One trap I fall into on the internet is reading too many things that are impermanent. An article about the Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire is an example of something impermanent; so is a piece about a restaurant closure in Brooklyn. Can they be informative? Sure. But will I return to that writing, months or years in the future, to remind myself of some lasting wisdom embedded within? No. And so any time I spend reading them feels like time wasted to a certain degree.
Avoiding this trap takes discipline that I don’t yet have. There is an infinite amount of stuff to read out there, and only a small fraction of it are “ideas” and not “headlines.” So the default content is that impermanent stuff above, and all the opinions that get caked on top of it. It takes a discerning eye to fish out the good stuff, and even that requires you to wade through a lot of crap.
One of you awesome readers hit on this recently when you said: “your reading recommendations have been helpful as I try to expand my intake beyond just news and sports.” And the truth is that other people’s reading recommendations have been extremely helpful for me in doing the exact same thing, and giving me something to share here with all of you. It really does take a village to find the good stuff.
But there’s one trick I’ve learned that’s helped me avoid the headline scrolling more than anything else: Find writers you like, and when in doubt, mine their archives. There are some phenomenal voices out there who have years and years of writing that preceded whenever you happened to stumble upon them. Save down their pages and revisit them often. You won’t run out of content.
Here are some of my own favorites:
Dear Sugar – Four years of an excellent advice column from Cheryl Strayed
Wait But Why – Explanations of why humans struggle with such seemingly simple things
Paul Graham – VC with a treasure trove of essays about everything
Mr Money Mustache – Personal finance blog with a lot of wisdom on living better
Ryan Holiday – Pop Stoicism
The Electric Typewriter – Collection of 150 great articles and essays from famous writers
Dear Therapist – Another great advice column from Lori Gottlieb
There’s no guarantee that my favorites will be your favorites. But if you like any of the above (or if you already have some of your own) give this a try: Next time you’re sitting on the toilet and instinctively reach for your phone, pull up one of these archives and choose something at random. You could be surprised – it may really stick with you.
On Tuesday I did this and came across Paul Graham’s 2016 essay, Life Is Short, a continuation of the idea I wrote about two weeks ago after spending some time with family. Here’s a line that stuck with me:
“The things that matter aren’t necessarily the ones people would call ‘important.’ Having coffee with a friend matters. You won’t feel later like that was a waste of time.”
That’s all from me today. I’m recovering from a very busy weekend that took me over 60 miles (walking and running) through four boroughs and a handful of neighborhoods I’d never been to before. Too much graffiti to photograph it all.
Have a great week everyone!
– Emmett
Recent Posts:
Training Update, May 21st – Smoothies, running partners and another beautiful view.
What I’m Reading:
Why You Should Never Borrow Unhappiness – Ryan Holiday
“Why are you borrowing unhappiness? Why would you be miserable now just because you might be in the future? Basically, he told him that ‘what will happen will happen, so stop being anxious.'”
The Anxiety of Influencers – Barrett Swanson, Harper’s
“Whatever else you might say about the education these kids are receiving, it’s clear that their hedonistic coursework—yacht content, poolside content, White Claw content—doesn’t include the rudiments of critical thinking. Take for just one example the moment during dinner when, as one boy is telling me about his ambitions to become a rock star, Baron looks up from his smartphone and says, apropos of nothing, ‘Yo, Hitler invented sex dolls.'”
What I’m Listening To:
Daniel Kahneman – Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard