Hurry Slowly - Reflect, Recalibrate, Reconsider

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Failure to cope under capitalism. I liked this piece on whether or not we should really lump all our problems under the rubric of "capitalism." It's also critical of the writer Anne Helen Petersen, whose work I enjoy and who I also link to below. It's always good to have some healthy debate: "If you think seriously about the good life and pursue it, you will probably fail in ways large and small. But an imperfect struggle to live well and love a world badly in need of repair is better than staying still because things are terrible, because you might look like a loser in the meritocratic game, because it’s easier. This is your life. You do not have time to wait for the revolution to begin living it. You will always be able to find someone to give you permission not to live it. But no one is coming along to live it for you."

Our online lives will never truly be our own. I enjoyed this reflection on how we get locked into our online personas and how limiting that is for societal debate: "Ultimately, the more our identities are defined by who we are online, the more a space that once offered liberation now mandates self-censorship. 'Fundamentally, we’ll always tailor who we are and what we say depending on who’s in front of us – the internet didn’t make that happen,' Le Conte says. 'My worry, I suppose, is that being online has brought the audience inside our heads. Because we never quite know who may be watching, our online lives can never truly be our own.'"

On not needing to be the best at anything. I related to this piece by Lisa Olivera about having overly high standards for one's creative work and how paralyzing it can be: "If being the best, being unique, and being ranked as superior are the only things that make creating worth our time, we’re putting ourselves in quite a bleak bind, because those things often won’t be the case. Yet when we choose to show up for our work, our art, our callings, our passions, our creations, and our gifts anyway, we put more goodness in the world. We put more beauty in the world. We put more meaning in the world. We put more connection in the world. We put more hope in the world. We put more humanity in the world. And that matters, whether or not it’s one of a kind. That matters, whether or not it’s the best."

"What comes forth when we aren't in struggle?" I know I linked to a Prentis Hemphill podcast episode in the last newsletter but, I'm sorry, I'm going to have to do it again! This conversation with The Body Is Not an Apology author Sonya Renee Taylor is so good and so deep you absolutely do not want to miss it. And honestly if you haven't listened to Prentis' first interview with Taylor back in 2020, go back and listen to that too. I am totally crushing on her brain.

+ A new app that helps you prepare for jet lag.

+ Wealth is the missing piece.

+ What comes after ambition?

+ How to have fun again.

 

 

 

 

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Website: jkglei.com
Twitter: @jkglei