The Paradox of Now #3

WikiLeaks, Waves and Winnie the Who?

Author

Scott Mayo
February 14, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

The Squash of my Choosing

Hello to all returning readers (seriously, why do you do this to yourself?) and a warm, slightly apologetic welcome to new subscribers - you have no idea what you’ve signed up for.

Last week, I received some incredibly heartfelt messages - thank you, truly.

More importantly, I was also sent a lot of idioms…

Idiom of the Week:

❝

I shall fill my own cup; with the squash of my choosing

All great stuff.

Now let me give you a taste of what's coming:

  • A man skipping some stones

  • A sneak peak at Tom’s thumb

  • An insignificant haiku

  • A game my friends call ‘HITS’

🥚Eggstra News🥚

Your weekly dose of some fascinating and fun finds:

  • Aesthetic Stone Skipping – A man who earns a living from skipping stones. A delightful Instagram account.

  • Ren – An incredible Welsh rapper and singer, recommended to me last week by a friend who just read my newsletter. Finish up here, then come back and experience this masterpiece!

  • Tom Hanks Speech – ‘This too shall pass’. A saying that I repeat to myself in both my highs and my lows. A gentle reminder for all to see.

The Paradox of Now

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The Primary School of a WikiLeaks Founder

You’ve found yourself on a remote island off the east coast of Queensland, Australia, where Julian Assange went to primary school.

Magnetic Island.

You’ve just hiked up to an infamous viewpoint that looks out to a shipwreck surrounded by crocodile infested waters.

Alone. Watching one of the best sunsets in the world.

You perch yourself on the edge of the highest rock to catch your breath.

A sip of water to replenish the fluids lost from the assent.

You often come up here to watch the sunset. Not always alone. But serenity is what you sought this evening.

You could sit and watch the waves below forever. Hypnotic. Like a trance. They crash on the rocks beneath.

It’s constant. There are no rules for the tirade you see below. Nature’s power is almighty.

You think of how many times the waves have attacked those rocks. The best guess you can muster is infinity - whatever that means.

You recall maths lessons where your teacher tried to explain what infinity meant, but you’re still convinced ‘infinity +1’ is a compelling counter argument.

You know the waves will continue their attacks long after you’re gone. They don’t acknowledge the by-stander.

They don’t know you exist. The world around you doesn’t know you exist.

How much of a narcissist do you have to be?

To think that the world knows of your heartbeat.

You try to ignore your thoughts - looking out and appreciating one of the most beautiful sunsets you have ever witnessed.

Impossible.

The beauty of nature evokes thought more than anything else.

But you know it’s still your responsibility to filter your own thoughts and create waves of better ones. At least better ones every seventh thought. Like the biggest wave in a set.

Whatever better means…

The ferry on the horizon catches your eye and helps you break free from your mind momentarily.

A relief.

You haven’t been on the ferry for a while. You haven’t touched the mainland for months.

You don’t miss it.

It’s more peaceful here. Limited signal. One supermarket. One Rubix Cube.

A life you could live forever it feels.

Your pocket of relief offered by the ferry, short-lived.

The use of the word  ‘forever’ transcends you back to where you were.

‘I am significant,’ you mutter to yourself.

The warm evening breeze stealing every word spoken. It quickly makes you see who’s in charge.

You think of shouting positive affirmations this time, but you know it’s pointless.

You are the most insignificant thing in a world that bares only insignificance.

You resort back to your previous thoughts.

‘I am a mere drop in the ocean. My time on this planet is so infinitesimal that it’s mathematically closest to zero.’

See - you did listen in maths.

And yet.

And yet you sit in this paradox of being the most insignificant and significant thing in the reality you’ve created around yourself.

A reality where you are forgotten in two generations.

But right now, in your forever, the most important thing in the world - until you have children that is.

‘What impact can I have on this world?’

‘What can I do with my insignificant life?’

You think of the island. It’s shape. It’s landscape. It’s people. They are the beating heart of the island.

Magnetic Island is just a teardrop. And yet there’s so much life. So much joy - that only the people who live here truly know what it’s like.

You feel a strange connection to the island – magnetic you could say.

A connection that no one asked for and yet all seem to have.

It feels like your small corner of the world…

Wait… that’s it.

That’s the epiphany!

The island is the answer.

Be the insignificance that changes their small corner of the world.

Whatever that means to you. That is the answer. That is all you can do.

Be the insignificant change you want to see in this world.

At first, make a change so small it’s impossible to fail.

That’s the first wave you make.

The rest will follow behind.

Attack the rocks with waves of insignificance in your forever.

Even with the knowledge that it will bear no significance in the macro.

All of your efforts will equate to zero.

But maybe that’s the point.

That my friends – is being significant.

That my friends – is being virtuous.

That my friends - is being human.

Tom’s Thumb - Magnetic Island

Haiku’s Haiku 🐥

Haiku’s home was my inspiration for this weeks newsletter. Watching the constant flow and power of the river beneath reminded me of my time in Australia.

There is something mesmerizing about the never-ending flow of water.

There’s also something mesmerizing about Haiku’s haikus. Give yourself some time to sit and reflect in the space purposefully left by this eastern-style of poetry.

Haiku 3

Infinity feels,

Closer than significance,

Start making some waves.

Palm Tree Euphoria 🌴

This week's newsletter unexpectedly took on a water theme, so I decided to embrace it and continue with that direction.

Among my friends, we're always inventing quirky games to play, and our repertoire seems endless.

One of our longest-running favourites is 'HITS' - a wonderfully simple game where we gather rocks near a body of water, choose a target, and take turns trying to hit it.

We've spent countless hours enjoying this basic activity, and it's always set against the backdrop of beautiful scenery.

Games like this remind me of playing 'Pooh Sticks' with my parents and grandparents during my childhood. I'm eternally grateful to them for making my early years so enjoyable and memorable.

So, my question to you is:

"What childhood games could you revive and play with your friends today?"

I'm always eager to discover new games, so please share your ideas with me on social media!

Playing ‘HITS’ during our NC500 Scotland road trip (2023)

And if this flavour of brain chaos makes your brain happy, come and find more insights, weirdness, and everything else in between on my socials.

See you dashing ducks over there! 🐥 

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