There really is a bit of a catch-22 in my book that’s centered completely around self confidence. If you are proud of who you are, if you are living up to your ideals, you are simultaneously much more attractive to others, and at the same time you realize that you don’t need others - but they sure are the cherry on top.

This was a pivotal video about “nice guys” I watched growing up that imo everyone should watch.

Favorite line:

This is not a transaction where you walk up to the cashier and pull out your nice bucks and buy sex and romance.

My personal hypothesis, again, having not read murakami in years，is that the storylines are so whimsical and unexplained that they all blend into each other. The first story is an adventure. The subsequent ones feel too similar to the first.

It’s been a while since I’ve read murakami, but my impression has always been the journey was better than the destination. I remember the feeling of having finished the book, not quite sure what happened, but the remnants of a fever dream drifting about.

And ears!

It sounds like you’re looking for a mind blowing sander-lanche.

I’d highly recommend going through Ted Chiang’s book “exhalation”. A more popular example of his work is the movie “arrival”, which was based on one of Ted Chiang’s short stories.

It’s a collection of short stories, but don’t be misled - these stories have stuck with me for years, and as someone who has also read all of the cosmere, it is these short stories that have the biggest twists, and also the largest impact. A few of my favorites are below:

I’ve always wondered to myself, "how many of my youngest memories are my own, and how many are in reality, stories told around photos that I’ve seen? The story “The truth of fact, the truth of feeling” makes you think about the role of technology in our memories through one example in the past, and one proposed in our future.

“What’s expected of us”, free on Nature, is a haunting story going over the role of free will that can be read during a bathroom break.

Finally, “anxiety is the dizziness of freedom” had one of the biggest gut punches I’ve ever read. One best gone in blind, I think.