The Marathon Mindset, Youthful Adventures, and Life on Uranus
Reflections on doing things “just because,” an existential hamster, and the possibility of oceans on distant moons
Val’s Sunday morning random thoughts
Hi everyone, and welcome back to another edition of my Sunday morning random thoughts. In this week's newsletter, I reflect on doing things “just because,” share my marathon experience, explore the youthful spirit behind China’s “Night Riding Army,” recommend a philosophical hamster’s diary, and dive into NASA’s exciting discoveries about Uranus and its moons. Grab your coffee, and let’s get started!
Life
When was the last time you did something just for yourself? Something that made you feel alive, simply because it made you happy? That’s a question I’ve been reflecting on a lot lately. I’ve always worked hard—getting good grades, excelling in extracurricular activities, and giving 100% in every internship. But I rarely do things just for the thrill of it.
Last week, I took a break and skipped writing a newsletter—for a good reason: I ran my first marathon!
It was an incredible experience, especially since I also ran a 10k with my mom the day before. I truly enjoyed stepping out of my routine and doing something purely for fun. But as soon as I crossed the finish line, the questions started pouring in: How long did it take? Was your pace stable? When’s the next one?
It was hard for people to believe I did it “just because” and not with some performance goal in mind. This made me realize that as we grow older, we often feel the need to justify our actions, losing the joy of doing things simply “because, why not?”
This thought deepened when I read about the “Night Riding Army” in China. Earlier this week, hundreds of thousands of students biked 50 kilometers through the night to the city of Kaifeng to enjoy its famous dumpling soup while watching the sunrise.
While some saw this as a traffic disturbance, and universities weren’t thrilled about students leaving their dormitories, I saw it as a beautiful moment of youthful energy and community. Students from various universities and clubs came together for a spontaneous adventure. Apart from some bikes left on sidewalks and traffic jams, nothing bad happened.
It reminded me that I’ve been losing that youthful spirit of enjoying the moment and doing things “just because.” That’s something I plan to nurture going forward.
Books
This week’s book matches the theme of reflecting on life: The Diary of Edward the Hamster, 1990 to 1990 by Miriam Elia and Ezra Elia, or in French: Le Journal d’Edward, hamster nihiliste, 1990-1990.
This book is written from the perspective of Edward, a hamster grappling with the existential questions of his short life. Through his diary, we follow his attempts to make sense of the cage he lives in, with a mix of humor and philosophy.
Here’s an excerpt from Edward’s journal:
Two of them came today, dragged me out of my cage, and put me in some kind of improvised maze made out of books and old toilet tubes. A labyrinth with no escape. They were treating it like some kind of game, laughing and squealing as I desperately scrabbled from blind alley to blind alley, but I knew it was no game. They're trying to crush my will, to grind me down. They can take my freedom, but they will never take my soul. My name is Edward, and I AM A HAMSTER.
If you’re looking for a short, fun book that will make you question everything, grab this one! You can read my full review on my website: www.valentinhervouet.com.
Learning and Productivity
Are you familiar with Parkinson’s Law? It states: “Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.” In short, the more time you give a task, the longer it will take.
This week, I had a lot of free time but few “mandatory” tasks, so I ended up wasting hours doing very little. Toward the end of the week, I decided to set strict deadlines for myself, and suddenly, I was far more productive.
This newsletter is a perfect example—I treat reading a book as a weekly commitment, and the self-imposed deadline keeps me on track. It’s a habit I want to integrate more into my professional life.
Tech talk
Do you believe in life beyond Earth?
Since childhood, I’ve been fascinated by space exploration and the possibility of extraterrestrial life. The universe is vast, and we’ve barely begun to explore it.
This week, I learned that Uranus and its five largest moons may have oceans! While this doesn’t mean we’ll find aliens anytime soon, and definitely not that they will look like the ones we see in movies, water is essential for life as we know it, and this discovery reshapes our understanding of Uranus.
Most of our knowledge about Uranus comes from Voyager 2, which passed the planet nearly 40 years ago during a solar storm, distorting the data. NASA is planning a new mission to study Uranus and its moons, but it’s scheduled to arrive in... 2045. So, we’ll have to wait a lot of Sundays for updates on this front!
That’s all for this week’s newsletter. If you enjoyed it or have any comments, please reply with advice! I appreciate all constructive feedback—I’m new to this and would love to improve over time. Thank you!
- Val