For some reasons, there’s always a kind of hesitation when it comes to posting stuff about me or what I did or what I’ve been through, etc., without a doubt. Well, I’m not a big fan of social media like Facebook, but the only social media account that I have is Instagram. In fact, I have two: one for me and the other one specially dedicated to my furry babies, where I can simply upload tonnes of their photos to capture those special moments and their everyday antiques. Both are private accounts.

So, you see, I like to keep my life private, meaning to say that even if I set up my very own Instagram accounts, only selected significant others have been given access. Not because my life is so special that I need to keep everything to myself (and only share with a few people), but because I do prefer my life to be private. But this is what I personally believe as I am writing this down. I’m not sure if the story will be slightly different in the future. I am open to the many possibilities…

But lately I feel the need to have a platform where I can safely pour out my thoughts. There were times when I felt that after I finished a great book or a good article, or after watching an interesting documentary on Netflix, or even after conversing with someone on a very good topic, all the good points got stuck somewhere deep in my cognition. So before I lost them all, I told myself, “You better start writing it somewhere.” And I think I have to start now. And why now?

It’s all because of this book. Last week, it so happened that I plucked it out from my bookshelves, and after going through it all again, it reminds me of the importance of giving yourself a break. At times, you get so overwhelmed by the things that happen around you that you feel stuck and even suffocated. Well, after immersing myself in the pages, it got me thinking: if a great professor and physicist can just stop and ponder for a while, just to make sense out of the things he has experienced, then I should start listening to him again.

This is the book that I really treasure the most. It may sound corny, but every time I hold it, I get that “my precioussss…” feeling. This one survived the “attack of the anai-anai” back when my room was still at level 4 C15 (that got me crying every night for almost a month; I nearly slipped into a horrible depression…).

Me in front of my hostel during Autumn Term (pic taken 29 October 2006)

I bought it at Blackwell’s near UoB’s GSOE back in 2006, during my first term there. It was in the autumn; those days were the lonely ones, and MPhil courses were in full swing. So, after classes, I would drop by the bookstore on my way back to Dean’s Court (the hostel I stayed in during my first year of the MPhil program). I found solace in there, letting myself get lost between the shelves, amused by the “oh, so many wonderful books” (and expensive at the same time because everything was in pound sterling)…

23E, Dean’s Court, St George’s Rd, Bristol BS1 5UL, UK (the book was already there on the bookshelf… has been  my constant companion since….)