Why Sisterly Chats Make People Happier

“Having a Sister Makes You Happier”: that was the headline on a recent article about a study finding that adolescents who have a sister are less likely to report such feelings as “I am unhappy, sad or depressed” and “I feel like no one loves me.”These findings are no fluke; other studies have come to similar conclusions. But why would having a sister make you happier?...
(Check out the full article from the New York Times)



Just puttin' it out there! :)

Response to "Tell me what you know about dreams..."

Nudgeyun Babosh. I’m very happy you’re asking yourself these questions. It’s almost a great relief for me. Because most people, either because they don’t care or simply because they can’t, never take a step back and put things into perspective. They just go with the flow and end up wherever a series of random events takes them. Others, like us, realize that life is a canvas. Fortunately we were given a beautiful pallet with almost every color – pastels, rich reds and yellows, blues bright and dark- to paint the picture that is our lives. We have the best setup of almost anyone in the world: a loving family, good health and, thanks to mommy and daddy, an incredible upbringing. Now the question is: what to do about it? And the answer is: whatever you want, because everything is possible.

I think back at my Marianopolis days all the time, not because I’m nostalgic or anything like that, but more because it marked what so far has been the most important part of my life to date – my first (thankfully successful) major attempt to build my own world.

Now without getting too abstract/poser-intellectual, let me try to explain what I mean. I’m sure you’ll be able to relate with a lot of this. Up to that point, life’s journey had pretty much been on auto-pilot. Charlemagne was like day camp. Things unfolded the way they were supposed to. And the path forward seemed pretty straight forward and defined. But, perhaps because of all the traveling we did when we were young, or the books I read about some pretty incredible people, I realized that an entire horizon existed beyond what was directly in front of me. A horizon I had to imagine and get to on my own.

It’s very hard to have picture of the world that only exists in your head. Like imagining yourself with a super hot girl you have a crush on, or driving a really nice car, or being at a great school. These are all dreams that don’t exist in the real world. The key is to make them happen – to build a world where they do exist. Getting into schools that are “statistically impossible” to get into is one example. My next major goal is to start a company that sells financial products that don’t even exist yet. And it was at Marianopolis that this new world view took shape and became a definite way of seeing the world for me.

I think in many ways the same thing is happening to you. You want to know where to go. Well you can go wherever you want. If you want to be a pro sports player, a published writer, a billionaire – whatever, you can do it. But you have to get there, and the only way to get there is if every fiber of your being is directed towards reshaping the world into how you see it in your mind. Of course, you don’t have to know exactly how things need to turn out. But you need to be crystal clear about in what direction you’re going. Or else you’re just stalling. Have a plan. Make sure it’s your plan. Have a life plan, and you’ll see you’ll need a lot of smaller plans to achieve your ultimate goal.

I was fortunate enough to meet a lot of really incredible people in the last few years. One guy I know was a nationally ranked rower in high school. Then after Wharton he planned to study at Julliard, because he’s a world class pianist too. But instead he now works at one of the best Hedge Funds in the worlds. And what I learned about this guy is that everything he did, he did it to max. Like his life depended on it. The same is true for whatever you decide to do. And if you’re working towards accomplishing your dream – shaping your world – then it’s easy and fun. And if all goes to plan, as Henry Thoreau said, you’ll “live the life you’ve dreamed”.

What do you think of ditching summer vacations around the world and instead meet up after Christmas time in say Switzerland or something after this year? Maybe spend one more year in Montreal for new years and from then on have some sick vacations with no tourists.. Not only that but pretty much the only fun time when we can all be at the same place is summer and I know we'd all rather to spend summers at home..

Marianopolis is good, I really like my english class called beat generation and my philosophy class.. my teachers are so strange but smart guys.. my contemporary cinema teacher is such a weird pedophile it's scary (Rene Rozon)

goodbye

Ahoy, ahoy

Hello!


Baba, wonderful job on the inaugural post: insightful, personal, and entertaining (I am listening to Sky Blue Sky now, it's lovely). It came at a great time, too. Yesterday, I was just sitting around, and not doing too much, (like this)


Until, late in the evening, I went online and read your post, and it just made my day.
It also inspired me to get going on this wonderful fraternal blogging project.
As the Chinese philosopher Laozi said: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" - and you know those Chinese philosophers, they're never wrong. And so, as a result of your post, the performance anxiety I was weirdly experiencing about making a super witty/fascinating/mind-blowing first entry is gone! Phew.

What a nice space this is. In the course of a day, I so often come across fascinating internet tid-bits, with not that many people to share them with! (I send them to Nick, but he already has a ridiculous back-log of 'check this out' emails to go through... plus, he has a sneaking suspicion that all this internet trawling takes lots of time, and that I don't work as much as I could as a result. Soooooooooooo crazy, I know. He totally makes me lolz sometimes).

Anyway, on my end, there isn't that much to report. I am a little lonely these days, actually. There aren't that many people in Oxford at this time of year, and my roommate is in Scotland for ten days. As such, I will sometimes go entire days having spoken only to the person who served my coffee. I am also in a bit of a nebulous place work-wise -- or rather, it can feel that way. I go through waves of feeling like, hey, you've got this PhD. And in those moments of inspiration and confidence, all is well and I put dents in my work little by little and I am not discouraged by a recent forced trip back to the drawing board. And then at other moments, I feel like I'm doggy-paddling tiredly with no shore in sight. Those aren't the best. I think the real issue is that I go a little crazy with little to no human contact, which, when added to my natural tendencies towards self-inflicted sleep deprivation, compulsive behaviours of various kinds, and an eagerness to escape into novels rather than face what's bothering me, can lead to some weeeeird outcomes (Hannah's cats will be happy to tell you).

All that to say that this little blog will have the added advantage of helping me preserve my sanity whilst livin' the Oxford dream. Yess!

As you talked about Baba, we really have begun to go our own ways in life, the three of us, and we have worlds of our own now -- worlds that we've partly discovered, partly crafted. It's a wonderful thing, but it is especially so when our experience can be shared, somehow, like here.
Talk soon les boys!