were on offer. However, there was one thing catching my attention: her attitude. She seemed so genuinely happy to be able to buy the cake for her mom. While the cake might not be of the exquisite kind, she felt full, complete, overflowing with bliss originating from her desire to make her mom happy on her birthday. (And I believe her mom would be really happy and grateful for the birthday present as well.)

Then, I answered my own question. Life is how you view it. Luxury can mean nothing, simplicity can mean everything. Pursue what makes genuine happiness bloom in your heart. That's the lesson from the bakery.

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A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth – Book Review

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A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth: 4.6 Billion Years in 12 Chapters

by Henry Gee

Perhaps, for most people, the word "history" invokes monumental events that have peppered humanity's communal trajectory – the Industrial Revolution, the Second World War, the invention of the internet, etc. That's the upshot of us being so accustomed to peering into life through an infinitesimal lens, which, in a sense, doesn't do justice to the grand scheme of things. A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth by Henry Gee provides an easy, almost cheating-like way to grok life in a vastly larger picture.

As the title says, this book summarizes what has transpired to date in relation to life on our planet. Compressing 4.6 billion years into 12 chapters in 230 pages or so is no mean feat, and the author deserves lavish praise for doing that. A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth is brilliantly "written with style" (as Sunday Times testifies) and emanates a modicum of humor. The fact that this book also projects life in the future is to be celebrated, and, as a dinophile, I love the fact that the author has devoted an appreciable portion of it to discussing the icons of the ancient past.

All that being said, despite the inclusion of timeline diagrams, I wish this book was accompanied with more pictures, as it would help readers with imagination in regard to the points of discussion. What I read is the Kindle version, though, so the paperback and/or hardcover version might feature the visual aids.

All in all, if you are interested in or curious about the history of life on Gaia, including that beyond our own species', it is well worth dedicating a tiny part of your own history/life to reading A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth by Henry Gee.

Have you read A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth? What do you think of this book? Share your opinion in the comment section below!

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Quote #122

"Silent moderates are (at least partially) responsible for the action of violent extremists." - Klinsman Hinjaya

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Quote #121

"Be completely at ease with certain uncertainty." - Klinsman Hinjaya

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Big & Fancy Words That Might Make You Smarter...er – Book Review

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Big & Fancy Words That Might Make You Smarter...er: A Vocabulary Builder For The Lexical Deficient Interlocutor Albeit Soon-To-Be Supercilious Smarty Pants Confabulator

by Albert B. Squid

Happy New Year, everybody! 🥳🎊🎉 The year 2024 ended with two great things: the presence of my sixth monster in Monster Rancher 2 DX, Wackosaurus; and the completion of my perusal of this vocabulary builder. 🥰

Big & Fancy Words That Might Make You Smarter...er by Albert B. Squid is a English-learning book with a difference. This vocabulary builder showcases "big & fancy words" (as the title says) presented in calendrically sequent order – you will learn one unusual but cool word for each day of the year, from January 1 to December 31. Apart from easy-to-digest definition(s), each word is accompanied with information on its part of speech (whether it is a noun, verb, etc.), an example sentence (which is often, if not always, funny or even hilarious!), and synonym(s) and antonym(s). Among the book's lexical selection are "opprobrious", "turpitude", "anathema", "peripatetic", and "crepuscular". It is not every day that we hear this sort of expression, is it? I guarantee that you will learn a plenitude of vocabulary in a fun way from this unique book!

Despite the positive things I have mentioned, there are some changes that I wish could be made to this vocab booster. First of all, as this book is intended to educate its readers on English language, the lack of linguistic accuracy is something to be dealt with. There are a number of mistakes, without which this book would be far more valuable. Here are several examples:

• A synonym for "antediluvian" should be "old-fashioned", not "old-fashion". (p. 43)
• The correct spelling for "consistant" is "consistent". (p. 72)
• The word "vengence" is a misspelling; the correct one is "vengeance". (p. 319)

I wish there was a pronunciation guide as well (we all know how exasperatingly unphonetic English is), and, if there was an index, it would be much easier for readers to revisit an entry (I bought the Kindle version, and, since the entries are in an image format, I cannot use the search function for this purpose).

All things considered, Big & Fancy Words That Might Make You Smarter...er is an amazing resource for enriching your lexical repertoire – Mr. Squid deserves scores of plaudits! Buy this book (it won't make you impecunious), read it, and impress your audience with your upgraded vocabulary!

Have you read Big & Fancy Words That Might Make You Smarter...er? What are your thoughts on this vocabulary builder? Share in the comment section below!

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