Shadowing Practice: This book came to me in a dream - Learn English Speaking with Video

hello i want to talk about books today

but first let's talk about dreams dreams are a very weird thing

because it always ends completely in the middle of the story

there's no there's no explanation to it there's no like grand purpose to why we dream

but i recently found out our brains do this very strange thing

when a loop is opened our brains scramble to try to

close it for instance a lover leaves like in the middle of the relationship they leave no explanation

or closure and they just leave the reason why we obsess over

that relationship or this one thing

that never actually took its time to finish it's not

because it's soulmates or some cosmic fate but simply

because our brain cannot handle an open loop

that has never been closed songs on the radios for instance

apparently i don't know where i'm getting this information from songs on the radios are formulated it goes high up

so it creates and holds the tension it holds the tension for a

while and then it releases it

so it opens a loop in our brain it closes it

as it releases the tension in the same way i wonder with dreams

when i just wake up in the middle of the scene

throughout the entire day i'll be thinking how would this have

ended why did i dream of this what does this possibly say about me i wonder

if all dreams want is for us to look back

and with dreams it's a bit meaningless it's just like a

scatter of random photographs of memories of just random emotions

and associative things of just compiled to create an absurd collage

of something random something absurd they often don't carry straightforward meaning

or answer I think I often associate that with the fact

that it's meaningless but it's also undeniable

that human history in itself has been interrupted by

so many dreams we have history where wars happen people advance we develop as a society

but we have also had moments in

which the entire course of history has been changed slightly

because someone had a dream whether that be a creation of a religion

or scientific innovation a very popular music a book a movie twilight was created

because stephanie meyer had a dream i also wonder

when it comes to individuals in ways that we'll never understand

if there are moments in which

because we had a dream we start to look at things

from just a slightly different angle nothing actually changed in reality

but sometimes when i dream about a person

that i never gave a second thought to i would wake up

and i would just look at

that person slightly different it just got me thinking about books the way

that every single book that i come across changes something in me like the way

that i see the world the way that i talk to myself

or the way that i have a certain notion of a certain thing

and so like books and dreams

that change the course of my life into the way i see things i realized

that the whole point isn't to try to figure out what the purpose is

or what the meaning or the intent is i also wonder

if it's not about how many dreams

that i can have to try to have as many as

case stories to try to figure out what is going on in my unconsciousness

or trying to read all these books to try to pinpoint a single narrative of a truth

but rather it's about focusing on a couple of them

that for some reason i can't forget something that keeps calling me back

and I just try to find like my thoughts in accordance to it and yeah so that's that's what I'm thinking.

In the wise words of Donna Tartt, it is better to read one book intimately than to read 100 superficially.

So I have a stack of titles.

I feel like after a while I just started to trust the process

and that whatever book that I was meant to read will come my way.

They say that every single person that we meet on earth comes to us for a reason.

It's to challenge us or to strengthen us, to make us a different person.

They all come with different form of lessons for us to change.

I think whatever books that are meant for me will come my way and my only job is to read deeply, not necessarily wisely.

Easier said than done, I, John St. Maxey's Davidin, is a book that I recently reread because, you know, as one does.

I think one cool thing about reading a book

so many times is you get to see what sort of version that you were when you read the book.

So I would look at my notes and see the things that I've underlined or the little notes that I made.

As I also try to recall the things

that stood out to me significantly or the way

that I perceived it or the things that were really important

but the things that I didn't remember simply because it wasn't important to me when I read it for the first time.

It's kind of like looking at the wall in your childhood home

and seeing the different heights that you used to be

and how tiny you used to be once upon a time

I was looking at the world at this specific height

and once upon a time I was looking at the world from a certain belief for some reason

if I were to become an evil dictator I would force everyone to read East of Eden

that would be my first assignment With East of Eden and The Secret History by Donald Tartt, those two books are books that carry very,

very deep level, like there are just layers and layers of details that are just constantly happening as we read.

And we go blind through them because, you know, we're just so focused on the thrill of reading.

I feel like the first read actually happens when we finish the book

and we go back and see what was actually there the whole time it's kind of like

when i'm looking back at my memory i realized

that oh this person was actually trying to tell me this

and this but like i didn't realize it because i was young

and i think a good book demands to be looked back again

so many times to see what not the message was

but what was always there the next two are writers thinkers jorge louis borges

and clarissa specter they all feel like dreams i don't know

if it's like a random memory that i had

or like a dream that i had or a vision

or something that i'm not supposed to remember it all sounds really delusional

and crazy and made up but

that is i feel like the experience of reading le spectre

borges two of my favorite top top top writers whatever they write i will be begging for more even

if it's bad writing i feel like it's just the essence of the way

that they think and the way they perceive the world instead of trying to adopt the way

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that they see the world i think it's more about the courage

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and the faith

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that they have in seeing the world a certain way i feel like with foreheads every single idea

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that he creates transports us into this audacity of thinking in such a blasphemous way whenever i read writers

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that offers such an unconventional

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and unique way of seeing i'm thinking not only of how they got here

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but like oh this was an option you know i'm allowed to think of this way the way

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that i act is of course restricted to what i'm comfortable with

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and what is accepted but the way that i think imaginatively

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and creatively is also restricted by what i'm comfortable with

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and what just comes easy and naturally to me

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but part of the effort in trying to expand my imagination is to swim in very dark waters

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and to swim in Borges' own thoughts really make me see

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I could go out further more I could see more things than I really do try

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if I believe like just purely believe and have faith

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that I can think more I could think more oh it matches with the Clarice Lispector is another writer

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that I adore with Clarice Lispector same exact opinion with Borges how far can i go into my thoughts

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if i abandon all my fear of the way

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that i think the way that i write of the way

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that i see the world and i go beyond that

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and i just trust in complete mystery then what will i see less

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so about adopting their world view or the patterns of their speech

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and style more about the spirit of the courage of the way

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that see the world you know like

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that one dune quote fear what is the quote something about

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fear um fear is the mind killer that's it fear is the mind killer

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when i remove it there is nothing that stands between myself and what i have to do

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but once fear leaves our consciousness the question is what remain

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and yeah carl young very briefly i really adore carl young

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because i feel like he was like final boss delusions i

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mean he was a genius obviously i'm always thinking like wow this this guy had a point

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so i do wonder if it's really not about trying to let information

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and rules and correct things and morality to become me

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but rather myself becoming a certain like system of thinking of the way

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that i read okay i'm not really making sense right now

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but i i wanted to add young to the list

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but i think of anything that is relevant

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so i'm just adding young for the sake of it you know

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if you think of something

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that is interesting then please share with me you know they

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say like it doesn't have to be correct as long as

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you believe in it i think of stephen king actually who

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had this logic where it doesn't have to be true you just have to believe in it

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and therefore it will be like true or something along

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that line but with young the way

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that he sees the world there's no hesitance

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and he is very strict with his faith

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that it is true whether it may be true

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or not i don't think it really matters in the end

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but it's this belief

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that innovates us to see more i think to start a

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conversation with myself to try to figure out like perhaps why

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because the only person

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that can figure out why i dreamt of this is myself we have universal symbols

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but we also have symbols that exists within like a book

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that only we have access to as long as we have like courage

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and faith that something does exist we'll find a way

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if there's a will there's a way his eye for what could be observed

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and the patterns that he conceived out of those things

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very admirable so if there's a will there's a way right

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and i was thinking of saint augustine's confessions whenever i read

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saint augustine it just gives me hope hearing from someone

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that they have faith in you or hope in you not based on anything

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but just the fact that it's you i think that itself is

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so powerful like if someone has faith that i could do it

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or if someone has hope for me

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that i could change then despite whatever evidence there is whatever my identity is

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or whatever my habits are i do have the inclination to believe

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because someone else believes me like that's all that matters

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and reading saint augustine

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or thinking about saint augustine it makes me think of like people who i thought you know this sounds horrible

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but people who i thought were like beyond saving

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and i would be thinking like maybe maybe free will isn't a thing maybe people are just the way

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that they are you meet them after a few years

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and you realize how they turned their lives around they went through

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so many things and they found change i realized

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that change is definitely something that is real

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if it's real for them perhaps real for me and

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if there's a will there's a way i think

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that it takes a certain courage to talk about our biggest fears

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and anxieties and to confess our sins and to be allowed to be judged

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and perceived by random strangers for centuries it gets me thinking

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about this whole idea of characters this actually reminds me of game of thrones i'm reading the book right now

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so everything in my life goes back to game of thrones

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so the stark siblings they're all separated throughout the entire series

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whenever they want to be brave they're thinking i want to be brave like rob the eldest brother even

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if that person is not with us that essence like the character

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that helped us so much as people i say this every time

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but every single like thought that i have had or like thoughts

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that i didn't have yet thoughts that i realized

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that i could be having were all written by saint augustine even

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if you don't believe in any religion

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or a god confessions teaches us a lot about the whole idea of being human

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and the horrible things that comes with it but also the beauty

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that comes when we search for it i do always want to talk about something

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that i get a lot of messages on i wonder what

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sort of impression i give off for a lot of people to be asking me about this

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but i get a lot of messages asking me what my

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favorite book of the bible is for everyone who's asked there are a couple

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but the one

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that i have to always talk about for some reason is

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enthusiastic where do i start nihilism is a very funny thing i personally think

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that it's easier to accept that everything is meaningless than to accept

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and pursue that there is something beyond our comprehension i think it's very interesting

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that a book like ecclesiastes where god essentially confirms nihilism and

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that life is inherently meaningless in the bible there is nothing

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new under the sun there is literally nothing new everything that's happened today had already happened yesterday

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and will happen again tomorrow even wisdom itself is meaningless i could die tomorrow

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and i could be forgotten in a couple of hundreds of years

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which is nothing by the grand scale of the cosmos i

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will not be like i will i it doesn't really matter

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if i'm remembered

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because even those who remember me only remember a fragment of

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me i will not exist i will not be everything

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that i do right now is meaningless it's inherently meaningless i may just indulge it

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and just say yolo

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but you know it's it's all meaningless you know nothing like truly belongs to me i say

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that i am all that i am with my thoughts the way

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that i think and the things that i remember

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but even as i dream i don't know that i'm dreaming

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and i carry different memories

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and thus i have a sense of different identity it's really scary to even think about

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or to try to comprehend what is mean itself like where do I exist like I could die

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and then I could wake up in a different realm of consciousness

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and realize that I've been dreaming the whole time I was actually not me

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but I was just imagining myself to be me like my dreams where I was convinced

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that I was belonging in my dream because I carry false memories was convinced

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that we're real you know Ecclesiastes

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if there's a will there's a way as long as we

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have faith you know it's going to keep you afloat from

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drowning in water let me know what your favorite book of

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the Bible is by the way it's always a very fascinating conversation to have

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so the whole idea of looking back was actually inspired by orpheus

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and eurydice i love greek mythology it's like a home to

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me i think what's really cool about ancient greek stories

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or just mythology and folklore folk tales parables fair tales all these stories

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that get distorted and like you know like it's like alice going through all sorts of different conversation

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but the spirit persists whatever appeals to us is honestly whatever is a reflection to the state of our thinking and romance.

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For instance, if I'm a huge hardcore romance nerd

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then I may carry that love for it but

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if I interact with great stories of love like Romeo

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and Juliet or Orpheus and Eurydice then I get to explore how I feel about this certain thing.

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So like a lot of these mythologies carry a form of mystery within them.

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The sort of interpretation that I have says a lot about me

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and my belief as a person

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and what sort of thing is brewing behind the scenes of

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who I am who am I as a person I think

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like the whole process of this is to try to have a conversation with myself

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and to figure out who I am it's like a one giant mirror of to show who I am

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and I'm not seeing my face I'm tired of seeing my

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face honestly as I edit all these videos as I read

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these books I will never get a clear picture of who I am

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but I will still be more comfortable with being who I am this is an old interpretation

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that I had for this story of Orpheus and Eurydice is this idea of faith.

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So Orpheus falls in love with Eurydice and he marries her, but with a lot of tragedies happening all the time, Eurydice dies at their wedding.

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While other heroes descend to hell for quests and crazy journeys, Orpheus goes to hell for his lover.

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He sings a great song of love to Hades and Persephone.

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Hell is weeping because of how beautiful his song is.

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Hades decides to grant eurydice back to orpheus as long as

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as they ascend back to the living world as long as

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orpheus does not look back at eurydice he will be able to have her again

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when in fear he might lose her again

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and anxious for another look at her he turned his eyes

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so he could gaze upon her instantly she slipped away old interpretation

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that i had was this idea of faith and courage the way

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that he sang in front of the gods to try to

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convince for hades to break the law to grant eurydice back

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to him testifies to a great courage he was singing this great song

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and he had courage in the words that he was saying

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but when it actually came time to act out this

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and to just believe that eurydice was behind him it is

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so easy to say things it is

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so easy to sing great songs of love but

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when the actual trial comes so to make love work one must start with courage but one must lead with faith.

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In the same way, I have courage to think in a certain way, but it is only by faith that I am taken to unimaginable places of thoughts.

✨ Recommend Video

52 sentences

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 274 sentences and 3345 words to shadow. The speech runs for 17:27. The speaker talks fast, about 192 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 83% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
courage noun	/ˈkʌ.ɹɪd͡ʒ/	The quality of being confident, not afraid or easily intimidated, but without being incautious or inconsiderate.
meaningless adjective	/ˈmiː.nɪŋ.ləs/	Lacking meaning.
saint noun	/seɪnt/	A deceased person whom a church or another religious group has officially recognised as especially holy or godly; one eminent for piety and virtue.
belief noun	/bɪˈliːf/	Mental acceptance of a claim as true.
loop noun	/luːp/	A length of thread, line or rope that is doubled over to make an opening.
convince verb	/kənˈvɪns/	To make someone believe, or feel sure about something, especially by using logic, argument or evidence.
interpretation noun	/ɪnˌtɜːpɹəˈteɪʃən/	An act of interpreting or explaining something unclear; a translation; a version.
tension noun	/ˈtɛnʃən/	The condition of being held in a state between two or more forces, which are acting in opposition to each other.
perceive verb	/pɚˈsiv/	To become aware of, through the physical senses, to see; to understand.
mythology noun	/mɪˈθɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/	The collection of myths of a people, concerning the origin of the people, history, deities, ancestors and heroes.
killer noun	/ˈkɪlɚ/	One who or that which kills.
mystery noun	/ˈmɪs.t(ə.)ɹi/	Something secret or unexplainable; an unknown.
explanation noun	/ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/	The act or process of explaining.
horrible adjective	/ˈhɔɹ.ɪ.bəl/	Causing horror; terrible; shocking.
layer noun	/ˈleɪ̯ɚ/	A single thickness of some material covering a surface.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
figure out verb		To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce.
look back verb		To think of (past events) in retrospect (in hindsight).
go through verb		To travel from one end of something to the other.
act out verb	/ˌækt ˈaʊ̯t/	To perform something specific.
come across verb		To change sides; to cross over to work for the opposition.
find out verb		To discover, as by asking or investigating.
go back verb		To return to a place or state after having been there at a previous time.
go back to verb		To stem from; to originate in.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result	if there's a will there
“Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer true	used to be
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	is opened · been closed · are formulated
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	has never been closed · has been interrupted · has been changed

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 42 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, didn't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: mythology /mɪˈθɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/, throne /θɹəʊ̯n/, strengthen /ˈstɹɛŋ(k)θən/, enthusiastic /ɪnˌθjuːzɪˈæstɪk/, thrill /θɹɪl/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: interpretation /ɪnˌtɜːpɹəˈteɪʃən/, tension /ˈtɛnʃən/, explanation /ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/, consciousness /ˈkɑnʃəsnəs/, confession /kənˈfɛʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: interpretation /ɪnˌtɜːpɹəˈteɪʃən/, mythology /mɪˈθɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/, explanation /ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/, inherently /ɪnˈhɛɹəntli/, universal /ˌjunəˈvɜɹs(ə)l/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like courage, meaningless, saint.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

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