On this day

September 10th

The absurdity of it all

September 10, 2023

When I sit down to journal, it’s usually most productive for me to be prospective; to record my observations on my past actions and thinking with the intention of setting out ideas and plans for self-improvement. But sometimes, right in the middle of a large train of thoughts, I’ll veer into this stream-of-consciousness recording of all the things I did in the previous day. It’s usually a mind-boggling list. And it’s usually only a small portion of the stuff I’d hoped to get to that day. Day after week after month after year this appears in my journals. It’s absurd. I’ll never finish even a fraction of what I daily hope to do. And yet, every day I continue to expend tremendous energy just to appear normal.

It would be easy to conclude that an absurdist view of life rules out happiness and leads anyone with any sense to despair at her very existence. And yet in his book, Camus concludes, “One must imagine Sisyphus happy.” This may seem impossible, but in fact, this unexpected twist in Camus’ philosophy of life and happiness can help you change your perspective and see your daily struggles in a new, more equanimous way.

~ Arthur C. Brooks from, How to Find Joy in Your Sisyphean Existence – The Atlantic

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Fortunately, it’s clear to me that I’m not alone in thinking what I’m doing is absurd. (For example, Jake Gyllenhall touches on it in a great conversation with Sam Jones.)

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Cool-Whip

September 10, 2022

Later, when the Doritos were reduced to crumbly fragments barely worth fishing out of the bag, I reflected on what had gone wrong, and remembered something I discovered years ago about resolutions but forget constantly.

~ David Cain from, You Don’t Need a Promise, You Need a Plan

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The other day, I finished off the remaining more–than–half of a can of Cool-Whip. To be clear: I mean that I ate it directly. It’s not terrible as far as things go. But it’s absolutely not the sort of “food” that I want to eat. It definitely doesn’t move me towards my goals. I knew I was going to do it, weeks ago when the can appeared in my refrigerator to be used with some dessert or other. I knew I was going to do it when the can went back in the fridge after dessert. Sure, it took a couple of weeks, but then after an entire day of being stressed out, things played out just as I knew they would. Cain has a plan. I should probably get a plan before the next can of Cool-Whip is left like a lamb for slaughter.

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Alignment with Karen Bailey

September 10, 2021

How can storytelling and purpose be effectively integrated into business and podcasting to create meaningful impact?

Explore the transformative power of storytelling for purpose-driven leaders and entrepreneurs.

I don’t know if it’s introverts or extroverts, or necessarily these characterizations. But I think that there are people that are generally kind of thinking really big picture, and maybe community-oriented. But they have to be paired up with these implementors, and these ‘takers’—as I call them—to bring this stuff to life. I keep seeing this pattern in a lot of different places, and people use a lot of different language to describe them.

~ Karen Bailey (10:18)

The discussion emphasizes the importance of integrating storytelling into business and podcasting, focusing on its ability to make abstract concepts like purpose tangible and actionable. Storytelling is framed as a tool not just for engagement but for education and leadership, offering insights into how businesses can clarify their purpose and create meaningful impacts on their communities and stakeholders. Karen shares her personal journey from blogging about purpose to podcasting, highlighting how audio storytelling allowed for richer, more dynamic sharing of ideas.

The conversation also explores the characteristics of purpose-driven leadership and the dynamic between “idea makers” and “idea takers.” Emphasis is placed on the synergy between these roles, with practical examples of how they complement each other in successful businesses. The value of collaboration, community, and accountability among podcasters is discussed as a key driver for overcoming challenges and achieving goals. The exchange concludes with reflections on the importance of clarity and intentionality in both podcasting and broader business efforts.

Takeaways

Storytelling in business — It serves as a tool for making purpose more tangible and relatable.

Shifting market expectations — Consumers and employees increasingly value purpose-driven organizations.

Synergy between roles — The interplay of “idea makers” and “idea takers” is crucial for implementing visions.

Purpose-driven podcasting — Audio storytelling enriches the ability to share diverse voices and insights.

Community and accountability — Connecting with peers helps overcome challenges and fosters growth.

Constraints and creativity — Both freedom and restrictions can stimulate innovative thinking.

Alignment and action — Clarifying and aligning purpose with actions enhances impact on communities.

Resources

Alignd on Purpose — Karen’s consulting firm helping business owners define their purpose and align their organization around it.

The Corporate Purpose Podcast — Karen’s podcast.

Start With Why — Simon Sinek’s book discussing the importance of understanding purpose.

The Four Tendencies — Gretchen Rubin’s book describing a framework for understanding motivation and behavior.

Quiet — Susan Cain’s book about the power of introverts in a world that values extroversion.

(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)

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The school is a surgery

September 10, 2021

The school of a philosopher is a surgery. You should not depart from it in pleasure, but in pain, for you are not healthy when you come in, but one of you has a dislocated shoulder, another an abscess, another a fistula, another a headache. And am I to come up with pretty thoughts and reflections, so that each of you will go away praising me, but with the same dislocated shoulder, the same aching head, the same fistula, and the same abscess that you brought in?

~ Epictetus

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Modulation

September 10, 2021

Diet modulates weight. Nutrition quality will improve how fast you lose or gain weight. Exercise modulates body composition. Exercise intensity will improve how fast your body composition changes.

~ Steven Low, modified from, The relationship between diet and exercise – Steven Low

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Frankly, diet and exercise are topics that require a lifetime of study. The four sentences above—which I’ve reordered, but not otherwise edited—are as simple as I’d be willing to go in a description of “diet and exercise.” Fortunately, Low goes on. Much farther on.

I’ve tried a lot of things, and I’m confident that while several of them were turning points for me, not a single one of them is a panacea. In a very real sense, this meat-bag is nothing more than a moderately complex, space ship for my consciousness. It’s dented, sure, but it has a lot of good miles left on it.

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Preoccupied with work

September 10, 2020

They are always preoccupied with work so that they may be in position to live better; they spend life in making provision for life. Their plans are designed for the future, but procrastination is the greatest waste of life. It robs us of each day as it comes, and extorts the present from us on promises of the future. Expectancy is the greatest impediment to living: In anticipation of tomorrow it loses today.

~ Seneca

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Factory work, Round 2

September 10, 2019

My fear—or maybe it’s better written, as “my lament”?—is that for every made-it-big tech person who represents the worst of avarice and greed, there is a sea of regular tech people who are being ground up by the works. Countless pasty faces staring at screens, drinking diet soda, trying to live in the bites of life they can grab after hours, (taking their phone so they can be summoned, of course!) stressed-out, burnt-out…

So when I hear people talk about “tech people” as if we’ve collectively done something wrong and messed up the world, I look around and all I see are people who’ve been broken and smashed. The grass is no greener on the inside-tech side of the fence. To everyone outside-tech, what gets done inside tech is magic—it’s not, it’s factory work, round two.

I don’t mean this as a repost to what people say when they lament what has happened to the world, but as a commiserating plea: “Yes! Yes! The problem is everywhere.”

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King of the sky

September 10, 2018

Twelve hundred miles he’d flown, from somewhere far away he’d never been. Steered north and west, finding his direction from the sun and the force that guides a compass needle. Flown until he saw the shape of humpbacked hills, the lines of little houses and the chimneys, heard the clanking towers, smelled the soup and coal dust.

~ Nicola Davies from, King of the Sky: A Lyrical Illustrated Fable of Belonging and the Meaning of Home – The Marginalian

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You know you are old when a summary of a stuipid story about a kid and a pidgeon tugs at the ol’ heart-strings.

Go ahead. I DARE you . . .

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