how to be

by Erikc Perez-Perez and · updated 4mo ago

Get a life. A real life, not a manic pursuit of the next promotion, the bigger paycheck, the larger house. Do you think you'd care so very much about those things if you blew an aneurysm one afternoon, or found a lump in your breast? Get a life in which you notice the smell of salt water pushing itself on a breeze over Seaside Heights, a life in w
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from Anna Quindlen's Commencement Address at Villanova by Anna Quindlen
sari added 1y ago
I will say leave a good quarter of the time for feast and celebration or your soul will die.

Francois Monnet, IN CONTEXT, No. 1
from Ritual is Essential by Dolores LaChapelle
Erikc Perez-Perez added 1y ago
This disconnect between culturally mandated politics and the actual demonstrated preferences of most Americans has created an enormous reserve of unmet needs—and a generational opportunity. Build new things! Create great art! Understand and accept that sensory information is the brain’s food, and that Silicon Valley is systematically starving us of... See more
Alara added 1y ago
“In the end, people don't view their life as merely the average of all its moments—which, after all, is mostly nothing much plus some sleep. For human beings, life is meaningful because it is a story. A story has a sense of a whole, and its arc is determined by the significant moments, the ones where something happens. Measurements of people's minu... See more
from Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
James Stevens added 1y ago
This is purely my opinion, but if you want to express yourself as freely as you can, it’s probably best not to start out by asking “What am I seeking?” Rather, it’s better to ask “Who would I be if I weren’t seeking anything?” and then try to visualise that aspect of yourself. Asking “What am I seeking?” invariably leads you to ponder heavy issues.... See more
from ‘I want to open a window in their souls’: Haruki Murakami on the power of writing simply
phoebe added 1y ago
learning how to write was very much like learning how to live: it all begins by listening to your inner voice and honoring it.

Living is as much a craft as is writing. There are rules and frameworks one can follow, but ultimately, one must define and cultivate one’s own style.
from Surrender control over your stories by Ashley Zhang
sari added 1y ago
“Basically, when you get to my age, you’ll really measure your success in life by how many of the people you want to have love you actually do love you. I know people who have a lot of money, and they get testimonial dinners and they get hospital wings named after them. But the truth is that nobody in the world loves them. If you get to my age in l... See more
from Smart Things I’ve Read Lately by Collab Fund
James Stevens added 1y ago
I’d like to keep my family together and raise my boys into adults who are “publicly useful and privately happy.” Anything else is gravy.
James Stevens added 1y ago
“If you can see a thing whole,” he said, “it seems that it’s always beautiful. Planets, lives … But close up, a world’s all dirt and rocks. And day to day, life’s a hard job, you get tired, you lose the pattern. You need distance, interval. The way to see how beautiful earth is, is to see it from the moon. The way to see how beautiful life is, is f... See more
James Stevens added 1y ago

from Anna Quindlen's Commencement Address at Villanova by Anna Quindlen

from Ritual is Essential by Dolores LaChapelle

from Being Mortal by Atul Gawande

from ‘I want to open a window in their souls’: Haruki Murakami on the power of writing simply

from Surrender control over your stories by Ashley Zhang

from Smart Things I’ve Read Lately by Collab Fund