Hi y'all.
Here's to you some inspirations 'On History and Writing'. Enjoy.
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Until next time - Majken xx
Soul-despairing darkness in Antarctica
From February 1898 to March 1899, the American anthropologist, surgeon and explorer Frederick A. Cook spent a winter in Antarctica. Together with his fellow explorer colleagues - including the Norwegian Roald Amundsen, who later reached the South Pole as the first in history - their ship was trapped in the ice. To make time pass, Cook scribbled down several details about this experience - the first of its kind in history - and you can get some insights on these in his book "Through the First Antarctic Night, 1898–1899”. All from the howls of the freezing wind, the groans of the pack ice and the snow storms which pricked the skin like needles to the “soul-despairing” darkness of the polar night or “the long night of months”, as he also names it. Included in the text are some fantastic photographs, like this ‘before’ and ‘after’ shoot of Cook, Amundsen and a third bloke, Racovitza, above which show some of the effects the extended stay had had on them.
A fulfilling life
An old Japanese parable from the island of Okinawa goes like this:
A woman fell into a coma, and her body and soul hung between heaven and earth. Finally, she entered heaven, where the spirits of her ancestors spoke to her.
“Who you are?” they asked.
“I am the wife of the mayor,” she replied.
“We didn’t ask whose wife you are but who you are.”
“I am the mother of four children.”
“We didn’t ask whose mother you are but who you are.”
“I’m a teacher”.
“We didn’t ask what is your occupation, but who you are.”
“I’m a Shintoist.”
“We didn’t ask what religion you profess, but who you are.”
And so on, endlessly. She heard the same question for each answer: “Who are you?” And finally, she said: “I am a person who gets up every morning to take care of my family and the minds of my young pupils at school.” This answer satisfied the ghosts. They sent the woman back to the land of living. From that moment on, she woke up every day knowing she had something to get up for.
What had happened was that the woman had found her ikigai. Ikigai is a Japanese concept, and according to the Oxford English Dictionary, it refers to something that gives a person a sense of purpose, a reason for living. “It doesn’t matter how long you live, but whether you live a good life”, the Japanese says.
Now, if you read this and you’re somewhat like me, you’ll immediately start asking yourself: okay then, how do I find my ikigai? Or maybe I’ve already found it - but how do I truly know?
According to this article, you need to look for some of these things:
You’ll live a good ikigai life when:
You love what you do, and you do what you’re good at, but also what others can pay you for and what the world needs.
You work until you’re very old - the brain needs a lot of stimulation to stay fit.
You try to obtain a state of flow and (thereby) stop controlling the passage of time.
You practice how to remain calm in the face of difficulties. This reduces anxiety and stress and adds a healthy balance to your behaviour. (Tip: practising meditation can help you.)
What successful people can teach us
What can we learn from successful people to be successful ourselves? Over at the Marginalian, Maria Popova is looking for answers using the sleep habits of several famous writers as an approach - given that sleep is “the best (and easiest) creative aphrodisiac”. This she has paired it up with the number of books they’ve written and awards they’ve won.
However, Popova admits that several factors can shape a writer’s creative output, of which sleep is only one. Still, this small investigation shows some interesting discoveries. For instance, later risers produce more works but win fewer awards than early birds.
What truly matters, though, if you want to achieve lasting success is having a routine, Popova ends. To show up day in and day out, without fail. To keep going no matter how dull or grey the day - or your mood - looks like. Amen to that.
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‘On History and Writing’ is a blog post from me to you in which I share historically rooted real-life stories from around the world - told in exciting and creative ways - along with thoughts that circle the creative process of writing non-fiction texts. I post an email once every fortnight. If you're not already a subscriber, you are welcome to join the list. Thanks for reading! Majken xx
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