The Introverted Thinker #026
Catching you up on my travels, discussing George Orwell, and a meditation on the act of writing.
Hello all,
Firstly, I offer a warm welcome to all the new subscribers who got here via the e-book. Here’s an intro post to what this newsletter is about if you want to know more.
Now let’s get into it…
It’s been a while, well, not really, but you know what I mean. Some of you are aware that I’ve been traveling, as I mentioned last time in the newsletter.
I flew to South America from my home in London, my first time on this continent. My first stop on this trip was Brazil, more specifically an island named Florianopolis in the south of Brazil. It was all about beaches, hiking, surfing, and beautiful nature and mountains. A picture is below for those curious.
Do you see that viewpoint? It took me two hours of hiking to get there. Up two mountains. The first mountain we climbed was to get to the beach you can see in the picture. The second climb was to get to the viewpoint.
And I can’t express how scary/hard the second climb was. There was no trail, and I was literally rock climbing, gripping onto rocks and pulling myself up, whilst not really being able to get off my knees.
Not to mention the crazy wind. Once I got up, the wind was so strong It was considered dangerous to stand on the rock, but I did it, even if the wind was way too strong.
It was a very memorable moment all in all. I did other memorable things in Brazil like surfing at sunrise.
And now, I’m in another country. Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina to be precise. And it is amazing here. It has a super European vibe, it’s like a cross between Madrid, and Paris, and has the grandness of New York.
It’s definitely a city I will be returning to live in in the near future. Here’s a pic.
So as you can tell, I’ve been moving around a lot. We’re changing location every 5-6 days. And within all this change, it’s hard to establish a routine to write consistently.
It’s been a lesson to me though. if I want to fulfill this very realistic dream of mine to be a digital nomad, I need to settle down in one place, and treat it like home, with my specific daily routine.
Next month I’m also moving to a completely new location and will apply the lesson I learned out here to truly become a digital nomad, writing away at my heart’s content.
Now let’s get on with the actual content of the newsletter.
This One George Orwell Quote Changed the Way I Viewed Freedom
Orwell’s message is more important now than ever before…
Whether you like Orwell or not, his words require our attention. He’s one of those writers you simply cannot ignore, no matter how hard you try.
His dark descriptions of dystopian worlds have fascinated people for generations.
Perhaps our fascination with his writing tells us that a seed of fear has been planted in our heads about what society could become, or has become…
His novel 1984 reached number one on countless best-selling lists on four separate occasions.
Once in the mid-’50s upon its publication.
Once in late 1983 through 1984, for obvious reasons.
In 2003 after 9/11 and the start of America's invasion of Iraq, when people were questioning what Orwell would have said.
And finally in 2017 with the election of Donald Trump where freedom of speech become a topic of particular interest.
What book has climbed to number one on four separate occasions? Even 70 years after its publication? This is unprecedented. Orwell is someone we have to acknowledge, at all times.
The Quote That Spoke To Me
“You are free to be a drunkard, an idler, a forward, a backbiter, a fornicator; but you are not free to think for yourself.” — George Orwell, ‘Orwell on Truth’
What is freedom to you? To me, this seven-lettered word is the most important one in the whole of the English language.
Without freedom, we are nothing. We are merely reduced to purposeless and useless organisms who just keep the gears of the capitalist rat race spinning.
I’m a rather philosophical individual, and the main idea that my personal philosophy for life is built upon is freedom. Particularly how freedom is viewed within Existentialism, and Jean-Paul Sartre’s beliefs on it.
As conscious humans, what gives our lives meaning and purpose is our freedom to choose to do whatever the hell we want. It’s our freedom that dictates our lives, and it’s this that has the capacity to give you pure, uncorrupted happiness.
Without freedom, everything is meaningless.
“Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does.” — Jean Paul Sartre
I respect Orwell because he picks up on the key role freedom has in our lives and the severities that can come with this being stripped from us.
The most beautiful, touching events in history were all centered around one thing, liberation. They were about freedom and love. Surely this tells us something? We cannot under any circumstance be stripped of what has given us our best historical memories.
Look at Nelson Mandela for example. Imprisoned for 27 years for using his repressed freedom to stand up to a white minority regime. His only crime was using his freedom.
It’s tragic and terribly concerning that, we have come to a point where this can get us imprisoned.
Mandela always retained his freedom, he felt free, even if his body was restricted behind bars for close to three decades.
As Nelson Mandela once said: “For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others
Thinking For Yourself Reigns Supreme
One of the ultimate acts of freedom is to think for yourself.
In recent decades, we have been increasingly told what to think, having our morals and thoughts shaped by regimes who only care about profit…
Want to read the rest of this article? Click on this link to access the rest of it on Medium.
What I’ve Been Reading:
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
This is a big book. It’s over 900 pages long. So I’ve been reading it for the last two weeks, and probably won’t finish it for a while.
But the best way to describe this book is to call it a journey. A journey of an escaped prison convict from New Zealand moving to the slums of Mumbai, India, experiencing culture shock, poverty, and crime of the underworld of Mumbai.
It’s a journey in every way. The sensory description of this book is phenomenal, it’s really opened my eyes to the joys of descriptive writing.
It’s an exhilarating and fascinating book. I’ve also heard nothing but good things about this book, a lot of people I know have even said that this book is their favorite ever, and I can see why.
It’s the perfect book for me to be reading right now because in a way it is very much a travel adventure book. And I’m on my own adventure, in South America. I also experienced a culture shock in Brazil.
It’s given me this feeling of “Okay, I’m very far from home right now, I have to create some memories that I’ll treasure forever.”
If you want to be taken on a journey through the Indian slums, and experience the criminal underworld of Mumbai, pick this book up. You won’t regret it.
A Thought I Had:
Having written very sporadically over the last 20 days, I realized just how important it is for me to constantly write every day, and constantly generate ideas. It’s like a glue that binds everything together in my life, it makes the dust settle, and helps me see everything clearly,
It’s because our minds and our words can’t really rationalize everything that’s going on in our heads. It’s only when we sit down and fully focus on extracting ideas and words from our minds into written form that things start to make sense.
I’ve never been good at speaking, I can’t really put my point across well in speech, But when I write, I’m a different person. And I think that is truly beautiful.
In my humble opinion, everyone should be a writer. Even if they never publish anything. I’ve said this multiple times to my friends.
Just pick up a journal if you have no clue where to start.
The written word has changed my life, and it all started with me jotting down my emotions and feelings in a journal.
Now I’m here, with an audience reading my work day after day, week after week, and my mind develops with every piece I write.
The world of writing will help you get to know who you are more so than anything else.
For me, it’s the most potent form of introspection. And introspection is everything.
Thanks for reading everyone.
I’ll be back with a newsletter next week, I think I’m starting to find my feet and establish somewhat of a routine in this traveling business.
See ya.
Bravo, Your words fill me with confidence, because you are saying to me what I say to others. And that is “Everyone Should Write” — Everyday. Why?……Well as Margaret Atwood would say “Why not?” ie… go down a new neural pathway that enriches your soul and moves you into journey of intimacy with yourself. This stepping-into-the-unknown takes courage and boldness that invigorates the taste for living and releases you from horizontal time. How Sweet It Is to open ourselves for exploration into the everyday sublime — savoring the moments that leaves us breathless and our pulse quickening.