Life often presents us with challenges that seem insurmountable. Problems that feel like they’ll never go away. Troubles that bring nothing but despair.
And often when dealing with these challenges, problems, and troubles, we feel - it would be so easy to just give up. To just let the world go on as we step away from the madness of it all. To let reality shape us rather than engage in the tiresome act of shaping reality.
Today’s poem is for those of us dealing with such feelings. I hope it helps you find the energy and motivation to persist.
The easy path some wanderers take, does not the mind or spirit make. As velvet cannot hone the blade, In comfort, progress is not made. True arrows need friction to fly, in storms the skillful sailors ply, "No pressure, no diamond" - it's true, we find, even gold must melt to be purified. Unused, a vessel will quickly rust, the wind-blown tree will prove robust. Canyons aren't carved by waters calm, harvests are picked by rugged palms. The steadfast scale the mountain face, even kings must earn their rightful place. In rest, achievement comes but slow, In difficulty's soil, success grows. Seek not the path of least travail, embrace the rigors of your trail. Yes, progress needs friction and strain, PERSIST - and growth you will attain.
That’s it! Thanks for reading edition 134 of Hello Universe.
I’m curious to know - what challenges have you persisted through and found success? Before you read today’s poem, drop me a short, one line answer. You can also consider sharing your thoughts as a comment. I reply to comments with a mini poem, so today might be your turn!
I felt it strongly when back in 2020, I wrote 100 poems in 100 days!
Some Fun Stuff
This is a place where I recommend read-worthy, hum-worthy, and watch-worthy content from across the internet. The underlined words are links that you can click to access my suggestions:
1. Read about the groundbreaking work on using glass plates as data storage: Back in the day, the most data you could store on a physical medium was 4.8 GB on a DVD drive. Now, there are memory cards that can store up to 1 TB, and SSDs that can store many TB. However, such memory devices have a limited lifetime (around 10 years at best) - and thus, they aren’t reliable as long-term data storage solutions. Microsoft has been hard at work developing such a solution, and turns out, glass is the answer. This article takes you deep into the way Microsoft has unlocked this capability, and shows a glimpse of the future. Check it out!
2. Listen to the Hello Universe playlist - If you’re a regular reader of Hello Universe, you know that I share a bopping track to listen to in this section every week. I’ve compiled all those tracks into a “Hello Universe” playlist, and it’s a great companion for a long drive, a chill sesh, or just as the background music to your life. Check it out!
3. Watch this music video by Brian David Gilbert - Man, I love this guy’s creativity so much. This is hilarious. Just watch it now, please!
That’s it for this week, see you next Tuesday!
I particularly needed to hear this this week! “As velvet cannot hone the blade” -- so beautiful! Love this one