The Nomad Show Podcast

Today I wanna talk about the story of Echo and Narcissus. I’m not usually into Greek mythology, but I found this story to be quite interesting. Echo was a talkative lady of the woods that was cursed by jealous queen Hera because she thought Echo was   sleeping with Zeus, the god of the sky, lightning and thunder.   The curse was such that Echo would never be able to speak of her own volition again, but would only be able to repeat whatever is being spoken to her.   Narcissus is described in mythology as a beautiful, very good looking young man. One day, he was hunting in the woods and was separated from his hunting mates. He heard some rustling in the woods.   “Who’s here” he said “Here” she replied As he laid his eyes on her, he was smitten by her beauty “Let us join one another” he said “Join one another” she replied The girl answered with all her heart. She fell in love with Narcissus and was about to throw herself into his ...

We seem to be buying what’s free. I recently read an op ed about a Mexican American runner named memo. At age 46, he is ranked in the top 10 list of marathon runners in his age group worldwide. He came to the United States as an undocumented immigrant about 20 years ago, toiled and worked hard, eventually becoming an American citizen. Even at this age, he keeps getting faster.   He doesn’t have a gym membership, he doesn’t have a fancy heart rate monitor, a highly curated meal plan or an overpriced fitness instructor. All he needs to run are his legs, a pair of tennis shoes and two rules: work hard and never give up.   It makes me wonder about things we buy because they are packaged, marketed and sold to us, when they’re truly meant to be freely available to us.   It seems to me that what people truly seek is ease, peace, freedom from worry and stress, better relationships, and self actualization and fulfillment of some sort.   The e...

In this episode, we will discuss a topic that i’ve been exploring for a long time- the ideas of perfectionism, social comparison, fear of missing out, and the grass is greener syndrome.   In a world where we are more connected than ever, globalization, social media and ease of communication makes it so easy to compare your life to others. You compare your “behind the scenes” with other people’s “highlight reel”. This makes it so easy to fantasize ideals and seek perfection.   Improvement and kaizen seems healthy, but where is the line between a healthy desire for improvement and unhealthy perfectionism? Millennials now have a reputation as the job-hopping generation. A recent gallup poll reports that 21% of millennials say that they have changed jobs within the past year, which is 3 times the number of non millennials reporting the same. This is a costly turnover that drains $30.5 billion from the economy annually.   I wonder if the “grass is...

Welcome to the Nomad Show! In this episode, we will be discussing the concept empathy. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it. Its a foreign concept to a lot of people. Certainly, me included for a long time.   what is empathy? There are a lot of definitions out there, but one that seems most relevant to me is this. Empathy is the ability to walk in someone else’s experience, listening without judgement, communicating support and understanding of the other’s plight.   It is very different from sympathy- sympathy is feeling compassion, sorrow or pity. empathy is putting yourself in the shoes of others.   You cannot truly be empathetic to others if you are not empathetic towards yourself. Remember in the previous episode we talked about the soul as the observer self that can detach and watch over your emotions empathically, without judgement and tell you that its ok, wait it out, it will pass? I believe being empathetic is akin to assuming the role of ...

Welcome to the Nomad Show! This is a podcast for you, if you find yourself in a new place, geographically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually or otherwise.   This is a show about philosophy, psychology, spirituality, and motivation.   Together, we will ponder human nature from the perspective of the nomad, the sojourner, the immigrant, the traveler, the wanderer.   Maintaining a stable internal state when your external geographical state changes seems great doesnt it? Today, we’re going to explore the concept of mindfulness and staying in the present. This is definitely not a topic to cover in a 5 minute podcast episode, but we will try our best.   Mindfulness has permeated the world of psychology over the past few decades. It has been popularized and sensationalized so much that I think it has lost its true meaning.   Im not gonna lead you in a session of mindfulness meditation, or take you on a hypnotic trance or anyth...

Welcome back to the Nomad Show This is a show about philosophy, psychology, spirituality, and motivation.   Together, we will ponder human nature from the perspective of the nomad, the sojourner, the immigrant, the traveler, the wanderer. Today, we will be exploring the concept of Kaizen Kaizen is a japanese phrase that means good change or improvement. With Kai meaning change, and Zen meaning good.   As a healthcare practitioner, I first became aware of the concept of kaizen during my residency training. Hospitals utilize kaizen concepts to increase efficiency, help hospitals stay within their budgets, and provide streamlined processes in patience care.   Kaizen focuses on small, continuous improvements that compound over time to create a more efficient, higher quality, safer workplace culture.   Kaizen was popularized in business by the car company toyota. They utilized this philosophy to help ensure premium quality, elimination of w...