What I’ve read:
Albert Camus’s Letter of Gratitude to His Childhood Teacher
Over the past year of my life, which has been a crazy ride, some of the most fulfilling moments came from expressing gratitude to the people in my life who helped me and inspired me. So it was especially heartwarming to come across a letter in which one of my literary heroes, Albert Camus, expressed gratitude to his childhood teacher.
In 1957, at age 44, Camus became the second-youngest recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Much smaller success makes people forget who they were, where they came from, and who helped them along the way. But I believe that anyone who has read Camus will not be surprised that he was not one of those people. A couple of days after receiving the Nobel Prize, he wrote a letter to his teacher. I am sharing it with you in its entirety, and I hope it inspires you to express gratitude to someone in your life.
November 19, 1957
Dear Monsieur Germain,
I let the commotion around me these days subside a bit before speaking to you from the bottom of my heart. I have just been given far too great an honor, one I neither sought nor solicited. But when I heard the news, my first thought, after my mother, was of you. Without you, without the affectionate hand you extended to the small poor child that I was, without your teaching and example, none of all this would have happened. I don’t make too much of this sort of honor. But at least it gives me the opportunity to tell you what you have been and still are for me, and to assure you that your efforts, your work, and the generous heart you put into it still live in one of your little schoolboys who, despite the years, has never stopped being your grateful pupil. I embrace you with all my heart.
Albert Camus
What I’ve written:
"The Art of Showing Up: A Clear and Practical Method for Developing Consistency"
I certainly didn’t write "The Art of Showing Up" in a week. In fact, I didn’t even finish it last week. But it was only last week, or, more precisely, just a couple of days ago, that I was finally able to release it.
Since you are a reader of Existential Espresso, I guess you are familiar with the fact that I’ve been writing a book on consistency in public. You were the ones who inspired me to start writing it. If you somehow missed the whole process, I’ve been sharing parts of the book for free. You can click here to see the final essay I shared, where all the previous parts are linked.
I won’t take your time trying to promote the book. If you get some value from my work and you are interested in the topic of consistency and showing up for the things that matter to you, I believe you will get value from "The Art of Showing Up."
You can check it out by clicking here.
What I’ve listened to:
Tim Ferris podcast with Todd McFarlane
Todd McFarlane is a comic-book creator, writer, and entrepreneur. He is best known as the man who brought Spiderman back to popularity when he started working on the legendary comic book as an artist and as the creator of the comic book series Spawn.
When I say "best known," this is probably true only for people who are a part of the comic book culture. I am not, so I’ve never heard about Todd McFarlane before listening to this podcast.
So how did I decide to listen to it? I came across a clip from the podcast where McFarlane says how he was rejected over 300 times before getting his first job as an artist in the comic book industry. After listening to that clip, I was more than willing to listen to the full podcast.
If I would need to use just one word to describe Todd McFarlane, it would be "tenacious." The “300 rejections” story describes him perfectly and it’s not even the most impressive story he has. You absolutely don’t need to be interested in comic books to enjoy this podcast and get value from it.
Listen / watch here or on any other podcast streaming platform.
What I’ve been thinking about:
There is a lot of talk online about how it is harder than it’s ever been to find a partner, regardless of your age and gender. More people than ever are alone.
What I am about to say will not fix that. Someone could even accuse me of encouraging people to stay alone, which is not the case. But I will tell you that there is one thing where I believe you should not make compromises.
You deserve a person who is interested in you. And what I mean by that is not just that they should be interested in what you do for a living, what education you went through, and other CV-type information. I am talking about someone wanting to get to know you on a level that few people do, or no one does. Them wanting to know your dreams and fears, and even challenging you to share those things that you are too scared to share with anyone.
Life is too short, and you are too unique, to spend it with someone who is not interested in your uniqueness.
Thank you for reading.
Stay strong, love life, and never feel sorry for yourself.
If you are interested in my book recommendations list, you can download it here for free.
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We are back again! Thanks for these thoughtful update messages =)
I liked the phrase you used, "You deserve a person who is interested in you". Should give it a reflection time from now on.