There is much more to living than owning things.
Connecting deeply with other humans. Travel and exploration. The expansion of your mind through learning and practicing new skills. Being, truly being, where you are.
No one was ever who they were truly meant to be because of what they owned; rather, it was by what they did.
It’s hard for me to admit, but as a performer, I’m often not all that different from other performers I’m working with when it comes to talent. Occasionally, I’m the least talented one there.
Thing is, that rarely matters. What helps me is I come in with a positive attitude and a good work ethic. In most situations, as long as you can perform the basic minimum tasks, that’s all you need to keep the job. To stay, and even to get asked to do more, get promoted, or offered more pay. As long as your a pleasure to work with.
The world is full of people who can do the same work you can. Sometimes cheaper, sometimes faster, and sometimes better. But if others like working with you, that means more for your career than anything else you can do.
In Neil Gaiman’s Make Good Art speech, he says the three things that keep people working are: 1) their work is good; 2) and because they are easy to get along with; 3) and because they deliver the work on time.
“…And you don’t even need all three. Two out of three is fine.”
Reading: The Modern Minimalist Budget by Brian Night. When I first acquired this book on Kindle, who knows how long ago now, it was simply The Modern Minimalist. Adding Budget to the title may have helped him sell more copies, but I don’t know. Anyway, just a collection of little pointers on how to live with less, something I struggle through each and every week.
Listening/Watching: How the Economic Machine Works, by Ray Dalio. This thirty-minute presentation from a master of finance and business is helpful on a number of levels, and I’ve enjoyed and learned from this immensely. If you’re ever left wondering when a news anchor mentions something intangible about the economy, this provides a great primer.
Doing: Catching up. Over the past two to three months I’ve let a lot pile up that I need to get done. So I broke out my copy of Getting Things Done by David Allen, and began dorting my loops. Collecting items in the inbox can be fun, but seeing the full inbox(es) and knowing that I’ll have to process them… not so much.
Sharing:
I didn’t know him. I wasn’t familiar with his work, nor did I know I should be.
I first became aware of James A. Michener during a Twitter Q & A session with another author, discussing Thurber’s The 13 Clocks. Neil Gaiman had said that James Thurber’s book for children was quite possibly his favorite, and was then asked what would be second.
His response was Michener’s Poland. Being Polish myself, I looked this up straight away. Poland is a sweeping novel, spanning 700 pages. And despite my browsings at the library and used book stores, I’ve yet to come across a copy. (I did find it on Amazon, obviously, but I’ve not made the purchase.)
As I’ve been reading Wild, Cheryl Strayed’s account of traversing sections of the Pacific Crest Trail on a three-month through-hike, she mentioned both her mother’s love of Michener novels, as well as reading The Novel on her trek, one of Michener’s books. Again I’m amazed at the interconnectedness of it all – that I can go so long without a hint of one author, only to have him pop up in two very interesting places.
As a preparation, I’ve purchased Alaska on Audible, another of Michener’s epic tales. At 57 hours, I’m sure that I’ll be listening to this for quite some time.
“Articles fade after a week; people keep books.”
– Adam Grant
There’s a rich history work that is available, on every conceivable topic, and in many different forms. But what is it about Plato that holds up so universally, whereas some authors who wrote merely fifty years ago are all but forgotten? Or why do some books stay in a personal library for life?
What writing is it that matters? Where do we go to drink from the well that never runs dry?
My favorite authors include Seth Godin, Neil Gaiman, and recently John McPhee, Alan Watts, and Mark Adams. I struggled through Kerouac’s On the Road, but I greatly enjoy reading his poetry.
And of course, there are others. And I’ll keep buying books, reading what I can, and scribbling along on here and in my notebooks as I do. Will this writing matter in 100 years? Honestly, no. But someone’s writing will, and that means something.
I feel strongly about many things in the political arena, while at the same time I won’t espouse my opinions because, well, they are just my opinions. While opinions are valid, when considering the fate of more than just myself, it’s important to base decisions (and talking points) with a focus on facts over beliefs.
That said, I want to take this year and post at least once a week on the nature of politics. On two-party systems, and fair wages. On immigration, Amendment 2, and all the amendments. On Constitutional rights, the judicial system and criminal justice, and on politicians.
I’ve no idea what this will look like, but I know that I want to say some things that maybe I wouldn’t otherwise. And, it seems to make the most sense that I’d write it out here.
As always, it’s work in progress. It’s part of an overhaul I’ve been planning for months, and it’s only one facet. Because we are, at our cores, experimental creatures.
Increasing output by decreasing inputs may seem contradictory. But if you read yesterday’s post, you’d know that given diminishing returns we may already be reducing our potential productivity. In nearly every case, we are. We lump so much into our lives that it’s impossible to create as we should be creating. Barely getting enough done.
So, if our productivity suffers from too many inputs, we must reduce them to reach peak productivity. Hence entire movements on time management and minimalism.
Maybe peak productivity isn’t the goal. Maybe it’s a simpler life. Or fewer bills, less stress, less to clean. Maybe it’s just the search for more happiness.
Whatever it is, it can’t be found by throwing more and more at it. It’s better to try and remove one or two things at a time until you can find some breathing room.
“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
How easy is it to get lost in the minutiae of having so much? So many emails, or obligations, or *gasp* books to read.
You would think that the more inputs we put into our life, the more product we should have to offer. In economics, the downward side of that bell curve is an example of the Law of Diminishing Returns. “Advantages gained from slight improvement on the input side of the production equation will only advance marginally per unit and may level off or even decrease after a specific point.”
And it seems that we all run in the mode of diminishing marginal productivity. We don’t realize it, but we constantly reach input overload, causing our productivity to level off, or even decrease.
So where is that sweet spot? The point on the graph where you’re at optimal performance, not wasting any input while maximizing your output?
Finding it may be impossible, but we can try to get as close as we can.
Another week has come to an end, and before you know it the first month of 2020 will be over. New Year not so new anymore? I understand. But here’s what I’ve come across this week.
Reading: Wild by Cheryl Strayed. I’m about half-way through, so it should get wrapped up, maybe this weekend. There’s a familiarity I feel when reading this. I’ve only done one solo hike – the Wicklow Way just south of Dublin – and that was mostly accidental. Much like how Strayed went from concept to hike in, I believe, six months. Becoming found by getting lost is a concept I think many, perhaps all of us are familiar with.
Listening: Let the Games Begin by Aloe Blacc. I heard this playing recently, and it ear-wormed itself into my head so I had to track it down. It’s uplifting while at the same time being catchy. I hadn’t really listened to Aloe Blacc since 2010 and his Good Things album.
Spending time: Watching a lot of Jeopardy. I’ve taken the test twice – once in 2016, and again last year. Neither time I was satisfied with my performance, and, since I’ve not been called by the show’s producers, I’m guessing they weren’t either. But I’ll try again next week, and testing is January 28-30.
Sharing:
It’s always a distant reminder of what we’re not. We can strive to reach it. Yet, when we arrive where we swore it was, it’s suddenly moved farther on. Perfection is not something we can ever attain, because we are our own harshest critics.
There is a benefit to using perfection as a guidepost, because we can make improvements in those areas that we push forward.
It can also be a setback when we’re focused on the perfection, rather than on incremental improvements – always comparing ourselves to what we’ll never be.
As the old maxim says, “It’s the journey that matters, not the destination.”
Michael's Musings 