How to Like Everything More

Become an amateur synesthete

I am not synesthetic like Daniel Tammet, who immediately knows that the number 7 is purple and out to kill him, or whatever. But I know that Dylan Thomas’ poetry reminds me of creosote bushes, that this song is the temperature of warm bathwater, that many Rothkos emit simmering fury. I am making this up, but it doesn’t ... See more

Move your attention beyond the part that you immediately focused on. This is especially easy and helpful with music—Visions of Johanna and You Oughta Know both feature spectacular bass parts that you might under-notice if you’re focusing on the attention-grabbing lead vocal

Absorb or create a critical vocabulary

If you don’t have any vocabulary for a medium, then the film or song or dish simply appears as a blur of impressions, it’s hard to draw lines and isolate the particular areas and causes of enjoyment. So, having a better vocabulary for a given medium doesn’t just make you sound smart, it increases the resolutio... See more

Find another register of enjoyment

Life is so dull if it’s just “like” or “dislike.” Maybe the movie is riveting but you still hate it. Can you find “begrudging enjoyment?” You simply do not understand the outfit of that kid on the subway. Can you locate “would be compelling to someone who is not me”? How do you feel about the song that represents ... See more