words

Do it now. The conditions are always impossible

—Doris Lessing

Adulthood is disappointing for many because it doesn’t take place in the same era we were children in. 90s children imagined their adulthood taking place in a 90s-like society where the rules remained unchanged.

Our eyes see 0.05% of the entire electromagnetic wave... *We*'*re blind cosmically*, but we judge everything by what we see.

“(…) being the boldest version of yourself on the page is the real goal. Being as true to your own interests and obsessions, as attentive to the details that matter to you. That’s a far worthier pursuit than being the best.”

## A list of activities reclaiming practices of sustained attention 

*	Read a book
*	Listen to an album beginning to end without skipping a song.
*	Watch a very long and boring film but watch it nevertheless.
*	Cook something that takes a lot of time.
*	Stick tiny pieces of paper onto a big canvas.
*	Listen to people speak without interrupting or changing the subject.
*	Stare at white walls and let your brain digest all the input you and the world bombard it with.
*	Wait with awareness.
*	Be bored and aim to stay bored.

The best form of resistance if you need one is not 'doing nothing', but doing 'something' you find so boring and you stick to nevertheless because despite the temptation to scroll and switch to something new, you sit with that boring thing up to the point of going mad. While you resist you are practicing forms of sustained attention. Hold a plank for 2 seconds and tomorrow you can hold it for 4. It's the same. The kind of attention where wonderment and ideas live. Great job for reading this text up to this point. Well done! 

What ever happened to contemplation?

Spaces where phones aren't allowed:

\- Any restaurant

\- While talking with a human being

\- When smoking weed

\- On a hike (pictures only when absolutely necessary)

\- After 11PM

\- Before 9AM

\- In class

\- When taking a walk

Wabi-sabi is about taking pleasure in the imperfect. it acknowledges three simple realities: “nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect."

If you see beauty in something, don't wait for others to agree.

You have to be curious about the world in which you live. Look things up. Chase down every reference. Go deeper than anybody else - that's how you'll get ahead.


(p. 19) Kleon, A. (2012). Steal Like An Artist.

“When you love someone, you can’t just tell them,” she said. “What do you mean?” her friend asked.

“If you say ‘I love you’, how are they supposed to understand? It’s like trying to comprehend the universe.

You have to show them quietly. A coffee. An extra day off. Room to stand under the same umbrella.

Take the universe apart and give them the stars.”