No. 556 — December 24, 2023 — Read on FS.blog — FREE VERSION

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Christmas, as a festival, has changed a lot throughout history, with many of its core modern traditions being more recent than we think or of surprising origin. Historically, Christmas was often a time for upending social structures.

— The Ghost of Christmas Past: A Look At the History of Christmas

Insight(s)

1.

“If you're going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It's the only good fight there is.”

— Charles Bukowski, Factotum

2.

“I still make things that are pretty awful. It’s part of the process. You have periods of tremendous productivity and other periods where you’re fallow. The fallow periods are really important because that’s where you’re figuring something it out. You have to work through it in order to discover something new. You need those sorts of periods in order to grow.”

— Paula Scher, The Beautiful Thinkers Project

3.

“Awareness, not age, leads to wisdom.”

— Publius Syrus

Tiny Thought(s)

1.

If you're stuck, change your perspective.

What you see from 20,000 feet is very different from what you see from 2 feet.

Different perspectives reveal different solutions.

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2.

Oddly, things get better when you accept the worst-case outcome and focus on improving it.

Worrying about what might happen comes at the expense of improving the outcome.

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3.

A lot of progress can be made by avoiding mistakes.

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Thanks for reading,

— Shane
Author of Clear Thinking

P.S. My parents in a nutshell.