August recap
- Cheyenne Slowensky
- Sep 7
- 3 min read
All the books I read, movies I watched, and thoughts I had in August 2025.
Books - 3
The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig - ★ ★ ★ ★
Madonna in a Fur Coat by Sabahattin Ali - ★ ★ ★ ★
The Prophet by Khalil Ghibran - ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Films - 4
*rewatch
The Thing (1982) - ★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2
KPop Demon Hunters (2025) - ★ ★ ★ ★
Walk the Line (2005) - ★ ★ ★ ★
*Elevator to the Gallows (2025) - ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Thoughts
Academic weaponry
"Few things have felt more empowering than dedicating myself to a career that I believe myself capable of succeeding in." That's what a wrote here just one month ago, and I welled up now reading it again. I am three weeks into law school, reminding myself that it will be over before I know it and to treasure the time I have here, but also reckoning with the fact that each week seems days longer than the last. The constant reading strains my eyes, hunching over textbooks causes an ache in my neck (until I bought a textbook stand), and cooping up in my apartment all day makes my space feel less spacious.
The first year of law school is notoriously difficult, if not for the reading than for the complete readjustment in the way your time is entirely lost in textbooks. When each case takes an hour to comprehend and the professors will gladly go on without you, the real difficulty is in advocating for yourself, which commonly manifests in how you take breaks. I cut myself off at 6pm every night so I have time for dinner and a movie/book and I consistently try to keep myself a few days ahead so none of the reading is truly urgent. I am uneasy about the sea of reading that looms large ahead of me, but I am proud of what I have conquered so far. Understanding something as massive and daunting as the law is like chipping away at marble; there is a tranquil, knowing figure waiting there for you to smooth out its jagged edges.
Aristotle
I took a course called "Bootcamp in Aristotle" in undergrad and, full transparency, I haven't used a single thing I learned in that class since. But I dug up my old notebook recently and rediscovered Aristotle's belief in what "God" is, which grew from his idea of nous, meaning active understanding. Aristotle's God, which he dubbed nous nous-ing, doesn't sound very profound, but the idea he meant to express is that life belongs to the practice of active understanding, and that same active understanding is the activity of life. In other words, humans making efforts to understand the world is what makes the world exist and what makes human life worth living. Aristotle was a curious and at times over-serious guy, but I found his explanation of God to be rather whimsical. The activity of life is inherently life-giving; understanding an object causes it to become itself; God is always in a state of contemplation.
Resurfacing this prehistoric thought reminded me that humans have been trying to figure things out since day one. Finding the right career, practicing a craft, parsing through a dense text, going for a walk, cooking a meal; all are exercises in nous, in the activity of life. I find reassurance in the idea that no matter what I am doing, any time my mind feels open, when the object before me is met with curiosity, when I allow information to stew in my mind, I am embodying nous. All pursuits of understanding are good pursuits. Learning, no matter how trivial the subject, is worth celebrating. I encourage you to fall down a rabbit hole of whatever topic lingers in your mind just to see where it leads and to notice how you feel when you pursue learning for its own sake.
Favorites
eternal sunshine deluxe: brighter days ahead by Ariana Grande
GlutenbergBible
my textbook stand
winery bingo
Trader Joe's chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches
live trumpet player at a screening of one of my favorite films, Elevator to the Gallows, scored by Miles Davis
Thanks for stopping by! I would love to hear some of your August reads, watches, and favorites in the comments. In September, I am looking forward to cooler days, working in coffee shops, and continuing the search for a healthy work/life/creative balance.
-Cheyenne
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