Bloom

As we wind down from the 2021 College Application Season, Shang and Kevin stops for a deep debrief. The two discusses the common misconceptions and misguided strategies they’ve observed, and share the proper kind of orientation that leads to truly prosperous outcomes — in college applications AND in Life. 

Shang and Kevin take on their Flourish Cards! These cards are designed for deep introspection in mind. The two share their experience from ideation to production, the lessons learned, and the rewards received.

Kevin and Will play with the Flourish Cards! Tune in, go deep... it’s SOUL time!

Shang takes a day off and Kevin brings on a cool friend! Will Shen! A magician, YouTuber, snowboard instructor, photographer, and multi-lingual polymath — in short, a modern renaissance man. The two share their very different educational upbringings while discovering many of the same flowers along the way!

If this is your first time here, please check out our welcome video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TzIijiDeIU


📖 About the Book

A tremendous bestseller when it was first published in 1937, The Importance of Living has been a classic for over sixty years. Intended as an antidote to the dizzying pace of the modern world, Lin Yutang’s prescription is the classic distillation of ancient Chinese wisdom: revere inaction as much as action, invoke humor to maintain a healthy attitude, and never forget that there will always be plenty of fools around who are willing - indeed eager - to be busy, to make themselves useful, and to exercise power while you bask in the simple joy of existence. 

Now more than six decades later, with our lives accelerated to unbelievable levels, this wise and timeless book is more pertinent than ever before. In an era when we’re overwhelmed with wake-up calls, it’s an entertaining invitation to savor life’s beauty, its endless fascination, and its slow, sure, simplistic pleasures.   


🚹 About the Author

Lin Yutang(林語堂) was a Chinese inventor, linguist, novelist, philosopher, and translator. His informal but polished style in both Chinese and English made him one of the most influential writers of his generation, and his compilations and translations of classic Chinese texts into English were bestsellers in the West.


🛑 Why are we doing this? 🛑

Why are we doing this?

“Any book worth banning is a book worth reading,” according to Isaac Asimov. 

“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them,” warns Joseph Brodsky.

This is the start of a new series. Kevin and Shang embark on the Odyssean - and perhaps Sisyphean - venture into the netherworld of Banned Books, into the country of controversy. By “banned” we do not mean that the pieces we cover were literally banned by some entity somewhere over some time - these books simply have to possess a certain potential for controversy. It is equally important to note that “banned” is not limited to our times either! The Bible was actually banned at one time and still is banned in certain parts of the world today. This qualifies it as a banned book for this series.

You may find future conversations in this series enjoyable or uncomfortable, but you will certainly find them illuminating either way. There is much to be gained from going into the heart of the heat – gold is purified by fire, and diamonds are made under pressure after all.

Remember this disclaimer: just because we present a certain theory does not mean we agree with it. Neither does it mean the perspective has no value because we disagree with it. We may play devil’s advocate to what we agree and disagree with, only to serve the higher purpose of broadening our perspective. What we do present are pieces that we believe have gems buried deep within. There is much to be gained from these excerpts, whether as positive or negative examples. 

Ultimately, we entrust you, the viewer, with the intellectual capacity and critical literacy to hold your own opinions on the matters discussed here. We believe it is only by holding yourself accountable to reasoning that you can form opinions that are truly yours; that when you agree, it is you agreeing, and that when you disagree, it is you that is disagreeing. If you do not yet have your own fully developed opinions, we hope that, at the very least, you enjoy our conversations and that these intellectual adventures can be of service to you in the development of your own worldly views.

If this is your first time here, please check out our welcome video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TzIijiDeIU


📖 About the Book

A tremendous bestseller when it was first published in 1937, The Importance of Living has been a classic for over sixty years. Intended as an antidote to the dizzying pace of the modern world, Lin Yutang’s prescription is the classic distillation of ancient Chinese wisdom: revere inaction as much as action, invoke humor to maintain a healthy attitude, and never forget that there will always be plenty of fools around who are willing - indeed eager - to be busy, to make themselves useful, and to exercise power while you bask in the simple joy of existence. 

Now more than six decades later, with our lives accelerated to unbelievable levels, this wise and timeless book is more pertinent than ever before. In an era when we’re overwhelmed with wake-up calls, it’s an entertaining invitation to savor life’s beauty, its endless fascination, and its slow, sure, simplistic pleasures.   


🚹 About the Author

Lin Yutang(林語堂) was a Chinese inventor, linguist, novelist, philosopher, and translator. His informal but polished style in both Chinese and English made him one of the most influential writers of his generation, and his compilations and translations of classic Chinese texts into English were bestsellers in the West.


🛑 Why are we doing this? 🛑

Why are we doing this?

“Any book worth banning is a book worth reading,” according to Isaac Asimov. 

“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them,” warns Joseph Brodsky.

This is the start of a new series. Kevin and Shang embark on the Odyssean - and perhaps Sisyphean - venture into the netherworld of Banned Books, into the country of controversy. By “banned” we do not mean that the pieces we cover were literally banned by some entity somewhere over some time - these books simply have to possess a certain potential for controversy. It is equally important to note that “banned” is not limited to our times either! The Bible was actually banned at one time and still is banned in certain parts of the world today. This qualifies it as a banned book for this series.

You may find future conversations in this series enjoyable or uncomfortable, but you will certainly find them illuminating either way. There is much to be gained from going into the heart of the heat – gold is purified by fire, and diamonds are made under pressure after all.

Remember this disclaimer: just because we present a certain theory does not mean we agree with it. Neither does it mean the perspective has no value because we disagree with it. We may play devil’s advocate to what we agree and disagree with, only to serve the higher purpose of broadening our perspective. What we do present are pieces that we believe have gems buried deep within. There is much to be gained from these excerpts, whether as positive or negative examples. 

Ultimately, we entrust you, the viewer, with the intellectual capacity and critical literacy to hold your own opinions on the matters discussed here. We believe it is only by holding yourself accountable to reasoning that you can form opinions that are truly yours; that when you agree, it is you agreeing, and that when you disagree, it is you that is disagreeing. If you do not yet have your own fully developed opinions, we hope that, at the very least, you enjoy our conversations and that these intellectual adventures can be of service to you in the development of your own worldly views.

Shang and Kevin bring on their first guest ever - Jonathan Chen! Jonathan was part of the inaugural class of Kevin’s Critical Reading and also took Shang’s SAT Intensive Beast Mode. In this episode, Jonathan shares his experience at Meraki Prep, his insights into these dudes, and the wisdom he picked up along the way!  

If this is your first time here, please check out our welcome video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TzIijiDeIU


📖 About the Book

A tremendous bestseller when it was first published in 1937, The Importance of Living has been a classic for over sixty years. Intended as an antidote to the dizzying pace of the modern world, Lin Yutang’s prescription is the classic distillation of ancient Chinese wisdom: revere inaction as much as action, invoke humor to maintain a healthy attitude, and never forget that there will always be plenty of fools around who are willing - indeed eager - to be busy, to make themselves useful, and to exercise power while you bask in the simple joy of existence. 

Now more than six decades later, with our lives accelerated to unbelievable levels, this wise and timeless book is more pertinent than ever before. In an era when we’re overwhelmed with wake-up calls, it’s an entertaining invitation to savor life’s beauty, its endless fascination, and its slow, sure, simplistic pleasures.   


🚹 About the Author

Lin Yutang(林語堂) was a Chinese inventor, linguist, novelist, philosopher, and translator. His informal but polished style in both Chinese and English made him one of the most influential writers of his generation, and his compilations and translations of classic Chinese texts into English were bestsellers in the West.


🛑 Why are we doing this? 🛑

Why are we doing this?

“Any book worth banning is a book worth reading,” according to Isaac Asimov. 

“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them,” warns Joseph Brodsky.

This is the start of a new series. Kevin and Shang embark on the Odyssean - and perhaps Sisyphean - venture into the netherworld of Banned Books, into the country of controversy. By “banned” we do not mean that the pieces we cover were literally banned by some entity somewhere over some time - these books simply have to possess a certain potential for controversy. It is equally important to note that “banned” is not limited to our times either! The Bible was actually banned at one time and still is banned in certain parts of the world today. This qualifies it as a banned book for this series.

You may find future conversations in this series enjoyable or uncomfortable, but you will certainly find them illuminating either way. There is much to be gained from going into the heart of the heat – gold is purified by fire, and diamonds are made under pressure after all.

Remember this disclaimer: just because we present a certain theory does not mean we agree with it. Neither does it mean the perspective has no value because we disagree with it. We may play devil’s advocate to what we agree and disagree with, only to serve the higher purpose of broadening our perspective. What we do present are pieces that we believe have gems buried deep within. There is much to be gained from these excerpts, whether as positive or negative examples. 

Ultimately, we entrust you, the viewer, with the intellectual capacity and critical literacy to hold your own opinions on the matters discussed here. We believe it is only by holding yourself accountable to reasoning that you can form opinions that are truly yours; that when you agree, it is you agreeing, and that when you disagree, it is you that is disagreeing. If you do not yet have your own fully developed opinions, we hope that, at the very least, you enjoy our conversations and that these intellectual adventures can be of service to you in the development of your own worldly views.

As this season's college application winds down, Kevin and Shang share a few tips based on their observations from this cycle. How do you pick schools effectively, efficiently, and with ease? What are the 'metrics' or 'qualities' to base your selections? The hope of this episode: to rekindle much-needed sense and sensibility in the often sensationalized and frenzied college application process. 

Kevin and Shang share their take on starting things, the purpose of experimentation, and the experience of dipping our toes in various waters. They also share their own tips and philosophies on starting and sticking around.