Thought provoking
In his 2012 essay, “More people should write,” writer and programmer James Somers described this process as creating a mental bucket for an idea, thereby unleashing a magnetic force between that idea and the world:
When I have a piece of writing in mind, what I have, in fact, is a mental bucket: an attractor for and generator of thought. It’s like a thematic gravity well, a magnet for what would otherwise be a mess of iron filings. I’ll read books differently and listen differently in conversations. In particular, I’ll remember everything better; everything will mean more to me. That’s because everything I perceive will unconsciously engage on its way in with the substance of my preoccupation. A preoccupation, in that sense, is a hell of a useful thing for a mind.
Once you’ve discovered the right mental buckets, or containers, for your creative work, it’s time to maximize the potential for unexpected connections. But to surface those connections, you also need the right tools.
Reaching our boundaries is not the same as limiting our growth. Sometimes we find our edges and an amazing thing happens; capacity is rebuilt, old wounds are healed and we grow further and more beautifully than before. The process is analogous to mineral growth in rock. Without a surface and a set of containing edges, minerals that we prize for... See more
Donald Winnicott • Article
"Never sacrifice momentum. I might know a better path, but if we've got a lot of momentum, if everyone's united and they're marching together and the path is O.K., just go with the flow. I may eventually nudge them down a new path, but never stop the troops mid march."
Source: Learn to Love... See more
3-2-1: On acting with confidence, the different types of age, and the importance of momentum
Let's break this down.
There are two important components here:
1.) The distinction of composure , and
2.) Measurement as an improvement mechanism.
Composure is straightforward enough: it’s the extent to which someone is in control of their behavior.
If we get swept away by our emotions or impulses, we have low... See more
On Composure
Interesting concept from hte Better Questions Newsletter
This is known as an inverted-U curve:
In their paper, Too Much of a Good Thing, the psychologists Adam Grant and Barry Schwartz reveal the inverted-U-shaped relationship between nearly everything of consequence. Rooted in the ancient philosopher Aristotle’s famous concept of “the golden mean”—“happiness and success are a... See more
SIX at 6: The Inverted-U, Killing Pleasure, The Goldilocks Zone, Too Much Cake, Immigrants To Wealth, and Enough
Billy Oppenheimer