Greetings everyone,
There are more important things than work. I have come to this realization during one of my most trying and important seasons of work: a time of stress, of toiling and pushing, of swimming against the current. But I am fortunate enough to have people around me that remind me of the true meaning of life. Work is not the end all be all. Life is meant to be lived, enjoyed with others, celebrated with loved ones, and cherished by the second. Small moments of stillness and time in nature have brought me back to this eternal truth.
I hope you enjoy today’s newsletter.
We are the stories we tell ourselves.
Joan Didion (1934-2021)
✏️ Trusting My Future Self
I am learning to trust my future self. I am learning to trust the process, to believe in direction, and trajectory, and the kindness of others. Relying on the abstract has always been hard for me. I like to think myself a realist: what exists now is what is real, and what is real is what decisions should be based on. However, one must learn to trust, to walk into the unknown with nothing but his wits about him, and believe that everything will be okay. I wonder if I am alone in my endless extrapolation and edge-case testing. I don’t think I am. I am learning to trust my future self, and really, truly believe that everything is going to work out just fine. Even better than I could have calculated.
💡 Food for Thought
qui totum vult totum perdit — he who wants everything loses everything
🔗 Sunday Best
Putting Ideas Into Words
An Essay by Paul Graham
Ideas can feel complete. It's only when you try to put them into words that you discover they're not. So if you never subject your ideas to that test, you'll not only never have fully formed ideas, but also never realize it.
Putting ideas into words is certainly no guarantee that they'll be right. Far from it. But though it's not a sufficient condition, it is a necessary one.
Bible Commentaries by Sir Issac Newton
On the Bible:
"I have a fundamental belief in the Bible as the Word of God, written by men who were inspired. I study the Bible daily."On atheism:
"Atheism is so senseless. When I look at the solar system. I see the earth at the right distance from the sun to receive the proper amounts of heat and light. This did not happen by chance."
Bringing Joy to Your Writing Practice
A Talk at the Bennington Writing Seminars Commencement Address on June 11, 2022.
I only want to remind you of the perilous conditions under which we all live. Still, I am not ashamed to take what joy I can in writing, it is neither a little joy nor a small solice, it is enormous. Whether one celebrates or laments, it is a joy to engage in, and then pass on, such an ancient tradition. My advice to you is to sit down, look out the window, and go to work. Through a small hole in a high fence you are offering a gift to a stranger.
But luxury has never appealed to me, I like simple things, books, being alone, or with somebody who understands.
—Daphne du Maurier (1907-1989)
Thanks for coming!
AT