Welcome traveler to the January 2025 Edition of The Explorer!

“If we want to change the world, we change ourselves. If we want to change our lives, we change ourselves. If we want to scale the greatest mountain before us, we change how we arrive at the path.”

Antlers in every direction the eye could see. Reindeer were swarming me like I was a steaming hot soup ready to be feasted on.

Luckily, they were only there for the reindeer food in my small black plastic cup.

“Remember, keep your hands at your side. Reindeer see your arms as antlers” echoed in my mind as I moved it gradually to the reindeer’s mouth.

Nom nom nom. The reindeer was chomping away at the food when the pressure swooped the cup out of my hand.

“Omg, I dropped it!” The facepalming moment was anything but a monumental moment.

With nothing left to give, I gracefully observed as the reindeer gathered in a group.

One tried to get close to a flock, but the outward reindeer locked antlers with the newcomer to dissuade them. It was a standoff for some time. The two interlocked and the newcomer moved elsewhere.

How do you harbor the individual such that it continues to thrive in the community? This was the guiding question set for this month.

Reindeer, like many other animals, are very territorial. They build communities with their family and friends. There was one that scavenged for food whereas another one protected the community from newcomers.

The individuals were all doing their part for the community. To truly know if they chose this role, I would have to be a reindeer whisperer haha. Nevertheless, they were doing their part to curate something bigger than themselves.

In many ways, humans have the same community-like feeling with an added choice of segmenting ourselves accordingly into the group. We can learn about how communities thrive and see what area we want to give back! It doesn’t have to be a lifetime, but we can see which areas we want to contribute most whether it’s being an astronaut, historian, librarian, or anything as far as you the mind could imagine.

I was a bit unsure about what to read for this next month. On one hand, I was interested in curating a home and wanted to dive deeper into Japandi Living. On the other, the time didn’t feel right.

“What is most relevant right now?“ I asked.

There were tons of unread books on my bookshelves, and the one that spoke had yet to be added. This was “The Anthology of Balaji: A Guide to Technology, Truth, and Building the Future.

You may be asking, “Who is Balaji Srinivasan?”

My answer to you is, “I have no idea!” 😂

What I do know is that Eric Jorgenson’s “The Almanack of Naval Ravikant” (book review) is one of the books I still open regularly.

🤞 this one is just as good to learn more about the now.

Thank you for reading the January ‘25 edition! What book is most relevant to you right now?

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