| Another month draws to a close as March 2025 wraps up. It’s been a month of recuperating & learning & new approaches for me. I travelled to Goa last month to refresh & reset, but when I got back, I was still creatively burnt out. So I bought a new piece of gear — a bass guitar I named Donnatella. It offered me impetus & a fresh outlook on things after spending pretty much all of Feb & the beginning of March with massive creative block, which I documented in an article on Medium. But let’s not beat around the bush. I know your time is valuable & I appreciate all of you taking the time to read my posts on this newsletter. I hope to bring new learnings, a fresh outlook, some thought-provoking concepts, and just knowledge in general via this publication. So, thank you for subscribing.
This week’s ideas is YouTube-heavy because I haven’t found very compelling reads, and the few that I did find are paywalled on Medium without a friend link to view them without a subscription. Let’s dive into this week’s “ideas that shape the universe”… While digging through the good ol’ YouTube feed, I found this amazing YouTube channel called Artificially Aware. It’s basically an AI learning from various topics about the human condition, philosophy, & various traditions & concepts by diving into texts & information online. It then composes video essays about those topics with some pretty cool visuals. This video titled ‘Do Nothing, Achieve Everything’ based around Taoist & Buddhist philosophies of ‘non-action’ & ‘flow’ is eye opening & very relevant & revelatory if you grasp its concepts. I might just write a separate post on it. But for now, here’s the video. 
I’ve read the Bhagavad Gita on & off, i.e. not the full original version but concise books explaining the ancient Indian text. One of my father’s friends even explored the concepts of the Gita & correlated them to professional life in an analogy during a conversation I had with him when he visited my home. In this article on my Medium titled ‘How To Make Better Decisions In Life— According To The Bhagavad Gita,’ I explored a few learnings from my readings in a short article, that could help you make better decisions. You can read it here.
It builds on an old post I made here on Substack, viewing hard choices through the lens of philosopher Ruth Chang.
One of my favourite bands, Gorillaz, wouldn’t have come into being if it wasn’t for the revolutionary mastermind behind it, Damon Albarn. I’ve been a massive fan of Albarn & his bands, Blur & Gorillaz & his solo work. Kicking off Blur, creating an animated band with Gorillaz, making genre-blending music & collaborating with artists across the spectrum, he’s by far a visionary in music & a rather underrated genius. Some lyrics from the Gorillaz song, Feel Good Inc., also served as the inspiration for the title to my Linkedin publication With Your Sound You Kill The Inc. It's safe to say that he’s turned modern music on its head. Here’s his story.
Speaking about my LinkedIn newsletter, my latest post there was about the future of music tech. My LinkedIn newsletter has more of a corporate twist (or challenging the corporate norm rather) as compared to my other newsletters, but the messages remain rather relevant. In the newest post, I examined the future of music technology & how AI will play its part. You can read the entire article, whether you’re into music, a music enthusiast or just curious about tech & the future of where music fits into technology via this link.
One of the most interesting short films I came across this week was this one called COPE. It tells the story of a man who has six weeks to live & offers a reflective take on the old question, how would you live if you were about to die? But I don’t want to share any spoilers. Just watch it. “Six weeks to live.” 
It’s fair to say that director Quentin Tarantino has inspired a reinvention of modern cinema & a rethink of what films could be. From his breakthrough in the ‘90s with Reservoir Dogs to Pulp Fiction & the several movies he’s directed in the years since, his life story is rather remarkable. My favourite Tarantino film is Inglourious Basterds, a favourite film from my college days, but I absolutely marvel at his screenwriting and direction. This video is his story of going from a video store clerk to shaping modern cinema as we know it. 
A poetic reminder of taking the good & bad aspects of life in your stride
is reflected in this poem by Herman Hesse titled There Is No Escape. I’ve been reading Hesse’s book Siddhartha, but this poem reminds you to take the good stuff and the sh*t in life at par & still live authentically & purposefully, like an artist (I’d also recommend subscribing to Poetic Outlaws’ Substack). There is no escape. You can't be a vagabond and an artist and still be a solid citizen, a wholesome, upstanding man… a year ago · 355 likes · 20 comments · Poetic Outlaws To be loved is to be known — this author hits the nail on the head when it comes to relationships & love. While I generally don’t consume content about love (I use music to express it), and I’m terrible at the subject & the real-life equivalent, especially considering my track record of failed relationships, something in this article just struck a chord. To love and be loved is to be known. I can’t think of any of my ex-girlfriends in my past who truly knew me or took the time to truly know & understand me. But maybe there’s hope at the end of the tunnel & it’ll happen in time. Time is running out, but there’s hope. But yes, this was a great read, and I believe knowing someone in & out & making the effort to know every little detail about them is the foundation of love & a lasting relationship. There is something profoundly sweet about someone being curious about you. Someone wanting to learn every insignificant detail about you and how you function. Why you prefer this restaurant over that one. What volume you keep your TV at. How you got that scar. Your opinions on olives… 3 months ago · 8197 likes · 268 comments · Carina
Coming to the music section, whether you’re a fan of #electronica #downtempo or any kind of #electronic music or not, an essential artist to listen to is Bonobo. Simon Green, aka Bonobo, is one of my all-time favourite musicians, an inspiration & an artist I look to emulate. This is a grand performance of his, live at Royal Albert Hall. It encompasses a lot of his music in what is a 1 hour 30 minute set. It’s a definitive listen.
 As always, I’m ending off this post with some more music. Here are a few playlists I made for March on my YouTube channel 1PlaylistAWeek.
Slow Dawn Link: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiEpN-FJ79fPORZXLcDd4GEormy2Q9Lc
Spacetime Oddity
Link: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwiEpN-FJ79curXD98Issk3nnQBcJvFOV&si=j5lSFNeTQxobf3eB
Thanks for reading & checking out the links! As always, stay tuned for this series called ‘Ideas Of The Week’ on my publication Light Years!
Here are a few earlier editions of Ideas:
Read more articles of mine across my newsletters:
About jazz musician John Coltrane’s life: The Story of John Coltrane’s ‘Spiritual’ & ‘India’
My review of the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown: A Complete Unknown Review — A Biopic of One of The Greatest Musicians Ever
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