SleepySera

Every week I walk into the library whispering, "You would dare offer me all of this knowledge freely?" And so I read. I read and I read and I read.

[sleepysera]

"I do a lot of enemyfying. I tell myself stories about how other people are messing things up: colleagues, clients, suppliers, neighbors, family. I know that these aren't complete or fair stories about what is happening and that telling these stories isn't a productive way to spend my time. I also know that many people do the same--for example, in couples counseling, which most people enter thinking, 'Our problems are my partner's fault, and I hope this counseling makes them understand that they need to change.' But enemyfying is seductive because it reassures us that we are OK and not responsible for the difficulties we are facing."

-Adam Kahane, Collaborating with the Enemy (2017)

[sleepysera]

"If you keep ascending, the pressure continues to lower, and the boiling point of water continues to drop. Eventually, you'll encounter an atmospheric pressure at which the boiling point is the same as the freezing point. If you ever ascend that high into the atmosphere, you'll be able to simultaneously sustain ice, steam, and liquid water in the same pool. The temperature and pressure at which a substance can coexist in these three states of matter is its triple point."

-Neil DeGrasse Tyson, To Infinity and Beyond (2023)

[sleepysera]

"In different contexts we use different words with subtly different connotations for the people from whom we differentiate ourselves: others, rivals, competitors, opponents, adversaries, enemies. We use these characterizations often, in both ordinary and extraordinary contexts, sometimes thoughtfully and sometimes casually, even habitually. But the enemies are always the others: those people."

-Adam Kahane, Collaborating with the Enemy (2017)

[sleepysera]

"Extreme stress is going to be a given in your life. So the real key to have an extraordinary quality of life--life on your terms--is not to hope you get lucky and that nothing happens, but to develop the kind of psychological and emotional strength that makes you resilient enough to use whatever life brings you to create something even greater. So if you can accept that extreme stress is going to happen, then the real key is, what are you going to decide to do when it hits?"

-Tony Robbins, Life Force (2022)

[sleepysera]

"With the passage of time, Earth rotates ever more slowly. Today, the days are getting longer at a net rate of about two milliseconds per day per century. That doesn't sound like much, but at that rate, full seconds add up fast. It means after one century, every day is two milliseconds faster. After two centuries, days are four milliseconds faster, and so fourth. Since 1972, we have been officially adjusting our daily time reckoning with leap seconds that, by calendar decree, are added every few years--as necessary--at the end of June or December."

-Neil DeGrasse Tyson, To Infinity and Beyond (2023)

[sleepysera]

"Complete DNA analysis, sequencing your genome and having the results analyzed by the right AI algorithms, can provide insights into your genetic risks for many health conditions and your carrier status, which refers to traits that can be passed on to future generations. Through a simple swab of your cheek, you can know in advance what reactions you'll have to certain medications, understand if you have a higher or lower proclivity to certain cancers of other diseases, and also gain insight into your physical traits and things such as food intolerance that can help guide lifestyle decisions."

-Tony Robbins, Life Force (2022)

[sleepysera]

"What would the story of our solar system look like if we wrote it in ink on some imperishable paper as we went along, passed down from Aristotle to the astronomers of today? It would appear as an ever growing list of discoveries and breakthroughs, nearly illegible with revisions, edits, and deletions, the surrounding margins brimming with scribbled queries. In the unmapped reaches beyond those margins lie manifold stories yet to be told."

-Neil DeGrasse Tyson, To Infinity and Beyond (2023)

[sleepysera]

"Open listening enables us to discover options that are not yet apparent. It means cultivating the capacity to notice afresh. Buddhist teacher Shunryu Suzuki says, 'In the beginner's mind, there are many possibilities, but in the expert's mind there are few.'"

-Adam Kahane, Collaborating with the Enemy (2017)

[sleepysera]

" - silence has always been my loudest scream."

-Amanda Lovelace, The Princess Saves Herself in This One (2016)

[sleepysera]

"When you set boundaries, you teach people how to treat you. You let them know, whether through actions or words, what is okay and what isn't. These healthy and nurturing parameters help you build trust with yourself by letting in only what you truly want and what serves you best. You also send a clear message to the universe that you're willing to make yourself a priority."

-Kerri L. Richardson, What Your Clutter is Trying to Tell You (2017)

[sleepysera]

"does a woman ever find her peace?

or is death our only feather-covered hope?"

-Amanda Lovelace, The Princess Saves Herself in This One (2016)

[sleepysera]

"The word 'ballistic' simply means 'under the influence of gravity,' and 'missile' means anything launched at a target. So, a baseball game, tennis match, football scrimmage, shot-put meet, or any other competition involving targeted flying spheroids is a perfectly legal ballistic missile contest."

-Neil DeGrasse Tyson, To Infinity and Beyond (2023)

[sleepysera]

"Buddhism is fundamentally about waking up--whether it's waking up to who's in front of us, or waking up to what we're doing, or waking up to what's going on in our mind. In fact, Buddhism actually means the way of waking up: how to wake up."

-Brother Phap Hai, Nothing to It (2015)

[sleepysera]

"All objects exert a force of gravity that extends to infinity, forming the very shape of the spacetime continuum. Einstein's general theory of relativity, simply put, tells us that matter and energy distort space in their vicinity, behave the same way, and are indistinguishable from each other in their effects."

-Neil DeGrasse Tyson, To Infinity and Beyond (2023)

[sleepysera]

"Most people think about working out as a chore, something they really ought to do, but they don't truly understand how transformative it is. We all know we should work out, but most people don't want to: We're pressed for time. We're tired. We're frustrated or confused about how to achieve results. So we just give up because we don't realize how essential it is to not only do aerobic exercise, keeping our hearts strong, but actually build the muscles that make everything work."

-Tony Robbins, Life Force (2022)

[sleepysera]

"Violence and war do not always involve weapons. Every time you have a thought that is full of anger and misunderstanding, that is also war. War can manifest through our way of thinking, speaking, and acting. We may be living at war, fighting with ourselves and those around us, without even knowing it."

-Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet (2021)

[sleepysera]

"If you've ever been close to someone who's been diagnosed with a blood cancer like leukemia, then you understand how these patients are assaulted twice--first by the disease, then by the therapies. Sometimes it's hard to say which is more devastating."

-Tony Robbins, Life Force (2022)