Turtles all the way down (Book Review)

    I remember the time the movie based on a John Green book got really popular. The movie was called, “The Fault in Our Stars” and I was in high school when it came out. I wasn’t really interested in it. It seemed like a sad movie…I didn’t like sad movies. And so, I decided this guy named John Green was weird and moved on with my life. 

    Few years later I found a really cool educational YouTube channel and started watching it’s philosophy course. It was by some guy named Hank Green and turns out, John Green is his brother and also hosts such courses. So come pandemic, I started watching Crash Course’s World History Course for the same reason I began the Philosophy Course…It’s fun! After a while, I thought to myself, "What the heck, I'll even give his book a try."

So, I began reading "Turtles all the way down" by John Green.

    It started off slow, like usual novels. But along the way to completion, I could really see his personality come out in the characters he wrote in that book. It was really easy to recognize his thoughts in this book. I know it might be a weird thing to say when reading someone's book. 

But that's the cool thing about writing a piece of your original work, you put a little of yourself in the story...whether it's the character, location or perspectives, you put a piece of your soul in what you create. 

    The blabbering of random facts and history was something I saw in John Green even in his World History Course videos, was seen in the writings of that book. I appreciate the realistic and good light with which he described the main character, Aza Holmes' anxiety. I liked how he talked about the need for therapy and psychiatric medicines in a positive way...thereby reducing the stigma against these evidence-based treatments. So many writers and creators choose to perpetuate false ideas about what mental health is and demonizes its victims rather than help and empathize with their struggles. This book made a good attempt in removing that stigma and I am better having read it. It also didn’t have magical or spontaneous cures of mental illness. (It might be possible, but it’s rare.) 

    Mental health is so important and I can't stress that enough. We all think we know what it is but distance ourselves from genuine empathy and acceptance of it. Mental illness is always thought of to be something incurable and un-treatable and shameful and wrong...that we forget that this rationale further worsens mental illness outcomes in our society. 

    Another amazing characteristic of this book is its love for astronomy. It’s a big expansive and beautiful universe that we're part of. I remember being so interested in planets and space as a child. Everyone knows of the planets in our solar system, it's nothing short of a miracle to be alive and to be conscious to experience it all. This book highlights the awesomeness of astronomy as seen in the interests of the character, Davis Pickett Jr. I enjoyed reading his commentaries on space-y stuff. 

    The story felt real. It had good and bad things happening throughout the story, just like real life. It really proves the maturity and skill of the writer to pull off such an intricate storyline. Books like these make learning and scientific thinking so interesting to teenagers and young adults like myself. I'm glad that such authors get the press. The world is really changing in its views of good authorship and I am glad to be part of it. 

    In the future, I hope to finish reading the book, “The fault in our stars” by the same author. When I’m done, I’ll try to get my hands on the movie as well. 

    There are so many great experiences and works of art that we miss out on because of our mortality and biases. Mortality can’t be cured, but our biases can be…to a great extent. 

The Pills In Your Mouth

    There are a lot of health-related fears in the air around us these days. With polarized opinions regarding every topic, like the ones related to medicine and treatment, it is very confusing to choose which path one must take towards a good or better health. 

We all hear of and fall victim to new diseases or fall prey to an old, yet incurable one. It is a worrying thought to think about. It was a thought that particularly worried me as a child, the fear of getting those dreaded “incurable” diseases. 

Then there’s the thing about doctors. Doctors do seem mysterious in their ways and mannerisms. All wrapped up in heavily complicated medical terminology and statistics…with pills, tablets, capsules and potions to aid in treatments…no wonder so much of their lives are still unknown to us. 

Most doctors do bridge the gap and help one become more educated about their illness. However, some thrive with the asymmetric information on their side and do nothing about it.

Many people grow up in fear of the unknown mystery that are doctors and their medicines. Maybe I had it too until I had a very bad illness in my childhood that wrecked havoc to my otherwise golden childhood. A doctor’s advice on medicine cured me and since then, I’ve been less anxious and scared of the peculiarities of my body and the changes it goes through when it’s sick. 

With a good doctor, you feel heard and validated for the experience of your illness and ailment. You feel empowered with the correct diagnosis. The unknown sickness that has been hurting you, now has a name. The strange ambiguity has been given a name and now you’re on your way to recovery. 

Lately, I’ve noticed how many different pills I’ve been having for a variety of ailments. Sometimes I wonder, “Am I really at the prime of my health?”

We often go into seasons of illness and suffering that seem not to have an end. It’s just eternal popping of pills into your mouth and drowning it in a quick large sip of water, day after day. 

I won’t say it doesn’t get exhausting. It does. 

I remember recently how I had to have around 6 tablets everyday for 15 days. It was so annoying. 

But when I think about it. It isn’t mindless consumption of something I don’t understand, let alone can pronounce. (As most medicines have tongue-twisting chemical formulae as their name)

Medicines I have, are under the guidance of a wise, well-trained doctor in the recommended doses they advise me to take, bought from a well-equipped pharmacy that sources its medicines from high quality pharmaceutical industries. I live in the 21st century, a time medical science has achieved leaps and bonds. People in the ancient world would kill to receive the treatment I’m getting in my time.

I comfort my woes of taking timely medicine with this rationale…that, I’m grateful to be born in a time there is treatment for whatever I’m suffering. 

And whatever the side-effects, it beats being sick and the risk of that illness progressing into something far worse. 

I also try to think that taking medicines on time and following medical advice is a self-care ritual for my ailing body. 

Being sick isn’t fun…but with each dose I take in its recommended time…I’m beating the illness…one pill at a time.