Greetings everyone,
Happy Sunday!
Alex
It is in the character of very few men to honour without envy a friend who has prospered.
—Aeschylus
✏️ Choosing your one thing
The man who, working honestly, gains a sufficiency, falls into the greater fault of ambition and works too hard to climb higher.
Bertrand Russell, In Praise of Idleness
You can have anything you want in life if you only choose one thing. They say when you choose one thing to pursue, the universe begins to align in your favour. The problem is what thing to choose.
It took time to find my passions, and build the courage to chase them. One will always be at the mercy of other’s opinions: once you get over that, life truly begins. Using your passions to keep the lights on is an entirely different challenge. I was most in alignment last year when I was living in France. I had challenging projects that excited me. I had work that paid me to do what I was passionate about. I had a fulfilling personal life and a thriving spiritual life. I was travelling the world. Sure, it was not sustainable, but it showed me what was possible: if I can get this lucky once, I can get this lucky again.
At this current stage in my life, there are many challenges and tribulations. I finally have attained [pseudo] self-sufficiency — which comes with its own challenges. There are new demands at work and at school. These are blessings. Discomfort is good — all seasons of growth contain an element of discomfort. But as I look forward to the next 3-5 years, and imagine what I dream of in contrast to where it seems I’m headed, there is a bit of dissonance. I love to work, but I also have an appreciation for idleness, particularly the mental breathing room it provides. I am the type of person to take my work with me everywhere I go — I’m still figuring out how to manage that. I also still have dreams — life will pass you by if you let it, and my life is happening to me quickly. Before I die I want to experience more ways of life, see the natural wonders of the world, write books, learn new instruments. At 27, I’m running out of time to do all these things. If not now, then when?
I think the sculpting of my ideal life will involve creating a sustainable replica of my life in France. Stimulating intellectual work, financial security, and time freedom, in a climate of leisure (the French are great at that) with an evolving family life. Grounded in the hereafter. I’m sure it’s possible — but that’s more than one thing. Do I have to choose one?
ars celare artem
art [is] to conceal art
💡 Food for Thought
Faith and imagination are integral for the creation of new things and new worlds.
🔗 Sunday Best
Credentials don’t matter
Smart people — capable people — don’t let themselves be pigeonholed into one definition. That is a disease of credentialism.
The nature of creativity: The roles of genetic factors, personality traits, cognitive abilities, and environmental sources
Citation: Kandler, Christian et al. “The nature of creativity: The roles of genetic factors, personality traits, cognitive abilities, and environmental sources.” Journal of personality and social psychology vol. 111,2 (2016): 230-49.
Confirmatory factor analyses yielded the expected 2 correlated aspects of creativity. Perceived creativity showed links to openness to experience and extraversion, whereas tested figural creativity was associated with intelligence and also with openness. Multivariate behavioral genetic analyses indicated that the heritability of tested figural creativity could be accounted for by the genetic component of intelligence and openness, whereas a substantial genetic component in perceived creativity could not be explained. A primary source of individual differences in creativity was due to environmental influences, even after controlling for random error and method variance. The findings are discussed in terms of the multifaceted nature and construct validity of creativity as an individual characteristic.
Levan Saginashvili vs Ermes Gasparini
A battle of titans. Hoping Devan can defeat him later this month.
There is no end to education. It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and finish with education. The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning.
—Jiddu Krishnamurti
See you next week.
AT