Being quiet and slowly building mastery and expertise doesn’t pay off much at first. So many creatives must make a calculation: Do I want the short term, could-go-viral-at-any-second thrill of being a vocal expert in my field? Or am I more content playing the long game? More people are incentivized to choose the former — and it’s getting crowded in here.
This is closely related to the bit the other day from Offerman. In fact, it’s closely related to anyone’s journey of self-discovery. It is directly related, and critically important, for creatives to understand the trap of the idea of there being a possible short-term payoff. There is no short-term payoff. It exists, in the same sense that car accidents exist: Yes, but we don’t hope for that. We don’t set out trying for that.
To someone who asked Newton how he had managed to construct his theory, he could reply: ‘By thinking about it all the time.’ There is no greatness without a little stubbornness.
Failure is not necessarily durable. Remember that the things that they fire you for when you are young are the same things that they give lifetime achievement awards for when you’re old.
When viewed through an evolutionary or naturalistic lens, to walk, run and move barefoot is, of course, the default human condition. Any alteration of this is an alteration of not just millions of years of bipedal hominid function, but hundreds of millions of years of natural selection’s honing and refining of foot structure.
This is a stupendous deep-dive into our feet. I love the clarity of, “[a]ny alteration of this”. Am I barefoot? (At this instant, yes. With my feet on very rough, old, worn concrete, on my patio, in 50°F weather.) If I am not barefoot, I want that to always have been a conscious choice—some specific reason for why I’ve chosen to alter the function of my feet.
I think there are some specific reasons why Zettelkasten has worked so well for me. I’ll try to make those clear, to help readers decide whether it would work for them. However, I honestly didn’t think Zettelkasten sounded like a good idea before I tried it. It only took me about 30 minutes of working with the cards to decide that it was really good. So, if you’re like me, this is a cheap experiment. I think a lot of people should actually try it to see how they like it, even if it sounds terrible.
If you’ve been following along with my personal knowledge system, Zettelkastën and Slipbox journey of discovery you might be interested in this deep, DEEP dive someone else wrote. This is one of the many things I read all over the place before beginning my experiments. I don’t agree with his “30 minutes … to decide”; It’s taken me a little bit /sarcasm longer than that. But I do agree with his assessment. And everything else in that link.
Because soap really does work best, we continue to hear the medical profession instructing we wash our hands with warm water and soap.
But how can your grandmother’s soap—that ancient and simple human technology—work so well?
What is a lipid? A lipid is a substance that repels water, the way a great raincoat repels water. Fats—all of the types of fat you can think of—are lipids. Lipids stick together and make impenetrable stuff like you find baked onto your casserole dish.
What’s in soap? Some of the molecules in soap are surfactants. Surfactants are certain molecules which actively separate lipids. Surfactants separate lipids the way bouncers break up bar fights: They forcefully insert themselves and separate the individual lipids. That’s why soaking your casserole dish in soap and water magically turns the impossibly-baked-on gunk into easily-rinsed-away gunk.
How are lipids relevant to viruses? Viruses have an outer envelope—imagine a rain coat shaped into a beach ball—that surrounds and protects the contents of the virus. That outer envelope is made from lipids. It’s tough like the baked-on-gunk on a casserole dish is tough.
What’s inside a virus particle? Viruses contain a long string of instructions. Your cells contain your personal set of instructions, called your DNA. Viruses contain a set of instructions similar enough that your cells can follow those instructions. When a virus’s instructions get into your cell, the cell is duped into making more viruses rather doing whatever it normally would do.
What does soap do to the lipid envelope of a virus? It does the same thing soap and warm water do to the crud stuck on your casserole disk. Soap makes the lipid envelope fall apart, exposing the virus’ payload of instructions.
What happens to the virus’ instructions without the protective lipid envelope? The instructions are quickly damaged and made useless. The instructions in the virus are extremely delicate. Exposure to oxygen, (1/5 of our atmosphere is Oxygen,) or light, (we have a lot of that too,) or several things found in soap, will quickly destroy the instructions. The DNA in your cells is just as delicate, but your cells have structures and processes to protect and repair your DNA. But unlike your cells, viruses are very simple; all they have protecting their instructions is a lipid envelope wrapped around the outside.
What motivates someone to push beyond personal limits in dance, Parkour, and other movement disciplines to achieve mastery?
Emily Tung shares her journey and goals in both breaking and parkour, as well as the differences between those two practices and communities. She also discusses her diverse movement practices, from stunt work, contortion, to pole dancing, as well as her lesser known skills in puppetry. Emily finishes by unpacking her thoughts on coaching, unsolicited advice, and speaking up for yourself.
For me then, it’s not about what is the correct or right way. It’s, what is your goal? And what’s your body like? And what can I do, and what applies best, and I have to decide that I have to be strong about that. I think that was another plateau. I had it back in my old life where I always listened to exactly what I was told.
~ Emily Tung (56:13)
The conversation explores how committing to ambitious goals reshapes personal habits, training, and overall lifestyle. Emily recounts how a decision to pursue world-level breakdancing battles triggered a broader transformation, leading to better nutrition, rest, and learning from mentors. This commitment highlighted the importance of focus and intentionality in practice, contrasting with periods of stagnant growth when goals were less defined.
The discussion also touches on the cross-disciplinary nature of movement arts, showing how Parkour, dance, and martial arts influence each other. Emily reflects on how Parkour provided a sense of community and freedom not always found in the dance world, fostering creativity and resilience. The journey through stunt work, puppetry, and contortion further illustrates the diverse ways movement disciplines intersect, shaping not just physical skills but also mental perspectives and personal identity.
Takeaways
The value of clear goals — Committing to ambitious targets reshapes training, habits, and lifestyle.
The importance of mentorship — Seeking knowledge from those already on the path accelerates growth and insight.
Cross-disciplinary learning — Parkour, dance, and martial arts inform and enhance each other, enriching overall movement capacity.
Community impact — Parkour provides acceptance and connection, contrasting with more judgmental environments in dance.
Injury prevention — Understanding progressions and conditioning transforms how to train sustainably and avoid long-term damage.
Stunt work insights — Success in stunts relies on spatial awareness, timing, and the ability to “sell” movements realistically.
Adaptability in movement — Flexibility and contortion expand creative possibilities in Parkour and dance.
The challenge of unsolicited advice — Navigating unwanted input from less experienced peers requires tact and boundary-setting.
Resources
Brooklyn Zoo Gym — Training facility where the guest developed contortion and Parkour skills.
This is an interesting way to look at societal changes. Since there is no “we”—there is no aggregate, thing which is “the society as a whole” which can feel embarrassed—the only “we” which can be embarrassed is me, the individual.
…and since this blog is about me, I should talk about what embarrasses me. But instead, I’m interested in unpacking the source of my embarrassment:
When my actions and thoughts disagree with what I know is right.
This is simply one more for those in the back: “OMG! THIS WAS AWESOME!”
The main photo is just my 10 year old Cannon point-n-shoot. Which has just every so slightly better optics (including optical zoom) than my iPhone 5s. So the main photo is just optical zoom (shot off a tripod.) And the inset is a 4x digital blowup of the main photo. (No adjustments were added to the inset.) I’m not much of a photographer, and Astrophotography is a whole other kettle of fish I’m not prepared for. But we spent a few days preparing for what each of us would be fiddling with and trying so I had a plan for my little cameras and I got some terrific memories.
What role do community, creativity, and challenge play in connecting personal passions with physical disciplines?
Jonny Hart shares the role of parkour in his life, and how that fits in with his career as an artist. He explains the parkour and anatomy art classes that he helped develop, and discusses the joy he finds in coaching and teaching. Jonny finishes by unpacking his thoughts on breaking jumps, and shares the story of the first jump he ever broke.
I specifically make sure that there’s something in there that I have no idea how to do. And none of my skill set has prepared me for it.
~ Jonny Hart (15:30)
The conversation explores Jonny Hart’s journey from fine arts to becoming an advocate and teacher of Parkour, merging art with movement. He shares his early fascination with Parkour, describing its intensity and the unique community bonds it fosters. He reflects on how his artistic background influences his Parkour practice, providing insights into anatomy and movement, and how this cross-disciplinary knowledge enriches his teaching and personal growth.
The discussion also digs into fear and challenges, likening “breaking the jump” in Parkour to creative hurdles in art. Jonny emphasizes how facing uncertainty in both fields leads to personal breakthroughs and joy. His innovative teaching approach combines drawing, anatomy, and physical movement, aiming to make art and Parkour accessible and transformative for kids and others in the community.
Takeaways
Community as a unifier — The Parkour community fosters connections among individuals from diverse backgrounds, emphasizing shared movement practices over other differences.
Art and movement integration — Teaching combines anatomy, drawing, and Parkour to help kids and participants understand their bodies and creativity.
Fear as a teacher — The concept of “breaking the jump” in Parkour parallels overcoming artistic challenges, showing the transformative power of fear.
Non-commercial passions — Jonny Hart emphasizes the value of keeping Parkour as a passion rather than a profession to maintain its joy and authenticity.
The role of teaching — Hart finds fulfillment in teaching classes he loves, recharging his energy and positively impacting his students.
Parkour as a global culture — The Parkour community’s values and connections extend across different cities and countries, fostering a universal sense of belonging.
Resources
Movement Creative — A New York-based organization teaching Parkour and movement skills.
Müv Magazine — A Parkour magazine featuring articles, stories, and illustrations by and for the community.
Parkour Visions — A Parkour nonprofit dedicated to promoting movement education and accessibility.
Tempest Freerunning — A Los Angeles-based Parkour gym that inspired Hart’s initial interest in the discipline.
Last week I did two good work days. Did the pull-ups in 5 trips to the pull-up bar over five hours, and still doing very small sets 4×3,4×2 to get me 20 reps without over-working my forearm. I’m going to stick with that plan this week. For the last workout of this week, the numbers-game will work better if I can go up to 120 reps — so that will probably be 6 trips to the pull-up bar.
Also last week, I did the 200 bar precisions in one session. It’s not physically demanding, but more of an aerobic, get-in-the-zone and work on the quality of each jump. I may do that on Wednesday, simply to move the bar precisions to be on a different day from the pull-ups.
There should have been a third workout in last week — but I was away in NYC/Brooklyn for several days (the red blocks). Huge amounts of training, and huge amounts of “hey that’s noticably better” as a result of all this body-weight work. (Also, very little sleep and scattered eating — and, hey look, I think I’m sick again :/
Anyway.
Next week there are way too many “120”s on the workbook. That’s just me moving numbers down without bothering to go farther out and reshuffle numbers (yet). I just passed the “4,000”s mile post last week, and now — FINALLY — with these sized workouts, the “5,000”s milepost is in sight. At a rate of “120”s workouts, on a work-rest-work-rest-rest pattern of days, I can still finish this all in sane fashion before the 365th day.
Yet in the practice of parkour there is also a war being fought: a psychological battle that we are presented with every time we step up to a jump or a movement we have not yet mastered, every time the fear of failure or falling rests its dark gaze upon us and tells us to give up, to go home, to try it another day, to excuse ourselves into accepting defeat.
The “heel stone” – as in “heeling over”. Approaching along the original “causeway”, you first arrived at this stone, then went further along to the the henge.
Originally an outer circle, with an inner horseshoe-curve, all with lintel stones.
