Your life’s direction is right under your nose — don't miss it
How to Live WITH Your Destiny | Music & Content Recommendations
Friday comes around so quickly when you post a newsletter weekly.
I want to approach this one slightly different - give it a more personal touch as requested by my friend Imaad (hey Imaad :~) ).
I got a new small camera this week - Ricoh GRIII - so I’m able to take quick pictures of my surrounding.
I’m also feeling very sentimental after having a chat with Nadeem.
He invited me to Echo & Bounce cafe/record store to chat about throwing a fundraiser for the Türkiye and Syria earthquake. More information to come about that - but if it’s something you’d like to attend - reach out :)
So - after a chat that was very community and humanitarian focused - I think it’s relevant to talk about how we can follow our soul’s to a life of fulfillment.
Your Life’s Direction is Right Under Your Nose.
We people just want everything to be obviously lain out in front of us.
We get frustrated that our life is unclear — if only we could know what we’re supposed to do.
If only we could be told our life’s direction so we could build to that point.
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You might be further along your journey than you realise.
Here’s how you can live life in the moment, and make sure every step you take is toward fulfilling your destiny.
Dharma — your life’s purpose
The Bhagavad Gita teaches the principle of Dharma — in layman’s terms, your life’s purpose (similar to The Alchemist if you’ve read that).
The most applicable way I’ve seen Dharma explained is In Thick Face, Black Heart, where Chin-Ning Chu talks about a chair and a pen being two of humankind’s most useful tools — but to think about them this way:
If a pen resisted being written with, and a chair resisted being sat on, they’d be nothing more than paperweights.
As the pen embraces putting ink onto paper, and the chair embraces…us, they perform their roles as well as anything.
So what do this pen and chair have to do with us?
They instruct us to stay true to our path.
You didn’t end up where you are right now by accident.
You might be looking at a spreadsheet, or a job you don’t see yourself in long term, and thinking that I’m talking complete shit — but I can explain.
It might not be your end destination, but your situation right now is just another stepping stone in your story - you NEEDED it.
Create your own luck
Look back at the stepping stones you took to get here and you’ll see the many ‘coincidences’ and ‘luck encounters’.
It’s only luck or coincidence in hindsight.
If there’s one thing you take away from reading this - it should be this:
Seize every moment so much that it makes everything in your life look like it was meant to be.
Once you start your own successful business and you’re sitting with your feet up on the balcony as the sun is setting and you’re smoking your cigar, you want to think:
it was destiny for me to get that 9–5 and build from 0730 to 0900 and on lunch breaks
it was destiny that I worked in a shoe store and learned how to authentically sell to people
it was destiny that I worked in an oily kebab shop, built humility, learned the customer service social skills and got my hands dirty
When I was getting oil splattered on my face from shaving kebab meats, it was hard to picture how this was helping my life - but it did.
You can whinge and whine about your 9–5, your boring job and your greasy hospitality shifts, but it won’t help you.
The happiest people squeezes every ounce of juice from what is presented to them.
They’re not luckier than you, they don’t necessarily have a smoother life than you, they just make the most of theirs.
Their apple doesn’t have more flesh than yours, they just eat it all the way down to the stem.
Capitalise
Nothing good happens by being resistant to your situation.
Everything occurring in your life right now is just another chapter in your ever-unfolding story.
Manipulate your situation to make the most of it.
Build the skills and trust that it will all unfold.
Be full of angst and resistance and you’ll miss your chance at your destiny that’s ripe for the taking.
Sounds
Here are my listens for this week - all Turkish given the current inspiration.
Güzelliğin On Para Etmez - Altın Gün
Altın Gün is an Anatolian rock band from Amsterdam but has a couple of Turkish musicians. Apparently the bassist, Jasper Verhulst, posted an ad on Facebook looking for Turkish musicians - they do a lot of covers of old Turkish music in a modern style.
Bunu Sana Demiştim (Disco Tarantula Remix) - Tuğçe Şenoğul
Tuğçe Şenoğul is a Turkish musician - her genre is Turkish Indie, but Disco Turantula puts their own spin on this one - making it more ‘Pop’ sounding.
Leaves - Omeria
Omeria is a DJ/Producer based in Turkey. His sound is deep but still classic. This one is really palatable for anyone.
Playlist of them all here:
Content Recommendations
This week I found Line AbiRafeh’s article on the earthquake very impactful. Lina was previously a humanitarian aid worker - has been deployed to the Haiti and Nepal earthquakes in the past, so her perspective was really interesting.
She says:
“There’s a lot about this work that feels helpless — but it’s not hopeless. I’m not on the frontlines anymore. But I’m writing — and someone will read this. And maybe, maybe, someone who wasn’t going to take any action will decide to do something.”
An earthquake, an emergency, an endless trauma
The End
Thank you everyone for reading~ I hope you enjoyed this week’s newsletter.
If you did - consider subscribing - and if you’re already subscribed, please share to someone who you think will like it :~)
Sincerely,
Eren
