Productivity is overhyped.

You have enough time to do everything you are meant to do.

Hello guys. I hope you had a good day doing something productive or something nice that simply made you feel happy.

Sometimes, I think productivity is overhyped at the expense of the things which may not be regarded as ‘productive’, but are crucial to our ability to be productive like sleeping, talking to the people you love, watching a movie or just laying around doing NOTHING. So I hope you occasionally take a break from being productive and do the things that recharge you. Rest assured that you have enough time to do everything that you are meant to do.

Photo by Katya Ross on Unsplash

I was initially going to share my musings on life and death in today's letter, but it occurred to me that I needed to make my thoughts more coherent before talking about issues so sacred and sensitive - my musings can continue to sit pretty in my drafts for now. So, what you'll be getting today are three funny/weird facts that I recently discovered.

1. Did you know that in the nineteenth century, medical students had to bring their own cadavers for practicals, and medical schools were in fact infamous for ‘sponsoring’ grave robberies?

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at this piece of information, because I can't even begin to imagine what it was like being a medical student at the time. Picture scenes where grandpa (or anybody else dies), and while everyone is busy fighting to get stuff, the only thing you want is the body. How do you even ask for something like that? Do you pray for sick people to die, and what happens if you can't find a cadaver?

2. In Japan, groping people on the subway is not a big deal, in fact, it is considered rude not to grope on the subway (I don't think there is anything funny about this though).

I know the Japanese are quite bold when it comes to their sexuality, but come on. If that's not weird, I don't know what is.

3. The universal sign for yes is a ‘nod’ while the universal sign for ‘no’ is a head shake, or so I thought until I read a Duolingo article that told me otherwise.

Apparently, in Bulgaria 🇧🇬, the reverse is the case. Yep, you got that. A nod means ‘no’ and a shake of the head means ‘yes’. I imagined what this might have meant for Sergeant Bluntschil if Raina had asked him whether he needed her help. ¹

I tried doing this a few times and I confused the hell out of myself. Anyway, should you ever find yourself somewhere in Bulgaria, don't say I did not do anything for you. 😉

🥂 to taking the time to recharge your batteries,

🦋

P. S. I sincerely apologise for not sending out the last two letters, but the ‘publish’ button on my Substack did not work for whatever reason. Even as I type this, I hope that I'm able to publish this letter. I take this and my readers seriously, and I'm so glad that I'm able to do it. I hope you accept my apology, and I promise to make up for the letters I missed. Thank you for your kind readership. Sincerely, S.

And because I must show you the finer side of life:

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi is a simultaneously heart-wrenching and beautiful literary snapshot of the wonderful work of art that is the human body; the ‘magic’ that is science; the astounding brilliance of the human mind; the beauty and fragility of life; and the powerlessness of humans in the face of death. Paul, a brilliant Stanford neurosurgeon and neuroscientist, examines the meaning of life and death through his lens as a physician guiding patients on their journey to the end and as a terminally ill cancer patient on his own journey to the inevitable end. Make it your next read.

1. High-five ✋ if you got that reference to Bernard Shaw’s Arms and the Man.