View Original Handwritten Notes
One minute behind, but skipping the top line—need to timestamp.
Rock and roll—like butter, the ink is flowing nicely with this new pen.
In lighter areas, what’s new? I’m excited about budgeting, and if my parents want, I can help them with that. I also need to take care of the trades I need to make. Writing is going well, and I think work is going well too.
Becoming a better person is something I can work more on—figuring out how to have more fun in business and life. How to live healthier and, hopefully, longer.
Sometimes the simplest things matter most:
- Less is more.
- Hard work pays off.
- You won’t improve what you don’t measure—or do.
Measure so you can improve. Smile more. Relax the body. Do not carry stress. And if you do end up channeling some unexpectedly, learn how to clear it—this way, you become a warrior.
If something bothers you, see if you can sit with it for a moment, then a moment longer. What is it about? What quality distracts you? How quickly can it be handled, so you can move on?
Our time here is limited. This seemingly tumbling ruler?? Ok??
Some achieve in a short time what others took decades—even centuries—to refine. Those who find their special thing—their genius—seem to move differently.
Shakespeare. Mozart. Da Vinci. Michelangelo.
10:50 AM
Genius before its time—not quite the right phrase, but there is something about timelessness. The immense amount of actual contribution.
Particularly when we think about birthing new contributions—
New ideas, new ways of thinking, new ways of communicating.
Writing is the glue that binds the mind to the world.
It takes thought from the abstract and assembles it—
Letters into words, words into sentences, sentences into meaning.
It guides insight,
entertains,
delights inquisitive minds.
The reality is—it takes a very particular kind of person to do this grueling work, day after day, showing up again and again and again. Spending time, extra hours, what seems like an obsession. Incorporating the craft into life as a method for living.
That is the ultimate discovery:
Turn what you love into what others care about.
And for that, you have to be caring, compassionate.
Well—I have to be.
I choose to align my writing with my values—it is me, my subconscious, my thoughts on paper.
I’ve never been great at writing stories or interesting characters, but I enjoy reading my own writing. Who else will?
Some of the more mundane things in life fascinate me—
Journal statistics, grammar choices, pen functionality.
No one will ever see or care about them.
But how smooth the ink flows on a new, nice pen—
That gives me so much creative joy.
11:00 AM
Handwriting is art.
Letters—how they are written and strung together.
Words—how they are chosen and laid out.
Ultimately, it’s up to the author to decide how it all comes together.
What happens when another observer—a critic, a thinking entity—is removed?
Do we freeze up? Does the material dry up?
Or do we sift through acres of dirt, searching for that one nugget?
You put in the work.
You plant the seed.
You wait for it to sprout.
Mining for words—
And I love to mine.
The hard work, the give-it-your-best-shot mentality.
In the end, it comes down to grit—
How much you can muster to put in the time, bring the focus, and ultimately plan and deliver.
There has to be balance and structure,
but the parameters vary for everyone.
- Your makeup.
- What you train for.
- What you love.
- What you habitually do.
- How you think.
- Your perception.
- What you put in and what you put out.
- What you do first.
- What you do at all.
Sometimes, the doing needs to be more powerful than the why—
Especially if your ego is involved.
Which—let’s be honest—it always is.
Ego is a driver.
Just be aware. Don’t let it take the wheel.
Let it rise, observe it, and then let it go.
Ego gets in the way—
Of getting things done.
Of how things are done.
All things can be done with loving gentleness.
It’s even more challenging after realizing how long it takes me to write an entire page—to not finish that page.
That must be the Pomodoro way of thinking—
If something is small enough, once you start it, you might as well finish.
The barrier to entry for writing is so low, and yet—
It’s everything.
Writing is portable. It doesn’t need power.
Just a few things: paper, pen, light, and a place to do it.
Different places color the light in different ways—maybe that affects the writing, too.
Now I’m outside.
The cold, fresh air feels good.
It feels good to be outside, to be alive.
There is a pull to nature,
but also a familiarity with this spot.
I’ve written here before.
With these sounds, these surroundings.
11:22 PM
Focus on the difficult areas where you lack familiarity.
Make it a daily goal to remove those barriers.
Take action when it comes to communication.
I don’t much care for it, but communication is interwoven with the social fabric.
It can be controlled, to some degree, by environment.
In these next 15 minutes before my next meeting, let me focus on a topic.
Technology is like magic.
That is an interesting statement.
So many things once seemed like magic—until we classified them as technology or knowledge.
Where did Archimedes learn so much from?
And Socrates?
Direct practice must have been one of their methods.
There’s something about creative thought—
About putting in the time, the hours.
There was another idea I wanted to explore, but I can’t remember it now.
I want to find that thought again.
And my silver shoulder bag.
The garage—I need to get to that.
And like that, the day wraps itself up like a present.
And I wrap myself up as well,
ready to embrace sleep and slumber until morning.
I wish my stomach would settle.
The hot peppers and beans are having their way with me.
In Captain America, there really could have been better character development.
Those coming-of-age moments—they could have been something.
Instead, they just wanted to get that show out the door.
Story—but no catch.
Which brings me back to—
Rhetoric. The balance wheel app.
The check-in.
The review.
Where you last were.
And checking your value.