Musings Archives - Where to Kim?

Do you prefer an empty sky?

Kim — Mon, 27 Dec 2021 15:00:00 +0000

Musings on whether the effort is worth it when sometimes nothing is better than all the other options.

In a world like ours, blue skies shine so brightly that they take first place in the contest for the most beautiful weather. Cloudy skies must give way to their empty equivalent. If people value “less” more, why bother to make it the best it can be?

A little boy walks on the bumpy forest path. His surroundings are much larger than he is and the boulders on the road come up to his knees. Yet he keeps going until he reaches the end of the forest. He finds himself at the top of the biggest rock yet and looks out over the forest that is now smaller than he is.

From behind, his older sister runs towards him. Looking at her booming smile, he assumes the road was easy for her. His own smile is strained, but not because of the effort it took him to reach the viewpoint. He looks ahead and thinks of the long way he still has to go. As soon as he sets his foot on the next path that leads to an even higher viewpoint, he will lose his momentary sense of peace and accomplishment.

His sister will not accompany him on this road. She will take the same road back to where her friends are waiting for her. When she looks at the empty blue sky, she is satisfied. The boy loves the clouds in all shapes. He likes to guess the meaning when he lies with his back on the grass staring at the sky. When he does, his sister runs in circles around him. Jumps over him, sending loose blades of grass up his nose, irritating his airways. When he calls out to her that she needs to go somewhere else, she looks at him uncomprehendingly as if she can’t think of any other place to be. They must live together under the same sky, which is sometimes blue and sometimes gray. Just as it is when you look up today.

I want to convey this message to you. On this day, today, even if the sky is gray and the road is long: your sister is right, this is where you belong. Under the clear blue sky that pleases your sister and her friends, who live their lives effortlessly, you stare aimlessly at the sky, waiting for the clouds to show you something high in the sky that has been at eye level all along.

The post Do you prefer an empty sky? appeared first on Where to Kim?.

It all starts with one thought

Kim — Mon, 20 Dec 2021 15:00:00 +0000

Musings on why (not) all thoughts are equal.

A person who judges is always biased. He will either think “what a stupid thought” or “what a brilliant thought!”. If, like me, you are onto him, you wonder if this says something about the judge’s thought or about the thought the judge is judging. When we add our own thought to the series of thoughts, we get three linked thoughts, two of which depend on the first – original – thought. At least, that is what we think.

All these thoughts have a certain quality that is partly intrinsic and partly judgmental. If 99% of the world appreciates or agrees with a thought, it is easier to assume that the thought is valuable. Can there actually be a truly objective judgment about this?

A single judge

When we consider what the judge thinks about the thought with which we began these musings, we must consider the percentage lost in translation. If the judge’s thought is flawed, then we ourselves will never be able to reach a good judgment. If both the original thought and the judge’s thought are flawed, then we must conclude that the judge is mistaken when he assumes brilliance. Unless we have misunderstood something fundamental. On this scale, it is quite easy to fix.

The original thought originated elsewhere and morphed many times as people passed the thought on to whomever they know. The thought we end up thinking is unique. Should we compare this thought to the other unique thoughts or to the thought from which it originated?

A superspreader

Some people have the power to spread their thoughts much further than others. If what they spread is ultimately what 99% of people are told – suppressing all other thoughts – then some people will know no alternative. Does the power of the masses mean that this version of the thought is more powerful? After all, it is what the world believes. Doesn’t this make you worry about the genius of the thought that started it all?

The person who judges will regard the thought he heard as having its own identity. It does not matter how many other thoughts this one thought is connected with, for he can easily evaluate it without the others. The result of the consideration will reveal whether the evolved thought is worth thinking about.

Whatever happened?

As I ponder this thought process, my mind wanders to the chain of thoughts I am reconstructing in my mind. I am building a replica of the thoughts that came before. As I do so from my perspective, I may be making them a little better than they were before. As a result, I cannot deny the genius of the superspreader; it seems that person was right in creating value for this thought. The other people judging agree with me. The fact that we all think this way must be meaningful because now 99% of people agree with us.

I cannot imagine being wrong about this: if I were wrong, it would mean that everyone else’s thoughts are equally wrong. Even if it is because something was lost in translation, I would not dare to judge objectively the original thought which I should not make better than it is lest it be equal to the erroneous thoughts I perhaps think myself.

If I am wrong, there is a thought that is superior to mine. Although all thoughts are equally important, an unknown thought that preceded all of this can always be better. The mystery surrounding it made superspreaders elevate it to unprecedented heights. Or were they the cause of the mystery? Perhaps they came up with the original thought.

The post It all starts with one thought appeared first on Where to Kim?.

Can you confidently dismiss a story?

Kim — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 14:00:00 +0000

Musings on reviewing and sharing opinions. Do you have it in you to reject something you don’t like and discuss your opinion with the creator?

Someone poured her heart and soul into writing this. Do you have it in you to reject it if you don’t like it? And if you do reject it, do you feel happy about it? Neutral? Or sad, right before you go into virtual hiding and hope that you will never meet the author in real life?

You can simply resort to saying that the piece of writing does not fit your taste. This is a pretty neutral and widely accepted comment as everyone’s taste is different. It also shows weakness. Try to look beyond yourself and express what makes it not right for you. Is your dislike the result of something that is objectively wrong? If so, then point it out and give feedback.

Your honest review

With every word you speak, you see the author’s soul and spirit shrink. Some have a strong shell built around them, a fortress from which they can achieve pyrrhic victories. But even the most hardened writer receives the occasional dent in her armor. The hurt creeps into her eyes and the temperature in the room drops a few degrees. You heartless consumer! Let’s speak again when I evaluate your work. P.S. Thanks for taking the time to review this book. One day you will get better at deciding which books you should read or skip.

Review the reviewer

In the second round, the author gives you some honest feedback about the review you wrote. She says that your review is not objective at all! She is aware of the fact that readers want to hear your personal experience, but why does it blind you for all the facts that you didn’t mention? If you don’t notice the writing style and the poetic flow of the sentences, does that mean that the text spoke to your subconscious mind and reached you on a deeper level without you being aware of it?

You say the story is boring, but it is actually a very truthful account of what happens to these characters. Not every person’s life is exciting. Some people live uneventful lives. And some detectives are simply brilliant and crack the case with ease.

She does appreciate that you took the time to read her book. Bad buzz is still buzz.

The tables are turned

After this encounter you – unsurprisingly – start reading a new book and write another review. The same things happen.

Some years later you have a huge portfolio of book reviews. This collection can be considered a bookwork of its own. Your readers love to provide you with feedback about the work you delivered: the hundreds of reviews that you wrote, sharing your emotions and baring your thoughts for a wide audience.

En masse they want to tell you about the inconsistency of the work that you delivered. Some reviews are short, others are long. At times it reads like you didn’t like the book while you praise it with your words. Was your soul absent for a moment? It is clear that you like philosophizing, that’s great, but we want to hear more about the characters in the book, not about you. P.S. Thanks for making us aware of all the great stories out there.

Reaching out

You decide to reach out to the readers who left you comments and emails. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. And you decide to single out one of the commenters. Yet no matter how hard you try, you can’t establish contact. With every comment added to your review, the level of anonymity increases. You have a face, the author has a face, but that is where the chain ends.

After gathering all opinions, the general consensus is a compromise of many different views. If you cancel out the most negative with the most positive, you end up with a neutral opinion that hardly mentions anything in the story at all.

It is always more impressive if the narrative manages to reach one individual than the anonymous, faceless mass. It should reach you, so you should just read the book and decide for yourself whether you like it or not. A review or signed comment is welcome, but you can also suffice with placing an anonymous comment, anywhere. Just post that it is a ‘good book that should be liked’. P.S. Sometimes I wish I could do just that.

**These musings are not based on any real-life events**

The post Can you confidently dismiss a story? appeared first on Where to Kim?.

The Sky Was Blue on a Friday

Kim — Fri, 12 Mar 2021 15:00:00 +0000

Musings on the bright side of life. Which perspective is the brightest?

Today I looked up at the rainy sky and saw something new. For the first time in my life, I saw a sky full of color. Each raindrop sparkled like a diamond, sending rays of light in different directions. One ray hit my eye and blinded me. With the one eye I had left, I saw everything from a different perspective. The color blue caught my attention.

A small blue creature swayed boldly. From left to right and then left again. It was looking for a small breeze to fly through the air with, to take him – or her – to new places. Although he was still blue at the moment, he was in the process of switching to green. A grayish shade of green that went well with the gray sky.

He found a breeze to befriend and began to float smoothly before my eyes. I wanted to join him, so I took a deep breath to take in more air and jumped as high as I could. My feet connected with another breeze and together we chased the little green-but-obviously-blue creature.

For a long time we dodged the raindrops, but eventually too many of them caught up with us, making us feel heavier and heavier. Soon it became too difficult to keep altitude and we fell to the ground, taking the little green guy and his breeze with us. We all rolled on the ground and began to wrestle.

As the raindrops were still weighing me down, the little guy was soon on top of my chest. He smiled radiantly. I smiled back because I saw what he didn’t: the clouds were moving away and the sun was about to shine.

My joy did not last long, for the green-turned-blue-again creature disappeared when I was no longer blinded by the light. The two breezes also left me and went where the clouds went. I found myself on this beautiful sunny day, alone without my friends. There were only two colors left that I could see. Although these two colors usually make me happy, today they kept me grounded like never before.

The post The Sky Was Blue on a Friday appeared first on Where to Kim?.

Burning Bridges: an act of war or a figment of your imagination?

Kim — Fri, 12 Feb 2021 15:00:00 +0000

What is it like to burn a bridge, and to cut off both your past and future?

The burning of a bridge can be an act of defense or offense. By destroying both your own advantage and the advantage of the other, you are saying that you are all in; you will take that person down with you no matter what happens and you’re not backing down without a fight.

Yet when you find yourself alone on an island after your daring action, given time to rethink the wisdom of your action, you might conclude that the other party won after all. They are so powerful that they can just rent a helicopter and cross the distance that way. You hardly managed to create a dent in their armor. Perhaps, you even helped them shine more because they look so mighty, up high in the helicopter.

The most interesting question is whether the fun and joy you felt when ‘getting back at them’ by burning the bridge created enough happiness in the now to compensate for your miserable and lonely future. The books and gurus all say that you have to live in the now: the happiness in the now is what matters because it makes no sense to always look forward to some future happiness that you might never attain.

You can ponder on what would have been best while you labor to rebuild the bridge, brick by brick, single-handedly. Along the way, someone might come over to offer a helping hand, or reach out to you when you are almost there to share your success. Your enemy might even be waiting for you on the other side.

It is also possible that your enemy is already behind you – or ahead of you, just a matter of perspective – patiently waiting to take over the island once you are gone. They’ll use the bridge you’ve built to improve their infrastructure while you can only watch what was once your brainchild from far away. No one will know your name but your competitor’s name will be everywhere.

Now, should you have rebuilt the bridge, yes or no?

Yes obviously: the bug you left behind will cause twice as much happiness for you in the now. What happens next is that your brainchild will eat away at your competitor’s success. The negative press alone will be too much. Almost. While your competitor has the resources to acquit himself, your name will go down the drain, or rather, under the bridge.

Now imagine that this is a video game that you can hack. There are no rules… Your only limitation is your own imagination. Maybe there was never a bridge to begin with.

The post Burning Bridges: an act of war or a figment of your imagination? appeared first on Where to Kim?.

How to feel immersed when a book has no main character?

Kim — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 15:00:00 +0000

Musings about book immersion. Can a book without a main character – including the narrator – be any fun?

Imagine a book without a personal voice, not even a story narrated from the point of view of a dog or a cat. When you lack the perspective of a living being, what is being told simply represents the universe. This is not the same as a non-fiction book. Time is not measured, and there is no past, present, and future. The story does not take place in 2021 because it does not take place at any time. It is doubtful that humans will be mentioned at all as there is no reason for ‘nothing’ to be interested in human beings more than what else is out there.

I don’t want to go as far as saying that the story is not recounted using any human language. Let’s assume – for argument’s sake – that we are talking about a traditional book. Who wrote it? Me (wishful thinking). It is a book about existence, about being in this world. Everything just ‘is’. Static, by which I don’t mean inactive: in this story, the same things are happening as in the world that you know. They are simply not mentioned.

When you read between the lines – I admit that it is hard to even grasp these lines – a story will unfold itself. A very personal story, as the voice that shares it with you is impartial, holding no perspective or interest in the story whatsoever. Where will your story take you? Into the real world? I’m not explicitly mentioning what troubles the world is facing this year.

Or would you rather explore an imaginary world? The latter is clearly beyond the scope of my book but not beyond the scope of the story you come up with as you read the pages I wrote. It is a solo experience. You don’t have to play together with other people: I don’t mention them and you don’t have to bring them into your world.

When the story lacks a main character or main voice, the reader automatically becomes the main character of the story that is not about him or her at all. And with that, you have the same immersive experience as when you are reading a book with a clear perspective. Except for this time, you read a story without limitations: you no longer are a man or a woman, a human or an avian, a hero or an omniscient creature.

You are you, inside the story and outside the story; a story that takes place whenever because you can start reading today, tomorrow, or many years from now. And when you start reading, I find myself writing about a world so familiar yet also unfamiliar as I don’t know what’s on your mind. I never will. And that is why I, the author, and you, the reader, don’t share the same story. We can only ever be immersed in our own stories.

The post How to feel immersed when a book has no main character? appeared first on Where to Kim?.

What does not exist yet?

Kim — Fri, 29 Jan 2021 15:00:00 +0000

Musings about tomorrow, a world without people, and the future of books. What does not exist yet?

What does not exist yet? A world without people. No human beings on earth. Admittingly, some areas do come close, but overall I can’t say that the earth lacks population. Moreover, some would argue that we have too many. Humans that is. Too many humans.

If we continue to think about what we lack, we might end up with stagnancy. The world is always changing. Getting better and getting worse at the same time. No one can argue convincingly that today is a copy of the same day one year ago, let alone ten years ago. If we compare today to a random day a few thousand years ago, one could argue that one of the only stable factors is the fact that humans existed.

Something else that does not exist yet is “[insert any word] of the future”. An object that has not been invented yet, a thought that no one has thought yet, or that which I can not even express with words. Tomorrow does not exist yet. It is something we make – we’re working on it as we speak, today – but it is not present in the now.

Have you ever considered that even though time is passing by gradually, the switch from today to tomorrow still feels like a hard shift? As clear as the distinction between tomorrow and today, today and yesterday, is the distinction between de now and the future: the world that does not exist yet.

In the books of the future, we will read about all times, both existing and non-existing. Yet, what are these ‘books’ that I am talking about? What do they look like thirty years from now? Assuming that that which we call a book is even slightly linked to the object it inherited its name from. A clay tablet became an electronic tablet, a paper scroll became a magical incantation (just joking, a folding phone), so perhaps a book will become something more than an ebook.

The book of the future could be a collection of thoughts that you can temporarily explore with your mind’s eye. A story that only exists in your head. Someone else wrote it, so it originated elsewhere, but by adding your perspective and vision you take ownership of the story happening in front of you. There are many copies of this book, not one of them being the same. This book contains no original thoughts, only shared experiences that increase in intensity as everyone adds a little personality to the story.

Not all of the things that don’t exist yet will come into existence, not at the same time at least. Unless someone accepts the challenge of creating a specific future in which humans no longer exist on earth.

The post What does not exist yet? appeared first on Where to Kim?.

Reflecting on books like a dystopian reader

Kim — Fri, 22 Jan 2021 15:00:00 +0000

Musings on book reading experiences. Who is in the lead: you, the author, or the main character?

We all know it: the anticipation before the release of a book that you have been waiting to read for a long time. This feeling is most common when expecting sequels to books you loved. But for those following a specific author or meticulously reading all translated works from some part of the world, this happens just as often.

As soon as you see the author’s name, the cover, and/or the description, you want to own the book. Right now. You look forward to reading the book, anticipating the joy and fun experience that you will have. For the duration of the book, you explore someone else’s life and become another person – or multiple. Their misery becomes yours, as does their success. When you close the book after reading the last page, you leave their world and step back into your own life or dive into a new book straight away. Sometimes the thoughts that you had while reading the book will stay with you long after you finish the book, no matter what you do next.

Lately, I have been spending more time thinking about every book I read. After reading the synopsis, I ask myself what I think about the themes and issues that I will read about. While reading the book, I improve upon my formulated opinions with what I learn, writing down the phrases or thoughts that hold meaning to me; thoughts that make me reflect on my own life or society. Often, this leads to some absurd thoughts.

This is where the book starts to lead a second life in my mind. As I connect the many topics for reflection, a new story is conceived in which the motives of the original book’s main characters become overarching leitmotifs. The main character essentially becomes a philosopher, because – as you must have noticed – most book characters show deep wisdom. Through them, the authors try to share their experiences and life lessons with us.

After I close the book, I ask myself what the author wants me to do. What real-life experience should I apply my new knowledge to? If the author is a skilled writer, my unconscious mind will effortlessly absorb the main character’s beliefs into my daily life. But wait, didn’t I have an opinion before reading the book?

With a better understanding of the subject matter, and taking the author’s hidden message into account, I choose a way forward. I’m curious to find out whether the main characters in the next book act according to the ideas of the author of the previous book. I’ll leave them to learn from each other as I enjoy watching this social experiment from afar. The impact won’t be immediate – sometimes it takes decades – but over time new authors will arise that have read the previous books. They’ll want to deliver even better stories to the world. Stories that have evolved as the main characters experienced personal growth.

And through them, I learn the easy way. Though when I look back once more at the opinions I wrote down before I embarked on this journey, I get an inkling that I might be the textbook dystopian reader to whatever genre I pick up. Those main characters will never be able to catch up with the future that I am living in.

The post Reflecting on books like a dystopian reader appeared first on Where to Kim?.

Brace or embrace: the winter storm that is coming for us

Kim — Fri, 15 Jan 2021 15:00:00 +0000

Musings about delaying what needs to be done while waiting for a non-existent better opportunity. Are you the one who builds the snowman?

Before you know it, the streets are covered under a thick blanket of snow. The pristine landscape that is in front of you marks a new start: an abundance of resources and opportunities waiting for you to seize them. You can either tread lightly as you try to avoid disturbing the flat white surface or jump excitedly into a heap of snow to make your mark on the world. The choice is yours.

With the world outside resembling a winter wonderland (side note: if you are Dutch this only ever goes for those in the eastern part of the country), there are those who hole up inside to hibernate when the first snowflakes start to fall only to wake up again when spring arrives. What happens in the months in between? If you are not out there to seize new opportunities, you will have to make do with what others leave you. It will be a world shaped by those that jumped headfirst into the snow to build the best snowman they can using the resources at their disposal.

What those on the outside don’t know is that you are eagerly working on your worldbuilding skills on the inside. A shadow world so to speak that only you can access. In this world, the ground is also covered with snow, but the blanket of snow is not as prominent. You don’t need to pay much attention to it because your mind can instantly move it out of your way and put it someplace safe where it can lie at ease undisturbed by those that want to use it or get rid of it.

You are busy solving issues that only matter in your private little world. Real-world issues that are still only a shadow of the problems out there. The same goes for your solutions. They are admirable even though you are the only one that can judge.

As you get ready to merge the two worlds and disturb the snowy landscape that became even more beautiful but less abundant over time, you notice that the two worlds don’t fit into each other very well. They’ve grown apart in too many ways. In the time that passed, the snow outside froze into a slippery surface that challenges you every step along the way.

After a misstep, you end up speeding towards the very place that you need to reach. It is ready for you, welcoming you with words from a mouth filled with stalactites and stalagmites. Your mind can’t shove them out of the way so instead, you embrace them as you brace yourself for the winter storm that is coming your way. In the warm embrace of everything that still needs to be done, you find comfort in the thought that spring will come, eventually.

The post Brace or embrace: the winter storm that is coming for us appeared first on Where to Kim?.

What do you need the most in 2021?

Kim — Fri, 08 Jan 2021 15:00:00 +0000

Musings about personal attention and acknowledgment of one’s continued existence. What do you need the most in 2021?

We’re back to the bottom of Maslow’s pyramid; once more we increasingly focus on our own survival. And with our lives taking place much more invisible than ever it helps if others acknowledge our existence. Moreover, it would help if they acknowledge the fact that we continue to exist, that we don’t slowly die out like a candle on a birthday cake or the end of a story.

The hashtag #StayAtHome gets showered with love by a huge amount of people who want to show (with sarcasm) that they are still living awesome lives even if they have to do so at home. The restrictions are different in every country, but in essence, it all comes down to being a bit less free than you used to be. But what counts as freedom?

When you wake up in the morning, you can decide what you are going to do that day. Admittingly, for most people, the most obvious choice is to go to work or take care of the family. Theoretically, you have the freedom not to do that as you can switch careers or even switch families. In this case, you have the same freedom as before. You can suddenly decide to learn a new language or to get fitter than ever. You can replace your museum-going habit with a new hobby, surprise yourself. So what changed? People have been using SNS for acknowledgment of their endeavors and existence for a long time, and they will also do so in the future. #StayOnEarth versus #yolo so let’s go to Mars, no #fomo for me!

How free did you feel in 2019? There were borders, shops that close their doors at night, countries that are hard to enter, concerts that sell out before you can buy a ticket, things that you want to buy but don’t have enough money for, and so on. The solution for that was watching virtual replicas, like concerts on YouTube, videos of other people living a life of luxury, or buying online from shops in the middle of the night. Does this sound familiar?

I – and I think the same goes for you – need money for living expenses, but is that what I need the most in 2021? A more enlightened version of me would move to the top of Maslow’s pyramid and aim for self-actualization. If I have a great vision and achieve my full potential, then I am bound to receive recognition for it, right? And through that my continued existence is acknowledged. A little personal attention will get me a long way, to be more specific, from the top to the lower parts of the pyramid.

When my free will leads me to leave my invisibility behind, I become visible to you, to everyone. Or do I?

My SNS resembles my success as I shout every single thing I achieve from the rooftops. My world is confined to my phone through which the world and I share our experiences. Virtually. Together we win this game of personal survival. If I follow you, will you follow me too? Maybe we can hang out someday, let’s meet each other for real, and team up before zooming out while the bills get paid. Somehow.

The post What do you need the most in 2021? appeared first on Where to Kim?.