Trampling Cows and Death Whistles...

Hello There!

As I mentioned when you signed up, once or twice a month I’ll be sending you my hand-picked list of awesome stuff - strange places I hear about, gear I use, books and podcasts I love, adventures I'm experiencing, and more. So let's jump into it...

(Ps. check out this cool plane I dove in Turkey with the BBC. GPS pin is here)

• 🔓 New Hack for a Better Life:

As many of you know, I’ve been using the 5 Minute Journal for years with great effect. But I’ve decided to switch it up for a month with something new.
I’ve made 2 accountability groups. One for fitness (w/ @tourist2townie), and one for reading (w/ @Hopscotchtheglobe and @Rayawashere). Everyday we send a WhatsApp photo doing the activity to the group. If we don't do the activity for that day, we have to send $5 by PayPal to everyone in the group - which may turn into a lot of money if you skip multiple days, but that's the point. Accountability groups are my go-to way to make habits stick, and grow my relationships with friends and family. Double Whammy.

• 📝 Inspirational Quote to Ponder:

“People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive.”
– Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

• 🌎 Unique Experiences to Investigate:

There's actually two fascinating topics this month - Aztec Death Whistles and Trampling Cows.

Aztec Death Whistles.
These were first found in an excavation in Mexico City. Often the whistles were found clutched in the bony fingers of a skeletal corpse. Historians believe the whistles were used in sacrificial rituals of death, as a number of whistles were found with sacrificed victims to the Aztec wind God Quetzacoatl. If you're like me and want to learn more about this mystery, check out this video.

Trampling Cows Festival. 
In the town of Jhabua, in western India, the people celebrate Diwali (November 8) by performing a strange rite where Hindu herdsmen allowed stampeding cattle trample them in the street.

The villagers say that the tradition is meant to seek blessings and the practice has been on since the era of the Raj. The festival also allows the herdsmen to seek forgiveness from the sacred animals for herding them around the entire year. This video certainly got my Fearless and Far senses tingling. Maybe I should do this next year...

Until the next one, keep soaring my dragons!

Mike 🐉