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J.R.R. Tolkien

  • Middle Earth

    You ever wonder why Middle-earth was called Middle-earth?

    Tolkien drew inspiration from tons of places. Buddhism? Check. Judaism? Check. Norse mythology. You betcha.

    Nordic tales had the “land of men” at the center of it all. Of course, in this context, it was really more akin to a racial homeland. Never the less, the Nordic stories and other religions for thousands of years, we literally assumed we were at the middle of the middle of the universe. The greeks believed it. The romans believed it. To be honest… we still fall into these traps today. Maybe not on an astronomical scale anymore (except for the flat-earth fools) but, I think it’s very important to take a step back every now and then and check your egotistical tendencies as a human.

    “Am I being biased?”

    “Am I being ethnocentric?”

    “Am I being selfish?”

    “Am being stubborn or self-centered?”

    Take a beat more when you can. Chill your ego. It’s good for you.