Check-In Round
What’s the weirdest thing in your fridge right now?
I mean, it’s not that weird, but probably pimento cheese?
A Moment of Self-Indulgence
Max and I have settled into a weekly Saturday release schedule for our podcast, Fields of Work. We’re getting ready to record episode 10 as I write this. Episodes 1-9 have been getting steadily better. Find it at FieldsOfWork.com or by searching your podcast player of choice.
I’ve been cleaning up my 10 year archive of writing on SamSpurlin.com/blog. My writing has lived under several different websites over the past 10 years and for the first time I’m trying to pull it all together under my own name.
As part of that effort, I re-uploaded the archive of my old podcast, The File Drawer, which I did 63 episodes of from 2014-2016 with my friend Eric while we were both in graduate school. Also available in your podcast player of choice or at SamSpurlin.com/the-file-drawer.
Something To Chew On
When you start paying more attention to what you pay attention to it can be overwhelming. Suddenly there are more interesting things to pursue, learn, and explore. Whole worlds that you never noticed before are suddenly beckoning. Google calls. Wikipedia taps you on the shoulder. Unfortunately, the amount of time you have to do all this new exploration doesn’t change. That hard constraint remains constant (sadly).
Lately, I’ve been playing with putting limits on my work in progress (WIP) in more places while simultaneously trying to think of more things as being immune to that structure (video games, TV shows, etc.). When you see everything “to be done” as an open loop becoming more aware is a recipe for overwhelm.
I’m working on it.
What Had My Attention Recently
You are doing something important when you aren’t doing anything
“There’s something to be said for the state of quiet dormancy, where little apparently happens. We might have periods of furious output; to get there, we require periods of faithful input. With input, there’s a restoration of fertile, vibrant thinking. You might need a monthlong fallow after a big project. Or maybe it’s two weeks. You might even do it in a minor way — a half-day mini-sabbatical, say, to achieve what the Harvard psychologist Shelley Carson has called the “absorb state.” This fallow time should apply whether you’re working in an office culture with corporate eyes on you or as a contract worker making your own hours.”
You’re not paying attention, but you really should be
“Part of what plays into this issue is attention management. Everything around us demands our attention, so the way to fight back is to pay attention to what you care about, and to care about what you’re paying attention to, Mr. Walker said. Is it truly worth your time to obsess over feuding YouTube stars, or whatever is trending on Twitter? Maybe it is, maybe it’s not — but you should know the answer.
To be clear: This advice is not the same as advocating for an “unplugged lifestyle,” a silly idea that is an impractical solution to a practical problem. Rather, the point is to notice your surroundings, to be mindful of the world you’re navigating, and to give yourself permission to slow down and just … observe.”
Why Epicurean ideas suit the challenges of secular life
“I imagine Epicurus would see far more consumption than necessary in my own American life and too little self-discipline. Above all, he wanted us to take responsibility for our choices. Here he is in his Letter to Menoeceus:
'For it is not drinking bouts and continuous partying and enjoying boys and women, or consuming fish and the other dainties of an extravagant table, which produce the pleasant life, but sober calculation which searches out the reasons for every choice and avoidance and drives out the opinions which are the source of the greatest turmoil for men’s souls.’
Do you see the ‘pursuit of happiness’ as a tough research project and kick yourself when you’re glum? You’re Epicurean. We think of the Stoics as tougher, but they provided the comfort of faith. Accept your fate, they said. Epicurus said: It’s a mess. Be smarter than the rest of them. How modern can you get?”
Interviewer: “It’s funny, clarity is often undervalued in art. One of the things I admire about your writing, especially the essays, which feel like polemics, is that you’re very clear in your arguments. They’re beautifully supported. In the new book, you talk about how you often read seeking instruction. I’m curious how you balance that idea with reading for beauty, savoring the visceral pleasure of words.”
Wendell: You’re being fed in an essential way by the beauty of things you read and hear and look at. A well-made sentence, I think, is a thing of beauty. But then, a well-farmed farm also can feed a need for beauty. In my short story “The Art of Loading Brush,” when Andy Catlett and his brother go to a neighbor’s farm, there’s a wagonload of junk, and it’s beautifully loaded. Andy’s brother says, “He couldn’t make an ugly job of work to save his life.”
Interviewer: “We’re talking about pride a little bit too, I think.”
Wendell: ‘Lancie Clippinger said to me, and he was very serious, that a man oughtn’t to milk but about twenty-five cows, because if he keeps to that number, he’ll see them every day. If he milks more than that, he’ll do the work but never see the cows! The number will vary from person to person, I think, but Lancie’s experience had told him something important.
Closing Round
Eating: Pimento cheese, yo! A random impulse purchase that has been my go-to snack (on toast) the past week.
Working: Getting nerdy with a client. Adapting to the unforeseen. On a personal level, consolidating 10 years of writing and other content on SamSpurlin.com.
Reading: Finished Upheaval (good), How to Read the Weather (good), The Minimalist Home (okay), Shape Up (very good), Formula X (very good), Ruined By Design (great). Still working on Cibola Burn.
Playing: Jumped back into Final Fantasy XV after several months away. Still ambivalent.
Sleeping: Pillow mist is making me feel very fancy (and sleepy).
Watching: Looking for a new “together show” with Emily after finishing Brooklyn 99. Trying out Veep and Schitt’s Creek.
Until next time!
Your friend,
Sam