“Boredom is the conviction that you can't change... the shriek of unused capacities.”
— Saul Bellow —
Hello, and my very best to you and yours.
Here are 3 things I've been thinking about over the last few days that I'm excited to share with you.
***
on getting on the bus
My wife was talking to her sister about the point in my previous newsletter regarding the recent blackout in Spain and how the people in my town responded. Upon hearing about it, my sister-in-law told a story about her son Marti that’s very much worth sharing
Marti grew up a voracious reader. But when he turned 15 and got a phone, the habit slipped in favor of mindlessly scrolling Tick-Tock videos. During the blackout, though, since all forms of technology were down, Marti picked up the book Game of Thrones.
Within a week, he devoured it. A few days later, he’d gobbled up the second installment in the series. Last week, he went to his local library to check out the third. To his utter disappointment, it wasn’t available. But one of the librarians said the library in a town forty-five minutes away had it in stock. The only hitch was that they wouldn’t get it delivered for at least a week.
In response to this, Marti requested that the other library hold it for him. Then, since he can't drive yet, he got on a bus, walked to the library, and checked it out before digging into it on the ride back home.
I don’t know about you, but I adore this. Marti’s reading habit is back. All because of 24 hours without electricity.
Last week, I said I wasn’t going to preach about the dangers of smartphones as I’d sung that song before. But this week, thanks to Marti’s inspiration, I am going to sing about it.
What would you do with your time if you created your own 24-hour blackout? If you said no to technology in favor of following your nose or simply embracing boredom for the gift it is?
- Would you write a few handwritten letters to friends?
- Pick up the guitar collecting dust in your closet?
- Or maybe just stare at the sky and see if you can find any clouds that resemble an animal or your late Uncle Morty?
Maybe it’s not possible during the week due to work responsibilities. But what about Saturday or Sunday? Could you make a habit of it? Maybe recruit your family or a few friends to get on the bus with you?
Everyone today is saying the world is moving at warp speed.
But you have the power to slow it down.
***
on letting go of your armor
My oldest kid, Liam, likes stand-up comedy. Especially Jim Carrey. Liam howls like a pomeranian every time he watches Carrey say — “Cheeseburger! Cheeseburger! Cheeseburger!
Recently, though, after introducing Liam to Carrey’s characters in In Living Color, one of those typical inspirational YouTube videos came on entitled, Jim Carrey's Speech NO ONE Wants To Hear.
Despite trying to avoid titles like this at all costs, in a moment of weakness, I succumbed. And I’m glad I did.
Here’s Carrey —
“Fear is going to be a player in your life. But you get to decide how much. You can spend your whole life imagining ghosts, worrying about pathways to the future. But all that will ever be is what’s happening here and the decisions we make in this moment, which are based on either love or fear.
So many of us choose our path out of fear disguised as practicality. What we really want seems impossibly out of reach and ridiculous to expect so we never dare to ask the universe for it.
…When I was about 28, after a decade as a professional comedian, I realized one night in LA, that the purpose of my life had always been to free people from concern.
The only thing I hadn't freed was myself. And that’s when my search for identity deepened.
I wondered, who would I be without my fame? Who would I be if I said things people didn’t want to hear or if I defied their expectations of me?
And that the peace we’re after lies somewhere beyond personality, beyond the perception of others, beyond invention and disguise, even beyond effort itself.
You can join the game, fight the wars, play with form all you want. But to find real peace, you have to let the armor go.
Your need for acceptance can make you invisible in this world. Don’t let anything stand in the way of the light that shines through this form.
Risk being seen in all of your glory.”
That sentence — "So many of us choose our path out of fear disguised as practicality" — has been running around in my head since hearing it. It got me thinking about where I'm playing small in my life because fear is whispering, "You can't take that risk. You'll fall on your face and people will laugh at you."
This coming week — and every week thereafter — ignore that whisper.
Publish that thing.
Make that call.
Ask that someone out.
A life void of risk is a life wasted.
Good things happen when we let our light beat through doubt.
***
on doing your part
I was introduced to an elderly French man a few months ago. We haven’t become best friends or anything. But when we see each other, we have a quick chat. I like him. But a few days ago, I saw him do something that made me love him.
We were both at the beach at the same time, and I saw him walking slowly, stopping every few minutes or so to pick something up.
At first, I thought he was collecting shells or something. But as he approached me, it was clear he’d been picking up cigarette butts and other pieces of trash.
“I want people to see me doing it,” he told me when I asked him about it. “Maybe they will pick up the habit. Or if they’re one of the people littering, maybe they’ll think twice about it when they see an old man like me picking up after them.”
The man’s actions reminded me of Ryan Holiday’s article from a few years back entitled Why I pick up the trash at the beach. Similar to my elderly neighbor, people littering pisses Ryan off. But instead of just complaining about it or doing nothing, he too began collecting trash. The best part is that without instructions, his kids have joined in, making it a family affair.
I think I’m going to steal this habit also. Reserve some time whenever I go to the beach to pick up whatever trash is in my vicinity.
Maybe it doesn’t make an impact on anyone.
But maybe it does.
Maybe it makes people think twice about putting things on the ground that they could easily put in the trash.
***
That's it for today.
Keep your eyes peeled for a message next week.
And until then, get on the bus, let go of your armor, and never stop doing your part.
Onwards.
—Michael
PS: The best way to help me keep the lights on and to keep newsletters like this one free is to grab a copy of my book and leave an honest review on Amazon.
Shy by Design: 12 Timeless Principles to Quietly Stand Out
It makes for a great gift for any of your shy or reserved friends, colleagues, and family members who have something to say but struggle to bet on themselves.
PS2: If you're new here and like what you read, you can cruise over all past installments by clicking the link below —
Complete 'Memorable' Catalog