No motorcycles were moved in this story. I haven’t had time lately to ride. I do miss a good motorcycle road trip. Maybe I’ll head out to a desert for moto-camping weekend as soon as it warms up a bit. What’s going on? I’m spoiled. So what if it drops to low 40’s at night? It ain’t nothing. Done it many times last “winter”. The truth is that I’ve been traveling a bit much lately, and mostly by plane. No complaints here. Wait - I just did. Well, ok, one complaint (and still it is singular, I guess no contradiction here).

I don’t like long day flights. What do you do 12 hours cramped on the plane? I guess the standard protocol is something like - watch a movie or three, eat some boxed airplane food you’d regret later, try to read a book, try again, give up, and finally nap in a hellish position.

I boarded the flight from Zurich to Los Angeles at 1pm, only to appreciate a long plane de-icing procedure from the inside for an hour. The Swiss precision did not play nice for me here. At least they were sufficiently considerate to wipe clean the jet’s blades while we were still waiting to board (or pray to Alah for each blade to turn clockwise throughout the flight) :)

Then, I played the protocol per above. Hence, the gist of this little blog entry is a few enjoyable content recommendations.

I’ll skip the napping, failed reading attempts and the boxed food of course.

The movie - The Salt Path

I enjoyed this movie. A bit of a love story, a bit of perseverance, and lots of beautiful scenery. I don’t think I would have enjoyed it had I not had 12 hours of flight to burn. But I did enjoy it. I don’t quite get why. It is slow. I liked the love & commitment energy. The older couple scrapping for pennies and not giving up. It was far from being profound. Based on a real story. I’m sure the real story was far more profound. At least it wasn’t yet another silly Tom Cruise action run. Do I recommend it? Yes - even though the blurb above isn’t that enthusiastic. I’m not a film critique so I can put out an ambiguous review such as this :)

Then, after browsing a long list of uninteresting movies (to me, at the time), I stumbled upon a few Ted talks. And suddenly I found myself binge watching a series of a superbly good Ted talks that somehow felt very connected to each other. I guess, particularly for me as I am stationed in what feels like a liminal life stage and in midst of a reflection and a discovery quest. Fancy statement. Haha. Why not.

I found it interesting how Swiss airlines selected just a few superbly good Ted talks (from which I selected divinely perfect subset :) ). Niceee.

So here they are:

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Flow, the secret to happiness

What a better way to start a Ted binge. What is it to be in flow? How you discover and define it. Wil I ever find it? Have I truly experienced it? Maybe, I think. I want more. What I want to be when I grow out of this liminal station. A person in flow :)

Mustafa Suleyman: What is an AI anyway?

I heard about his talk. He received pretty bad slap on it. But I found it courageous and authentic inquiry by someone who is an authority in this field. General AI is around the corner and will require attention so that it serves us instead of the other way around. It is substantially a leaping step in human evolution. I agree that it is an important and interesting thing to ponder upon. For me, as I’m looking for what next, I entertain diving deeper into AI integration vocational scenarios. It is definitely what’s coming next for us. But will I find my flow there? Hmmm…

(don’t click on the play button… it’s just an image. Click on the link above :) )

Benjamin Zander: The transformative power of classical music

Oooh. A good change of energy. Benjamin Zander is such incredibly charismatic person. Want to see what flow looks like? Check this out. On steroid. Inspiring. Yes, I want that. He exemplifies flow and shares the fire as he explains music and emotion.

Elizabeth Gilbert: Your elusive creative genius

What do I have to do with the creative genius talk by the author of Eat, Pray, Love Elizabeth Gilbert? Well, just looking at her face, I couldn’t resist to explore what is she so passionate about. She seemed so in flow. It was elusive. I loved her insight - the healing and historical perspective about the downside of dealing with success. What comes after the flow? Ha.

Johann Hari: This could be why you’re depressed or anxious

This talk wasn’t as impressive to me as the ones above. Still important in its own right. I liked the speaker, he had some good storytelling points and I definitely agree with his observations. I wish our modern society internalized more of the findings in this talk. If it was longer, I would have bailed. Not because it was bad, just because the message is familiar. The spoiler is that in essence we are that we are communal creatures. And we must be there for each other, carry each other. Not a flow state, nevertheless and essential property of us two legged animals.

Angus Hervey: Is this the time of monsters — or miracles?

This was a good talk. Nicely laid out. Positive and encouraging, yet not at all detached from reality. Building on facts, Angus shows how it ain’t as bad as we all feel now. Good to break away from the feeling of the collapsing world around us and see how so much better we are then ever before. Keep perspective alive and stop bitching about how bad things are. Things are also really good. Really good. Based on facts. Remember that. So no more anxiousness or depression? Somehow it doesn’t work this way. A nice attempt nevertheless.

Greg Lukianoff: Let’s get real about free speech

While on the theme of world disorder, and the current cancel culture BS, here’s a good talk by an authority on free speech. I love how he defends it, break it down to the foundational elements of it. Greg is in flow on a subject that one might wonder how. Just goes to show. Good to remember his points on the power and benefits of free speech. I don’t (remember). But let’s keep free speech alive. What about AI fake speech. Damn. Is it getting crazy here? Well remember Johann, and Greg talks above.

Brené Brown: The power of vulnerability

Here we go again. Brene Brown has become way too popular for my taste. Not to say that she is not really good. She is. She is knowledgeable, and a great storyteller scientist. But, here, I find that I don’t really remember much of her talk. But it was in my binge collection - so it stays in the blog. Its message on vulnerability is an important one nevertheless. Based on facts. So it stays.

That’s it. It carried me throughout the flight.

As we entered California, I was relieved to see the sight of the beautiful snowy Sierra Nevada mountains followed by Los Angeles mega metropolis.

Then the approach to LAX.

Oh, and here’s just a random photo from the train ride from Basel to Zurich to catch the plane. I like it.

The end.

Oh… and if you read this all the way to the end, and enjoyed it, drop me a line. Did you watch any of the Ted talks? Did you like the blurb? I need positive reinforcement 😊… you know vulnerability, flow, free speech, and the good things that are happening in the world that prevent us from being anxious or depressed :).