Hello friends,

it’s december. The last month of the year. This month, is usually a busy month. Everyone preparing for the holidays. Christmas. New Year. And everything in between. However, let me remind you what december is all about. It’s actually about peace, love and happy moments. About visiting your loved ones. About catching snowflakes with your tongue. About drinking your hot cup of coffee…and, of course, reading your powernotes.

And because it’s winter, here’s a video with five animals that do winter better than you:

Before we start with our usual topics, would like to give special thanks to Wendy Rhodes for supporting the newsletter.

TECH 👨‍💻

1. Amazon will let you share clips from movies. Read more.

2. The very best journaling app. Day One.

3. Drones can plant trees. For example, Croatia is planting forests with the help of drones. Watch.

4. Here are three great search engines if you are tired of Internet Explorer, Mozilla or Chrome. You, Neeva and Brave.

5. Here’s a nice website where you can find lots of Free illustrations.

CULTURE 🧬

1. The world’s first fish farm, in Norway. Read more.

2. What are your goals for the New Year? Check out the world’s most clickiest 2022 New Year Resolutions. You will be surprised, people’s goals are changing.

3. The 110 Best Movies of All Time, according to Esquire.

4. An upcoming Playstation and PC game where you will be able to be a cat. It will arrive in 2022. Check out the official gameplay and trailer of Stray.

5. We have all seen Mark Zuckerberg’s introduction to the Metaverse. Now let’s watch the Introduction to the Icelandverse. I actually enjoyed it much more 😂

PHILOSOPHY 📜

1. The grief of losing a loved one comes to us all at some point. Here is a good read about Learning to live with grief and pain.

2. Another very insightful read. Epictetus on How to Live and the Ability to Choose.

3. Silence is a hard virtue. Read more.

4. If you never heard this short story from Alan Watts, you should. The story of the Chinese farmer.

5. A book from philosopher Naval Ravikant that you can read online for free. A Guide to Wealth and Happiness.

Let’s discover two great books, in bite-sized fashion, as we like it. Our first book this week is an amazing book, and a very popular book : The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

Here are five notes from the book:

1. One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.

2. The simple things are also the most extraordinary things, and only the wise can see them.

3. It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.

4. Everything that happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time.

5. I learned that the world has a soul, and that whoever understands that soul can also understand the language of things.

The second book this week is another really amazing book that you should definitely check out: Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart by Gordon Livingston.

Here are five notes from the book:

1. We are responsible for most of what happens to us.

2. Nothing is so beautiful as a promise, right after it is given.

3. It is always easier to keep doing what we’re used to, even if it’s evidently not working for us.

4. The pursuit of material wealth distracts us from activities and people that provide more lasting pleasure and satisfaction.

5. Forgiveness is not something we do for others; it is a gift to ourselves.

Social psychologist Vanessa Bohns on why people generally find it hard to say no :

We’re a social species, and we don't want to do things that risk damaging our relationships. In particular, we may fear that by saying no, we are somehow suggesting that the other person is themself immoral or selfish, leading them to lose ‘face’– a phenomenon known as ‘insinuation anxiety’. So, we might hint that we don't feel comfortable with something, but it's a lot harder to actually come out and say no, I'm not going to do it.

World leading cardiologist Thomas Lüscher on the effects of wine, chocolate and coffee on our heart:

Are wine, chocolate, coffee forbidden joys? Well, wine is truly a joy but at best neutral when consumed in moderation. Chocolate is a joy for our cardiovascular system, if consumed in dark, bitter form. And coffee? It wakes us up, less so if you drink it regularly, and at that dose of up to four cups a day, might even be protective.

Poet and author Jorge Luis Borges on his paradoxical experience of time :

Time is the substance I am made of. Time is a river which sweeps me along, but I am the river; it is a tiger which destroys me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire which consumes me, but I am the fire.

Let’s take a moment of pure nature. With our nature shorts.

This week’s interesting articles and stories :

🟪 The Long Run. After losing her father to Alzheimer’s disease, one writer reflects on her relationship with grief and running - and the connections between the two.

🟩 The clockwork universe: is free will an illusion? A growing chorus of scientists and philosophers argue that free will does not exist. Could they be right?

🟨 Reincarnation now. Modern mindfulness strips Buddhism of its spiritual core. We need an ethics of reincarnation for an interconnected world.

Some cool stuff we found on the web:

🟣 Create the perfect environment to work and relax with shhhnoise.

🟢 Just play this video on Youtube, it will provide a relaxing atmosphere - 12 Hours Of Tropical Coral Reef Fishes At Monterey Bay Aquarium

🟡 Check out these AI Movie Posters and see how many you can guess.

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Have a nice december week. Only 17 days left till Christmas. Do you already have a christmas tree? 🎄 Take care, and have a great week ! Check your inbox for your powernotes … next monday, on 13th december. Bye 👋