Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec

Feb 2
It is not a privilege to have what you earned but to have been supported in the process of earning it.

Feb 3
All innovation requires that something first be invented.

Step 1: Make it.

Step 2: Make it better.

Step 3: Ship it, and start something new.

Feb 4
The Utility of Narrative

Create stories for the purpose of exploring or communicating an idea. I have no interest in stories made for pure entertainment.

• That’s why I’m drawn to short stories and novellas over novels. It’s a beautiful, wonderful thing to build a world and to visit that in your imagination. But I’d rather explore my own dreams.
• Short stories have a theme. They are economical; everything builds to an idea.
• That’s why I love psychological thrillers. They critique a part of us, draw it out and make it the center of a drama. (Get Out, Silence of the Lambs, Parasite, The Menu)

At the same time, I have no interest in reading about an idea that I can’t feel, that I have no hope of embodying. Rational arguments should be grounded in feeling, in narrative. And narratives should serve their concepts, transcended by their implications (not confined to their fantasies).

Feb 7
Autonomy Is

• My #1 value
• Freedom + Responsibility
• Must be both independent and automatic
• Harmony among the Light and Heavy

Feb 8
On Humanity’s Dual Nature

We are never one thing or the other but always two things at once. The primary characteristic of humanity is our dual nature, our inherent duality. It’s at the core of what we all share.

We are the yin and the yang, God’s creation and the fallen man, free to act and subject to the rules of society. We are not bathed in light or cast in darkness, but exist as dawns and dusks. We don’t inhabit Heaven or Hell, but Earth. We are not either free or fated, but both — always.

Feb 10
If you were in the midst of a plane crash and the person next to you was sound asleep, would you wake him?

Do you have an obligation to alert the man of his impending death? Or is it immoral to break his blissful ignorance?

The prettiness of your prose means nothing if the contents of your ideas aren’t worth unwrapping.

(From a WOP Daily Email)

Make your writing more than pretty paper and a bow. Give design and purpose to your writing. Fill your prose with content that makes people learn something new or question something they know.

Next time you revise your writing, make sure to look past its packaging. Examine the contents. Check how well the design works, and then make it better before sharing it with the world.

Feb 13
“Travel” means making an itinerary. It’s about leaving here and arriving somewhere.

“Adventure” means inviting uncertainty. It’s about being here and being ready to go anywhere.

It’s best to be both. Happy at home and adventurous abroad.

Feb 14
It’s impossible to make eye contact with someone when on a video call. It’s the greatest loss of remote work.

Feb 15
The adventurer lives with vitality. The traveler constantly seeks novelty.

We all have a shared responsibility for the agreements we have with each other.

[Social Accountability]

You can either see life as a series of mistakes or as one long learning process.

When I delude myself, I elude my Self.

It’s funny how far “certainty” catapults us from the truth.

Feb 18
In any given moment, you can only either focus on how you’re being perceived or on perceiving people.

• Being in your head vs. in your body
• Awareness vs. insecurity

Life is a series of seasons, and staying in any one season is stagnation.

The stagnant are sunburned or frostbitten and endure more misery for fearing the fall and spring.

Steer toward the solstice. Train yourself in transition.

Feb 19
Stoicism is often misunderstood — conflated with the adjective “stoic,” which is used colloquially as “unfeeling.” Stoic philosophy is not about avoiding feelings but about accepting that which is out of your control. Stoicism is about feeling and then either acting (if you can influence the situation) or accepting (if you have done all you can and are faced with certain external events).

Feb 20
Religion presents the world as a dichotomy — black and white. Philosophy explores the world’s dualities — all the grey.

It’s the difference between dogma and speculation/skepticism.

Feb 21
Conversation Culture

An analysis of how we try and fail to communicate — and why conversation is a craft as worthy of mastery, as any fine art

Feb 27
When you meet people on the road, their first question is never “What do you do for work?”. In a nomadic setting, everyone is aware of how little time you we have with one another, so they ask questions to learn who you are, not to learn what you do.

When we recognize how fleeting our moments are, we focus more on what matters. We prioritize connection and understanding over finding commonalities.

How I knew I was an editor: reading books about writing and deciding to create my own style guide.