I love this post. I love this very much. It's reminding me of a time at a party when a bunch of us were tasting a few bottles of wine. People were trying to use "wine" words to describe their experience, but that felt bland because none of us were familiar. Instead I suggested that we try to describe the wine in terms of scenes and metaphors like "this tastes like reading a book on a quiet afternoon with some friends who aren't quite close yet." Turned out to be super fun and engaging!
Goddamn Sasha. Thank you for this gift. I loved your line “You know this is really working when you feel pride for the success of the creator, like they’re a friend and you earnestly want to send them an email thanking them for what they’ve done.”
Reading your stuff often makes me want to do that. Note to self: actually hit send
Of all the pieces I've read in the last couple years, this gave me the strongest sense of
1) "Wow I come from the same place as this person"
2) "Wow I want to go where this person is headed"
Wonderful insight, astonishingly clear descriptions of messy/tricky phenomena.
I've been stewing on this over the past couple days and came up with an addition that really resonated:
Watch Things Happen On Their Own. When doing the dishes, flossing, exercising (especially juggling) your body will perform extraordinary feats of coordination and finesse. Switching from Manager mode to Appreciative Audience mode is a real treat. For the rest of your life, you can just watch yourself shave yourself (with the relaxed mindset of being at the barber)
You created the opposite of an anti-meme, a self-amplifying meme — a meme that self-perpetuates, strengthens and bootstraps itself while you are processing it in a way beyond normal passive memetic catchiness.
This is wonderful, and I was surprised by how many actionable tips you were able to articulate. The emphasis on enjoyment as an almost contemplative art reminded me of classical Indian tantric writers.
I recently memorized Keats' Ode to a Nightingale, an 80-line poem, and the detail I latched onto was the line "Perhaps the self-same song that found a path through the sad heart of Ruth." It's now one of my favorite examples of alliteration :)
There are a lot of things I love and connect with in this post. None more than the callout of “You Oughta Know” having a sick and overlooked bass line. Yes.
I appreciate the specificity of examples you give--makes this useful even if the overall concept isn't new to someone. I'll use this to help inspire my further engagement w various :)
Oh shit. Sasha, I will write to *a thoughtful fan email *soon apparently. I am just amazed by it. How long did it take you to write it? How did you started to collect these micro-skills? I really wonder the backstage of this piece.
I have taught myself to like foods I found repulsive. How? Olives - I 'd lick a home made olive and toss it out. I'd do this 4-5 days, then I'd bite into it and toss the olive, for 4-5 days. After 10 days I found I enjoyed the olive and now am a lover of olives. It's good to practice with a quality product, I.e. sipping a deeply aromatic coffee for two weeks. Who liked beer the first time?
I love this post. I love this very much. It's reminding me of a time at a party when a bunch of us were tasting a few bottles of wine. People were trying to use "wine" words to describe their experience, but that felt bland because none of us were familiar. Instead I suggested that we try to describe the wine in terms of scenes and metaphors like "this tastes like reading a book on a quiet afternoon with some friends who aren't quite close yet." Turned out to be super fun and engaging!
Goddamn Sasha. Thank you for this gift. I loved your line “You know this is really working when you feel pride for the success of the creator, like they’re a friend and you earnestly want to send them an email thanking them for what they’ve done.”
Reading your stuff often makes me want to do that. Note to self: actually hit send
also— ask someone you love who loves the thing to explain why they do!
Of all the pieces I've read in the last couple years, this gave me the strongest sense of
1) "Wow I come from the same place as this person"
2) "Wow I want to go where this person is headed"
Wonderful insight, astonishingly clear descriptions of messy/tricky phenomena.
I've been stewing on this over the past couple days and came up with an addition that really resonated:
Watch Things Happen On Their Own. When doing the dishes, flossing, exercising (especially juggling) your body will perform extraordinary feats of coordination and finesse. Switching from Manager mode to Appreciative Audience mode is a real treat. For the rest of your life, you can just watch yourself shave yourself (with the relaxed mindset of being at the barber)
What the hell sasha. Why are you rad
Wow what a brain full of joy you have, thank you for sharing.
You created the opposite of an anti-meme, a self-amplifying meme — a meme that self-perpetuates, strengthens and bootstraps itself while you are processing it in a way beyond normal passive memetic catchiness.
Thank you Sasha for this awesome collection! It really is amazing how a bit more focus can reveal so much nuance in everything.
This is wonderful, and I was surprised by how many actionable tips you were able to articulate. The emphasis on enjoyment as an almost contemplative art reminded me of classical Indian tantric writers.
I recently memorized Keats' Ode to a Nightingale, an 80-line poem, and the detail I latched onto was the line "Perhaps the self-same song that found a path through the sad heart of Ruth." It's now one of my favorite examples of alliteration :)
solid detail, also goat description of wine in verse i think
“Oh for a draught of vintage, that hath been cool’d a long age in the deep-delved earth…” it gets better from there!
Happy new year. Post reminded me why I subscribed in the first place. Cheers!
Great article! I was reading my notes on the Savoring book last night.
You linked to Kanye West's White Dress, not Lana Del Rey's.
An unforgivable error, now corrected, thank you...
There are a lot of things I love and connect with in this post. None more than the callout of “You Oughta Know” having a sick and overlooked bass line. Yes.
Beautiful, smooth, and helpful. Your writing supports me in getting in touch with the richness of life. Thank you <3
I appreciate the specificity of examples you give--makes this useful even if the overall concept isn't new to someone. I'll use this to help inspire my further engagement w various :)
Oh shit. Sasha, I will write to *a thoughtful fan email *soon apparently. I am just amazed by it. How long did it take you to write it? How did you started to collect these micro-skills? I really wonder the backstage of this piece.
I have taught myself to like foods I found repulsive. How? Olives - I 'd lick a home made olive and toss it out. I'd do this 4-5 days, then I'd bite into it and toss the olive, for 4-5 days. After 10 days I found I enjoyed the olive and now am a lover of olives. It's good to practice with a quality product, I.e. sipping a deeply aromatic coffee for two weeks. Who liked beer the first time?
“Who liked beer the first time” strikes me as profound. Taste can be cultivated.