Hi friends,

Here is this week’s list of what I’m exploring and thinking about. Feel free to forward this along to friends.

Book I’m reading

The Cloudspotters Guide: The Science, History, and Culture of Clouds by Gavin Pretor-Pinney. The author has a great sense of humor and makes reading this book thoroughly enjoyable.

Fact I learned this week

Vipassana is a type of meditation that is commonly referred to as “mindfulness.” It is a state of clear, nonjudgmental, and undistracted attention to the contents of consciousness. This type of meditation has been scientifically studied and shown to reduce pain, anxiety, and depression; improve cognitive function, and even produce changes in the gray matter density in regions of the brain related to learning and memory, emotional regulation, and self-awareness.

Pen I’m using

Scriveiner Silver Chrome Ballpoint Pen. I never thought that I would be one to say a $30 pen was worth the investment, but I received this as a gift and it makes writing a much more enjoyable experience. If you’re trying to make journaling a habit, having a luxurious pen can give you motivation to sit down and write.

How I’m expanding my vocabulary

Over the past few years, I’ve been pushing myself to learn and implement new words into my working vocabulary. Something that has helped me has been looking up definitions of words I’m not familiar with and then writing them down in a small notebook. Every now and then, I revisit the notebook to refresh my memory and try to use a new word each day.

Word of the week

Nirvana: the final beatitude that transcends suffering, karma, and samsara and is sought especially in Buddhism through the extinction of desire and individual consciousness.

Until next week,

Kevin