On becoming

To make a meaningful identity change, I learned, you must first have a clear vision for the person you want to become. Then, you have to feel so desirous and magnetized toward that vision that it acts as a counterweight to the gravitational pull of your current self and circumstances.

To be clear: You don’t have to change your entire identity to be... See more

you have to have a big reason to care about your life in its totality. Constructing the good life is an individual affair. Personal peace is not delivered via prescription. For me, marriage was this focusing event. For you, it can be anything. What really matters is that you are willing to do the hard work of being more.

“I think about decisions in three ways: hats, haircuts, and tattoos.

Most decisions are like hats. Try one and if you don’t like it, put it back and try another. The cost of a mistake is low, so move quickly and try a bunch of hats.

Some decisions are like haircuts. You can fix a bad one, but it won’t be quick and you might feel foolish for awhile. T... See more

Fast learns, slow remembers. Fast proposes, slow disposes. Fast is discontinuous, slow is continuous. Fast and small instructs slow and big by accrued innovation and by occasional revolution. Slow and big controls small and fast by constraint and constancy. Fast gets all our attention, slow has all the power.

I aspire to live consciously, to follow my own inherent energy, to help other human beings, and to immerse myself fully in the present moment.

In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more me... See more

Optimism matters. Ideas matter. But yelling “Be more optimistic!” while pointing furiously at the things happening at the top layer misses some important context that I think an appreciation for the other layers can help fill in.

Nothing is black and white. There are layers to this shit. The stronger our base, the faster we can accelerate.

We’re in... See more