Time Capsule #181
A mind on fire.
Greetings,
Please find some ruminations on the creative life, and an old biography, below.
Don’t become a mere recorder of facts, but try to penetrate the mystery of their origin.
—Ivan Pavlov
✏️ On the necessity of a creativity
I heard the following quote some years ago:
If you’re doing something that’s truly yours, you care very deeply, so you can’t turn it off. And that’s the curse of the entrepreneur. But the benefit of the entrepreneur is that if you’re doing it right, if you’re doing it for the right reasons or the right people in the right way, and if you can set aside the stress of not hitting your goals, which is real and hard to set aside, then it doesn’t feel like work.
And that’s when you’re most productive. You are basically only measured on your output. And you’re only held up to the bar that you raised for yourself. So it can be extremely exhilarating and freeing. And this is why I said a long time ago that a taste of freedom can make you unemployable.
Naval Ravikant
I can see how many people slip into a life of monotony and routine. The responsible man has more obligations than he can attend to or knows what to do with, and in such conditions obligations rightfully take priority.
But for the creative individual such an accidental and unintentional way of living, however necessary it may be, can lead to the dark forest. For them creative expression is their lifeblood: it is like Herbert’s spice, providing the energy and impetus and that connection with nature not found on Netflix or in the company of others. For a creative individual, not having the freedom to be creative is as painful as surgery without anesthesia. I am sure many have faced a real and mutually exclusive decision between their livelihood or their soul — this is the challenge when passion and pragmatism do not align.
But I do believe that if one prays, God provides. And I believe that human creativity and all that comes with it — emotional connection, divine representation, personal fulfillment — will demand an increasingly high price, both monetarily and humanly, in a world that is evermore artificial. We love great actors and authors and artists because they represent the best parts of us, as individuals and as a species. I believe it is worthwhile and realistic to hope and strive for a creative life, as one both fulfilling and successful.
People do not realize just how much they are putting at risk when they don’t accept what life presents them with, the questions and tasks that life set them […] if we do not accept our own destiny, a different kind of suffering takes place: a neurosis develops, and I believe that life is not as bad as a neurosis. If I have to suffer, then let it be from my reality.
Carl Jung (Reflections on the Life and Dreams of CG Jung)
Deus vult.
God wills it.
💡 Food for Thought
After the game, the king and the pawn go into the same box. (Italian Proverb)
🔗 Sunday Best
Life of Joseph Brant—Thayendanegea (1838) — William Stone
To my fellow inhabitants of Ontario and travellers of Brant St, this biography of its namesake brings to life the story of one of North Americas most distinguished and important individuals.
Read for the history or the prose, both are excellent.
Of the early youth of Joseph, there are no accounts, other than that he was very young when first upon the war-path. In one of the authorities to which reference has already been made, it is stated, that having attained the age of thirteen years, he joined the warriors of his tribe under Sir William Johnson, and was present at the memorable battle of Lake George, in which the French were defeated, and their commander, the Baron Dieskau, mortally wounded. The Mohawks were led into action by their celebrated king, the brave old Hendrick, who was slain.
Respect yourself and others will respect you.
—Confucius
Yours Truly,
AT