You’re reading something I wrote twelve days ago, on October 20th, and auto-scheduled for Nov 1st. So, it’s dated. I’m sorry for serving you stale stuff, but personally, that’s good…
It’s good because it means I managed to stay off my computer and all electronic devices since October 21st, and stuck to what I wanted to do. Without dropping out. I’m glad…
I’m glad I have this opportunity to experience Vipassana in their center in Massachusetts (I was waitlisted till mid-October). Among other things, one observes a vow of silence for ten days. Right now (past-me speaking), that feels very scary…
It feels scary because I’m not really sure I can do it (still past-me speaking). While I enjoy quiet introspection, ten hours (including sleeping) is the most I’ve gone.
It could also mean that I enjoy the silence so much that this might be the last newsletter you’ll receive for some time (cue synchronized sighs of collective relief from readers).
On another note, writing this particular letter is an act of vanity, I realize. It is vain of me to assume that if I hadn’t pre-written this note, you would have been disappointed. You probably wouldn’t even notice. And for me to think otherwise is, well, vain.
I realized this when I wrote the last edition where I was running behind, and felt: “No, No, I have to get it out today. People will be expecting it on October 15th.”
Heck, no they won’t (Talking to myself; perhaps practicing for the week ahead)
So, I’ve decided on a simple thing that I hope is OK with you. In this newsletter’s current avatar, I write you a letter on the 1st and 15th of every month. Going forward, these letters will come into your inbox twice a month - at the most! So, it could be just once, or not at all in any given thirty-day period. Long story short - you might receive less. You certainly won’t receive more than you do, right now.
That way, it’s also truer to us being friends. Friends usually don’t meet on a pre-determined schedule, right?
Two quick updates, and a longer one that will be especially useful:
While it has been on my mental anvil for many years now, my friend, Shashank Nigam, was a catalyst in my exploring Vipassana. He’s done it before, and strongly recommended it when we met up last year. He’s the biggest aviation geek I know. Not surprisingly, after reading my last letter, he sent me this awesome message: Here's the flight path between the actual airports of your writing process
How cool is that? I replied thanking him and sharing that I’d just been accepted into the Vipassana meditation program. He’s glad.
Name Place Animal Thing - once I got accepted into the program, I accelerated work on the book front to make up for the ten days off. It made for a packed weekend. I woke up at 5am on Saturday and started work on the book. Tina read the draft, and says she loved it. I’m glad even though she is too close to it. A few more folks (including my mom) will be giving me round 1 of feedback. Illustration for the cover is also going well, and the book production process has kickstarted. More on those later.
I haven’t packed for a trip in ages. It feels good to use my trusty Eight-P Packing Anywhere Technique again, even if many of the Ps (P2, P5, P6) are inapplicable for this particular meditation trip. I’m going to share this ancient (I’m 48) technique with you- for when you do travel again.
It’s a mnemonic to remember your packing list. And it has twice the Ps as Kotler. Let’s start local. When you’re stepping out, say, to the local supermarket, you take two Ps: Your Purse, and your Phone, right? (Wallet doesn’t begin with P :)
When you travel longer, you need these two, and six more:
The third P is Papers- that’s short for passport, visa, international driving licenses, etc.
The fourth P is Pills you might need.
The fifth P is Personal Computer- that’s a placeholder for your laptop, tablet, or kindle. I simply call all my devices Popeye!
The sixth P is Power, the mess of cables we lug around everywhere. Power includes chargers and travel adaptors if you’re going to a different country where you may need them.
P number seven is Perception. That’s for your eyes and ears- so prescription glasses, sunglasses, contact lenses, etcetera. And headphones, AirPods, or whatever else you use to lock out the world.
P8 is Personal stuff- clothes, toiletries, and everything else. We usually begin packing for a trip focusing on clothes and toiletries, which go into checked-in baggage. These are things money can buy if needed. We need to start with stuff that goes into our backpacks: P1-7.
+++P0: Protection = Personal Mask, ahem, etc.
Over the weekend, I visited Noun Project + Canva to make this picture that may be useful:
Hope to catch up again sometime this month (present-me in November, back to the future).
PS: speaking of Back to the Future, we watched this DeLorean movie, and plan to watch this DeLorean documentary. And did you know about this connection between DeLorean and Trump - it’s ten minutes from Basking Ridge, where we live in New Jersey.
Its nice to hear how you space out over various aspects of life influencers from Spirituality to Authoring to Organizing ... Gives an idea of working towards a Balanced Wholesome Personality! Keep it up!
After a long time, actually reading through an entire newsletter and enjoying it too. The last time that happened prior to this was around 2001-02 or so, when J C Penney used to send nice stories about the origin of some of the products they sold in their stores. Yeah, it's been that long that I really enjoyed a newsletter!
Thanks man. And wow, I'm simultaneously flattered and worried. If you still have any of those JC Penny emails, do share; just very curious how they did it.
Not fair. The last time you introduced the Ps there were fewer. But then I suppose 8 is a good number, reminds me of teh Rajni song in Baasha. I personally feel closer to 7 given all things natural and godly are 7 (edukondala vaaru including). Also, I will remember the P of sPectacles instead of perception. Remember GROSS (of C&H fame).
Oh how many Ps in vippasaana? Good luck with that Luxa.
For once, at a loss for words; it was cathartic, illuminating, and purifying. And some other things in between. More when we catch up in the future, Sumedh.
Its nice to hear how you space out over various aspects of life influencers from Spirituality to Authoring to Organizing ... Gives an idea of working towards a Balanced Wholesome Personality! Keep it up!
Thanks Avila (PS: Avila from Chembur, TATA Colony?)
Absolutely right! Just endorses that your brilliant memory is an additional asset!
After a long time, actually reading through an entire newsletter and enjoying it too. The last time that happened prior to this was around 2001-02 or so, when J C Penney used to send nice stories about the origin of some of the products they sold in their stores. Yeah, it's been that long that I really enjoyed a newsletter!
Thanks man. And wow, I'm simultaneously flattered and worried. If you still have any of those JC Penny emails, do share; just very curious how they did it.
Not fair. The last time you introduced the Ps there were fewer. But then I suppose 8 is a good number, reminds me of teh Rajni song in Baasha. I personally feel closer to 7 given all things natural and godly are 7 (edukondala vaaru including). Also, I will remember the P of sPectacles instead of perception. Remember GROSS (of C&H fame).
Oh how many Ps in vippasaana? Good luck with that Luxa.
Ah yes, my friend, you've been subjected to these through their evolution over Laphroaigs and Old Monks on terraces.
The P in Vipassana is silent :)
Lovely to hear about your Vipassana endeavour. Let me know how it went... just curious
For once, at a loss for words; it was cathartic, illuminating, and purifying. And some other things in between. More when we catch up in the future, Sumedh.