by Owen | Feb 3, 2020 | 2019-2020, Weekend Reflections
What I’m Reading: The Moviegoer by Walker Percy
It took multiple approaches for me to finally get through this one. The novel focuses on the life of Binx Bolling, a near 30-year-old stockbroker living in New Orleans. As with most classic novels of the time, our character is confronting his drab world and conducting a “search,” presumably we think for deep philosophical answers. Unlike most books of this genre, however, there are no quests, dramatic episodes. Just the chronicles of Binx’s normal life, meaningless days at the office, and almost too-normal relationships with family and flings. At first, it was this extreme normality that pushed me away from the book. But, it turned out to be its charm. Of all of the novels I have read, it is perhaps the most reasonable in its philosophy, and therefore, the one we might be able to learn from most.
What I‘m Experimenting With: Chunking
As opposed to “sprinkling,” “chunking” is a method of dividing up your time into large chunks typically multiple hours or a whole day, wholly focused on one activity or project. Between, classes, career, creative projects and personal time, I was struggling to focus on anything at one and jumped from thing to thing throughout the day. The consequence was that I really wasn’t making a lot of headway and I always had too much going on at once. Given, that I am only now in classes two days a week. I decided to double down on those days, doing any and all work related to college in my free time. It was an amazing change. By finishing any and all mandatory class work on those days, I have given myself the freedom to focus on my creative projects or personal time on the other five. The risk, of course, is that two days is not enough. But, even giving myself that edge and freedom of mind have been extremely useful.
A Quote I’m Thinking About:
“The search is what anyone would undertake if he were not sunk in the everydayness of his own life. To become aware of the search is to be onto something. Not to be onto something is to be in despair.”
– Walker Percy, The Moviegoer
by Owen | Jan 27, 2020 | 2019-2020, Weekend Reflections
What I’m Reading: The Complete Essays of Michel de Montaigne
Montaigne’s collection has sat on my to-be-read list for some time now. Consisting of over 100 personal essays, across three books, it’s not your typical daily read. Thirteen hundred pages of 16th-century french philosophical musings are intimidating in idea alone. Of course, my fear washed away the moment I read the introduction, and Montaigne’s detrimental humor hit me square across the jaw. “I myself am the subject of my book: it is not reasonable that you should employ your leisure on a topic so frivolous and vain. Therefore, Farewell.” Against his recommendation, I read ahead, and I now look forward to every entry. The pages of his essays contain brilliant thoughts and confrontations only possible in the deepest moments of self-reflection. At the very least, we can look to Montaigne as a model for this practice, if not as a great source of reflections of our own.
What I Wasn’t Expecting: To Enjoy ALL Of My Classes
There’s always one dud every year. The one class you slog through and hope the tests are simple enough that you can pick up what you need from Quizlet the night before. Maybe I’m jumping the gun, but it seems like for the first time in 17 years of school, that class doesn’t exist. Last week I committed to being more involved in formal education. Perhaps this is a payoff, though I doubt it. Maybe, against all sense, the idea that these classes will be my last has put me in a unique position to enjoy them for once. Whatever the reason, I’m happy to ride it out, enjoying what I can until its time to move on or the rug gets pulled out from under me.
A Quote I’m Thinking About:
If each man, on hearing a wise maxim, immediately looked to see how it properly applied to him, he would find that it was not so much a pithy saying as a whiplash applied to the habitual stupidity of his faculty and judegment.
-Montaigne
Action and practice are they key.
by Owen | Jan 19, 2020 | 2019-2020, Weekend Reflections
What I’m Reading: The Big Short by Michael Lewis
Stop 2 on my exploration of Lewis’ work is The Big Short. When I first saw the film version, I was absolutely struck by the characters. Now that I’m reading the source material, it’s clear to see how Lewis’ depiction became the anchor the movie was built on. For those unfamiliar, The Big Short focuses on the observant and daring few who discovered and profited from the housing market crash of 2008. Through the lens of these characters, Lewis can string a narrative that terrifies and informs readers, meanwhile damming the ignorance and greed of the financial institutions that lead us, blindly, into the crisis. If the complexity of the real estate market seems like a tough entry point, don’t worry. Lewis does well in keeping the reader on track, giving them all the information they need to keep up in the story of these characters. I highly recommend this book if you have even a passing interest in the movie or learning more about the 2008 crisis.
What I Accomplished: Putting Up This Website, Unfinished
I was nervous about making this website live. It’s far from done, and there’s still a lot I’d like to figure out. In the end, however, I found myself spending more and more of my free time working on the website and than drafting the pieces for the site (hopefully to be up soon). Some call this “Insecurity work,” the work before the real work. The work that never ends. It’s a dangerous trap of creativity. With this in mind, I decided the website was ready enough and decided to get back to the work I really enjoy. The rest will come with time.
What I’m Struggling With: Giving It a Fair Shot
This week I’m back for my final semester of college, and as with every other student coming back from their holidays, I’m getting a bit tired of it. Though perhaps its a little more justified this time around. For me, I figured out how the system worked a long time ago, and since then, I’ve more or less coasted on it, focusing on what I deemed essential and checking the boxes on the rest. The downside, however, is that once you understand how to game it all, you stop paying attention. Now, however, at the end of my formal education, I realize that maybe it deserves a fair shot. I’m not claiming that formal education is the best it could be, or that I’ve destroyed my education, I have plenty of issues with the system. But I also haven’t done myself any favors in closing myself off from it. Taking my education into my own hands with reading and personal study has made me realize that the best lessons are found in the most unexpected places. Sometimes entirely unintended. By closing myself off from classes, assuming I didn’t need them, or worse thinking I was above them, ignored this fact. So, for the first time in a long time, I’m attempting to give my classes a fair shot, swallow my pride, and see if anything’s there. Maybe I will have been right all along, and I will just have proven it to myself. Or perhaps I’ll find something new to share. I guess I’ll have to open up and see.
A Quote I’m Thinking About:
“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” – Shakespeare Hamlet II.ii
I’ve been involved with Hamlet more ways and times than I can count. Until now, this line had never been more than a point of analysis in class. But now, after a deep dive into philosophy, I can’t seem to get it out of my head. More and more, this encompasses what I want to see from myself, what I am working towards. This idea of equanimity is perhaps the loftiest goal we can all strive for.
Gut-wrenching and beautiful with just the right amount of humor. Gerald has an incredible way of connecting you with his story, stringing you into his life of beliefs as if you had always had them yourself. The sentiment, though rooted in loss and darkness, has stayed with me. I think Gerald, in his idea od humble doubt, has found the words to say something that I have struggled to put together for a long time.
by Owen | Jan 17, 2020 | 2019-2020, Weekend Reflections
What I’m Reading: Flash Boys by Michael Lewis
As I continue to hone my writing craft, it only makes sense to study the greats. I first found Michael Lewis, like most, through the film version of The Big Short a few years ago. Then, a few weeks ago, I discovered his podcast, Against the Rules. What I love about Lewis is his ability to tell great and complicated stories all through the power of his characters. The connection he creates allows him to make a thriller of the most esoteric, yet entirely important, stories he finds. Flash Boys, through the characters of Brad Katsuyama, Ryan Ronan, and others, takes a look at the loopholes, flaws, and inefficiencies in the US Stock Exchanges that led to the rise of predatory high-frequency traders undercutting the everyday investor. It’s a phenomenal book to begin my studies on Lewis.
What I’m Listening to: Broken Record From Pushkin Industries
It was only a matter of time before I found another Malcolm Gladwell work to make a part of my life. This one, however, was a reluctant partner. As the title suggests, the podcast is all about music, specifically interviews and discussions on major artists and producers. Now, don’t get me wrong I love music, I doubled minored in it, after all, but the deep convictions most people have for their tastes slipped away from me sometime in the last few years. I was wary of how interested I could be in these interviews, but, of course, Gladwell drew me in again. The stories and discoveries to be found in this podcast are amazing. It’s also nice to be listening to something just out of pleasure and the love of a good story.
The Commitment I’m Making: Daily Creative Time
Until recently, my writing has happened in bursts of inspiration or boredom, often one inducing the other. While this has been an excellent forum for myself, if I want to develop as a writer, I need to do just that, write. Therefore, I have decided to institute daily creative time. For now, 2 hours every morning, set aside for the singular purpose of writing and creation. While this doesn’t necessarily generate inspiration, it’s time I start to create a habit of my writing sessions. So far, I’ve enjoyed putting myself out there. The only way I can continue this, and continue to get better at it, is to show up every day and write.
A Quote I’m Thinking About:
“Empathy means challenging your preconceived ideas and setting aside your sense of what your think is true in order to learn what actually is true” – Tom and David Kelley
by Owen | Jan 5, 2020 | 2019-2020, Weekend Reflections
What I’m Reading: Rant by Chuck Palahniuk
This book has been a considerable influence on me since I first read it almost five years ago. The book tells the story of the fictional Buster “Rant” Casey, patient zero for a rabies outbreak of the near future. The real catch, though, is in the structure. A series of excerpts from friends, family, and enemies, each with their perspective and style, construct the story through oral biography. You can count on it that it’s filled with contradictions, wild theories, and dark suggestions. This book has taught me an incredible amount in the way of storytelling and structure.
What I Accomplished: 200 Days of Morning Pages
I wrote about the practice of Morning Pages in a previous roundup. You can learn more about it from its creator here. I can quickly point to it as one of the foundations of my day. I highly recommend it for those looking to develop positive morning habits, especially for creators.
What I’m Committing To: A Week Away From Excercise
I’ve been going to the gym or doing some physical exertion an average of five days a week for almost eight months now. It’s been a fantastic turn around after nearly a year of no exercise at all. But my ambition is catching up with me. As much as I hate to admit it, I could give myself a break. Like most people who make exercise a considerable habit, it’s a tough one to stop forcibly. But it’s important to know when it’s time and to give yourself a break. And it’s a good practice to live on the other side for a while.
A Quote I’m Thinking About:
“If someone took traffic signals personally we would judge them insane. Yet this is exactly what life is doing to us. It tells us to come to a stop here.” – Ryan Holiday
by Owen | Dec 29, 2019 | 2019-2020, Weekend Reflections
What I’m Reading: On Writing Well by William Zinsser
I approached this book with a lot of fear. I, an untrained hobby writer, have so much to learn about the craft that any entry point seemed intimidating. Especially in approaching a book focused exclusively on writing nonfiction. That had to be a slog. But I was utterly wrong on every account. This book is a godsend for my craft, and I can’t get enough of it. Zinsser has the incredible ability to both teach and live his lessons all at the same time. The book feels as if we are in the classroom with him. Even in the throes of discussing proper usage and punctuation, Zinsser’s wit comes up to strike you as if out of nowhere. I’ve already filled the book with notes, and I will be returning to it time and time again.
What I’m Listening To: Against the Rules with Michael Lewis
I’ve finally found a podcast to fill the hole that Revisionist History left behind. Perhaps unsurprisingly, that podcast also comes from Pushkin Industries. Michael Lewis, the author of books, like Moneyball and The Big Short, uses his new podcasting platform to take a closer look at the decline and state of the “referees” in American life, from government organizations, sports, legislation, mediation and more. I’ll be sad to finish this one in the coming days. I’m counting down until future seasons from Pushkin.
What I’ve Accomplished: The Resolution Series
One of the big goals I set for myself this month was to put out an article every week. It took shape as a series of posts or articles I wrote about my approach to habit development and concept. It’s a topic I have a lot of thoughts on and with new years resolutions looming, I thought it a good a place as any to start. While I’m not entirely happy with how everything turned out, the project did what I intended. It forced me to write. More importantly, it allowed me to experiment with longer-form writing and find a sense of style and structure in each of those posts. I was sure I wouldn’t be able to get anything written each week, but eventually, it would come to fruition. They aren’t perfect, or even well-done, but I got something down, and that’s what matters. At least for now. I’m excited to see what other pieces I will write in the coming weeks.
