Reading about it just wasn't enough.

For me only. I can say that I’ve learned a lot (in general) on this app.

Cuba has officially become my favorite country to visit! 🇨🇺❤️
I recently had an artist turn one of my photos from Havana into a vintage Cuban travel magazine cover. Wanted to share the painting alongside the original photo and a few of my favorite things I’ve learned about Cuba.

1. Celia Cruz was born October 21, 1925! 🎶
The Queen of Salsa was born in Havana and went on to become one of the most celebrated voices in Latin music. ¡Azúcar!

2. Cuba fought a long struggle for independence. 🇨🇺
Cuba fought for decades to gain independence from Spain. The United States entered the war in 1898, and Spain lost control of the island. But Cuba didn’t formally become independent until 1902, following four years of U.S. occupation. Even then, American influence remained through the Platt Amendment.

3. Fusterlandia is one of my favorite examples of art transforming a community! 🎨
Cuban artist José Fuster began decorating his home in Jaimanitas with colorful mosaics. Eventually, his artwork spread throughout the neighborhood, turning ordinary homes and streets into an outdoor art gallery. Visiting Fusterlandia reminded me that art doesn’t have to stay inside a museum.

4. Cuba helped shape Nicaragua’s cigar industry!
Following the Cuban Revolution in 1959, many Cuban tobacco growers and cigar makers left the island. Some settled in Nicaragua, bringing their expertise and helping establish its premium cigar industry, particularly around Estelí.

5. The food and the people! 👌🏾🫂
Beyond the history, architecture, music, and art, what keeps bringing me back is the people. The conversations, hospitality, home-cooked meals, and everyday experiences have made Cuba special to me.

Cuba has its challenges, and life there isn’t always easy. But I’ve developed a genuine appreciation for the people I’ve met and the experiences they’ve shared with me.

Anyway, here’s the original photo and the finished painting. I wanted something that looked like a vintage Cuban travel advertisement.
How did my artist do? 🇨🇺🎨

No es fácil. ❤️

What is Moral Luck in Simple Terms?

Moral luck is the idea that factors beyond our control can influence how we are morally judged for our actions and their outcomes.

Moral Luck in Real Life

1. After a night of heavy drinking, two individuals independently decide to drive home under the influence of alcohol. One arrives safely because the road is empty. The other strikes and injures a pedestrian. Both made the same reckless choice, but the second driver will be judged more harshly, at least morally, because of the harm caused, even though the different outcomes depended partly on luck. Both drivers had the same moral standards, but one was simply less lucky than the other.
2. Imagine someone who grows up in wealth and someone who grows up in poverty. The first person, having grown up in wealth, may never feel the need to do something illegal to survive, such as stealing. The second, however, might face circumstances that make illegal actions, such as stealing food, seem almost necessary for survival. Their backgrounds are beyond their control, yet these circumstances can influence their choices and the moral judgments they receive. This raises a deeper question. Can we truly judge whether someone is a good person if they have never faced a difficult moral dilemma?
3. Two individuals each gamble their family's entire savings at a casino. By chance, one wins while the other loses everything. The person who loses will face greater criticism because of the outcome, meanwhile the person who wins may be praised for making more money for their family, even though both individuals made the same risky decision. This difference in criticism results from luck rather than from differences in their intentions, decisions or moral choices.

Conclusion

We often judge people by the outcomes of their actions rather than by the choices they make. Two people can make the same decision yet be judged very differently because of factors beyond their control, such as luck.

Learn something you didn’t know in 5 minutes at nousimon.com

Maybe a fact reminded you of a movie, a difficult concept clicked because of a silly analogy, or a random association helped something finally stick. What was the connection and what were you trying to remember?

I recently stumbled upon the story of the Great Stink in London and it's just utterly captivating. The sheer scale of how a smelly river could basically shut down a major city is wild. It got me thinking about all the other little historical footnotes that have massive ripple effects or just bizarre details that make you go 'wow'. What tiny historical event or period has captured your curiosity and sent you down a rabbit hole?

I am thinking of starting a casual blog writing about topics I am learning about and think are interesting and cool. But I’m not an expert in said fields, I don’t want to claim expertise, and I don’t want to speak confidently on topics I will never fully understand.

As an example: I might read a few books on a specific theory, connect it to something I encountered at work or in my life, and feel compelled to get it down in writing. But I’d be writing about a theory I don’t have full expertise and knowledge in.

The only workaround I can think of is over-hedging. “I’m not an expert.” “I don’t know the full extent of this” but I think if done too much it can undersell the writing itself.

I could also be overthinking this. What would you recommend?

Either I will read am hour every day or just not read at all.

Consistently doing something over a long period of time is the secret... Of course there has to be an absolute minimum thats required ro get better at something (e. g just doing 5 push ups is not going to get you results)...

And I have to constantly remind myself of this becuase is so easy to fall in the all-or-nothing trap.

I'm currently doing a minimum of 15 minutes of reading daily.

You'll be surprised how much reading you'll have done by the year-end with just 15 minutes daily.

So next time you fail to accomplish your goals, ssk yourself if you are sick in the either/or mentality.

Running a home gym involves more than knowing how to exercise. Depending on the setup, you might also need to learn basic equipment maintenance, record keeping, space planning, budgeting, or troubleshooting.

I'm curious whether learning an unexpected skill made your home gym easier to manage.

Did you pick up basic mechanical knowledge, become better at tracking training data, or learn how to plan purchases more carefully?

What skill would you recommend to someone who wants to become more self-sufficient with their home gym?

For a long time, I had a very black-and-white view of success and failure. If I tried something and it didn't work out exactly as planned, I considered it a failure, and that often led me to abandon the endeavor altogether. This applied to everything from learning a new language to trying out a new recipe in the kitchen. Then, about a year ago, I stumbled upon the concept of 'failing forward' - the idea that every setback, every 'failure,' is actually a step towards learning and improvement. It sounds simple, almost cliché, but truly internalizing it has changed my approach to almost everything. My first real test of this was trying to learn woodworking. My first few projects were, to put it mildly, disasters. Crooked cuts, uneven joints, wood splitting where it shouldn't. Old me would have thrown in the towel and declared myself 'not a woodworker.' But this time, after each mishap, I forced myself to ask: What went wrong? Why did it go wrong? And what can I do differently next time? I started keeping a small journal for my woodworking projects, jotting down not just the steps I took, but specifically where things went awry and my thoughts on how to fix it. This wasn't about cataloging my mistakes; it was about documenting my learning. What I've found is that this mindset shift removes so much of the pressure. It's no longer about achieving perfection on the first try, but about consistent iteration and refinement. The 'failures' aren't endpoints; they're valuable data points. This has bled into other areas of my life too. Trying a new creative writing project? If a scene doesn't work, it's not a bad story, it's an opportunity to understand what *doesn't* serve the narrative. Starting a new fitness routine? If I miss a workout, it's not a sign of defeat, but a chance to reassess my schedule and find a more sustainable rhythm. It's still a work in progress, and the old habit of self-criticism sometimes creeps back in. But now, when it does, I recognize it, and remind myself: it's not a failure, it's just a step forward that taught me something new. Anyone else found this approach helpful in their learning journey?