This is inspiring. The thoughts are very well structured and the idea is nothing short of beautiful. Just extending your idea, is 'Writing' the act of maintaining one's 'thinking ability' or one's 'Ideas'? People keep pushing down writing a journal, a personal diary, notes or essays similar to other chores. Writing is a chore, but the most important one, because it is the act of maintaining your intelligence.
Thank you for the kind words and excellent insight. I totally agree that writing is a way to maintain your thinking. It brings to Joan Didion's famous quote: "I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear". That's maintaining intelligence in action.
Agree with the study that showed “Happiness comes through close relationships” and to balance days with personal connections, chores, reading, sleep is fulfilling each day. The joy of the moment is to find an original perspective that relates to each moment, each task, each organization, each person. Inquiry celebrates discovery of uniqueness with close friends and find new friends through remaining open to conversation.
Great column Jacob. Thanks. You wove some interesting threads together to tell a compelling tale. Because life does require constant maintenance for nature not to reclaim us. I do think that relationships in and of themselves is either overrated or overemphasized. To me living well as you age - I’ll turn 69 tomorrow - is a three-legged stool of health (physical & mental), wealth (with some understanding of the word “enough”) and relationships. And yes, having all those requires dedicated maintenance. Take any of those three legs away and life will be more challenging than you’d wish.
Thank you for the great comment. I appreciate your wisdom. Maybe instead of relationships, it'd be better to say social connection, as in having some kind of outlet to interact with others, whether it's a running club or favorite bar or reading group.
Yes Jacob, calling that need “social connection” works much better for me. Ten years ago when my work ended I had spent 15 of my 59 years living outside the USA - 12 in London and 3 in Sydney. Plus 3 years crossing the border from South Texas everyday to work in a Mexican maquiladora. Damn near 1/3 of my entire life in a transient lifestyle ! Now that I’ve been in Laguna Beach for 14 years I’ve realized how much the social connections in this little beach town enrich my life. Keep up the insightful writing - I dig your work.
This is inspiring. The thoughts are very well structured and the idea is nothing short of beautiful. Just extending your idea, is 'Writing' the act of maintaining one's 'thinking ability' or one's 'Ideas'? People keep pushing down writing a journal, a personal diary, notes or essays similar to other chores. Writing is a chore, but the most important one, because it is the act of maintaining your intelligence.
Thank you for the kind words and excellent insight. I totally agree that writing is a way to maintain your thinking. It brings to Joan Didion's famous quote: "I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear". That's maintaining intelligence in action.
Agree with the study that showed “Happiness comes through close relationships” and to balance days with personal connections, chores, reading, sleep is fulfilling each day. The joy of the moment is to find an original perspective that relates to each moment, each task, each organization, each person. Inquiry celebrates discovery of uniqueness with close friends and find new friends through remaining open to conversation.
Great column Jacob. Thanks. You wove some interesting threads together to tell a compelling tale. Because life does require constant maintenance for nature not to reclaim us. I do think that relationships in and of themselves is either overrated or overemphasized. To me living well as you age - I’ll turn 69 tomorrow - is a three-legged stool of health (physical & mental), wealth (with some understanding of the word “enough”) and relationships. And yes, having all those requires dedicated maintenance. Take any of those three legs away and life will be more challenging than you’d wish.
Thank you for the great comment. I appreciate your wisdom. Maybe instead of relationships, it'd be better to say social connection, as in having some kind of outlet to interact with others, whether it's a running club or favorite bar or reading group.
Yes Jacob, calling that need “social connection” works much better for me. Ten years ago when my work ended I had spent 15 of my 59 years living outside the USA - 12 in London and 3 in Sydney. Plus 3 years crossing the border from South Texas everyday to work in a Mexican maquiladora. Damn near 1/3 of my entire life in a transient lifestyle ! Now that I’ve been in Laguna Beach for 14 years I’ve realized how much the social connections in this little beach town enrich my life. Keep up the insightful writing - I dig your work.
Wow, that sounds like quite the life -- let me know when the memoir comes out :)
I appreciate you reading and promise to do my best to keep you interested!