Presence
The third season of the Netflix original show Chef’s Table breaks its own mold by focusing on someone who’s not a chef. Instead, we get a deep dive into a Buddhist monk in South Korea, who cooks what is known as “temple food” for her monastery. Her food holds a level of sophistication that left food journalists in New York in awe, saying that her food rivaled that of any of the top restaurants in the world. Despite an in-depth dive into her methods, the only thing that really stood out was her philosophy. The Buddhist focus on being present and fully in the moment drove her ability to find flavors and show them at such a high level.
This isn’t a new idea at all, but the importance of presence in the moment and attention is becoming increasingly important. Our attention is currently the target of some of the brightest minds in the world, working on developing software to inject their product into every moment of our lives and draining our ability to focus. Notifications and other technologies fragment our attention and we can’t stay in a moment for more than a few seconds (or minutes for the stronger willed).
If you know me at all, you’ve heard me talk about how much I hate social media and how it’s the worst part of my life. I legitimately think that I have an addiction. I’ve tried many times to quit outright and failed, so I’m currently just trying to cut down in small amounts and reclaim my attention. I think that ultimately breaking free from shackles of technology because of one type of moment. A type of moment that makes it seem all worth it. On days that I don’t touch technology, I awake with a level of clarity that lets me focus intensely on each present minute. I try and focus on every sensation and action that I experience. On those days, everything feels so intense and so real. I feel like how I imagine BBC’s Sherlock does, almost overwhelmed with information but in a collected manner. Even on those days, it’s only a matter of time before I end up scrolling through my feeds, getting increasingly depressed by the latest news headline.
It’s comforting to know that there are alternatives to the way I’ve been living since it has brought me a lot of anxiety and frustration about life in general. It’s less comforting confronting how difficult it is to disconnect and really live in a given moment. But since I’ve experienced it a few times, I want more. So I’ll keep trying to meditate and cut down my time scrolling – and encourage you to try to put down your phone and just really experience where you are and what you’re doing. Who knows? Maybe one of us will be
on the next episode of a Netflix documentary.
Drops of the Week
where I *drop* recommendations of cool things this week
Album
Discovery by Daft Punk - I rediscovered (ha) one of the best albums of all time, by one of the greatest musical groups of all time. Every time I listen to this album I’m amazed by it and how I always seem to forget about it.
Longread
“How the sandwich consumed Britain” by Sam Knight - this is a very long read, but an interesting one. I dreamt about sandwiches the other night after reading it, and that’s the main reason I chose to share it this week.
Illustrations
“All the pleasures of traveling alone” by Evgenia Makarova - pretty illustration series. I like the colors
Thanks so much for reading! If you have any comments/concerns or fan/hate mail for me, you know how to reach me (links below). Feel free to forward this newsletter to your friends too! :~)
Love,
Nikhil