Black Swan

Dear life,

After 126 days of deliberations and over-thinking, here I am back to writing. It feels great listening to the tik-tak of the keyboard, especially since I am not writing any assignment, or not working on a deadline. I am writing, just for myself. The tik-tak of the keyboard is intentional and not forced. Don't get me wrong, I like working on my assignments and projects too, but nothing beats the feeling when you do something to satisfy your hungry soul.

I have been through a lot of ups and downs, and to be very honest, I am glad for that. I am actually proud of the number of times I've failed and got up, despite the overwhelming urge to give up. But a few things that have remained constant through out these years, are my drive to learn new things, accumulate knowledge, and live through new experiences.

Recently I read the book - Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. It explains the black swan theory using a metaphor that describes an event that comes as a surprise, has a major effect, and is often inappropriately rationalized after the fact with the benefit of hindsight. I started reading it around mid-march 2020, and by the time I finished that book in April 2020, I could see a black swan event unfold itself in front of my eyes. I don't know if I should be proud to be part of a historical event with such global magnitude which my future generations will read about in their academic textbooks; or to be sad that I am witnessing a global pandemic crisis, the effects of which may take a few years to dissipate.

After reading the book, one thing was pretty clear in my head, that we all are living through a historic time period for sure. Just like the World War 1 and World War 2 changed the course of out lifestyles, COVID-19 too is changing the way we live completely. We may not realize it now since we are actually living it one day at a time; but maybe a decade later we'll be able to compare and analyze in depth how this virus completely changed the way we live, work or travel. 

So I decided to make some memories while the virus lasts. Maybe ten years from now, I will look back at these days and wonder, how did I really spend those quarantine days... That day I want to come back to my blog and re-read them, and experience this confusion and doubt, and be glad that we all lived through this virus pandemic and came out stronger.

I really hope we come out stronger, better skilled, more knowledgeable, more emotionally intelligent and adopt a sustainable lifestyle when all this is over.

Yours faithfully

Ray