After reading (and associating with) the How to forget what you read article it reminded me how often I say “Why did I save/highlight this quote?” when I go back to it. Often it just doesn’t resonate later. That tells me it wasn’t the exact words I read/saved/organized but the feelings that came up in the moment that are important. Feelings don’t need to be “organized” to be valuable or available later. I guess this is another way of saying “reading to shape your sensibility”.
I just want to say how much I have been enjoying your newsletter. I am the type of person who signs up to a lot of emails and only reads about one in ten of them, if that. I have read every single one of your newsletters and haven't regretted it. Everything you discuss and share has been really relatable and has helped me see things I experience in a different or more clear light.
I especially related to this one. I ,too, tend to equate my house being messy with my life being unmanageable, and so I obsessively tidy in order to calm that feeling instead of letting things be messy and making time for things I think I don't have time for (because I'm too busy tidying). It's incredible how much space we can open in our lives and minds with a simple check-in and shift of perspective.
Thanks for all the awesome work you do - you really are an inspiration to me.
It's the ultimate irony that vacation is supposed to be a time to relax and the stress of getting there and the stress when you come home are overwhelming.
I received The Master and His Emissary, a book I'm excited to read, but every time I try to carve out time to get my highlighter and find the perfect spot in the house to read it, I get distracted. The article you linked had the exact line I needed to hear: "We’ve all heard how using highlighter pens – or underlining passages in pencil – is a poor way of internalising what you read. But you know what’s an even worse way of internalising a book? Not reading it to begin with, because you can’t face taking detailed notes on it right now."
I don't need to absorb all the data in order to shape my framework about right brain/left brain.
I enjoy reading your musings, and want to introduce you to Ryan Holiday, who writes the Daily Stoic. He is a modern philosopher who has brought the tenets of Stoicism into modern culture.
“Virtue is how we live happy and free lives. It’s not grandiose nor vague. The Stoics shun complexity and worship simplicity. If we were to describe Stoicism in one sentence, it would be this: A Stoic believes they don’t control the world around them, only how they respond—and that they must always respond with courage, temperance, wisdom, and justice.
Life is unpredictable. There’s so much over which we have no control. That can be overwhelming and crippling or it can be freeing.
Virtue is how we ensure the latter. No matter what happens, we always have the capacity to use reason and make choices. We should always try to do the right thing. To let virtue guide us. It’s all that we control. Let the rest take care of itself, as it will with or without your consent.”
After reading (and associating with) the How to forget what you read article it reminded me how often I say “Why did I save/highlight this quote?” when I go back to it. Often it just doesn’t resonate later. That tells me it wasn’t the exact words I read/saved/organized but the feelings that came up in the moment that are important. Feelings don’t need to be “organized” to be valuable or available later. I guess this is another way of saying “reading to shape your sensibility”.
What an excellent way of framing it!
Hi Sarai,
I just want to say how much I have been enjoying your newsletter. I am the type of person who signs up to a lot of emails and only reads about one in ten of them, if that. I have read every single one of your newsletters and haven't regretted it. Everything you discuss and share has been really relatable and has helped me see things I experience in a different or more clear light.
I especially related to this one. I ,too, tend to equate my house being messy with my life being unmanageable, and so I obsessively tidy in order to calm that feeling instead of letting things be messy and making time for things I think I don't have time for (because I'm too busy tidying). It's incredible how much space we can open in our lives and minds with a simple check-in and shift of perspective.
Thanks for all the awesome work you do - you really are an inspiration to me.
Melanie, thank you so much for taking the time to say that. It really affected me to hear that you feel that way, and I am so appreciative.
It's the ultimate irony that vacation is supposed to be a time to relax and the stress of getting there and the stress when you come home are overwhelming.
I received The Master and His Emissary, a book I'm excited to read, but every time I try to carve out time to get my highlighter and find the perfect spot in the house to read it, I get distracted. The article you linked had the exact line I needed to hear: "We’ve all heard how using highlighter pens – or underlining passages in pencil – is a poor way of internalising what you read. But you know what’s an even worse way of internalising a book? Not reading it to begin with, because you can’t face taking detailed notes on it right now."
I don't need to absorb all the data in order to shape my framework about right brain/left brain.
Yes! I loved that too.
Hello Sarai,
I enjoy reading your musings, and want to introduce you to Ryan Holiday, who writes the Daily Stoic. He is a modern philosopher who has brought the tenets of Stoicism into modern culture.
“Virtue is how we live happy and free lives. It’s not grandiose nor vague. The Stoics shun complexity and worship simplicity. If we were to describe Stoicism in one sentence, it would be this: A Stoic believes they don’t control the world around them, only how they respond—and that they must always respond with courage, temperance, wisdom, and justice.
Life is unpredictable. There’s so much over which we have no control. That can be overwhelming and crippling or it can be freeing.
Virtue is how we ensure the latter. No matter what happens, we always have the capacity to use reason and make choices. We should always try to do the right thing. To let virtue guide us. It’s all that we control. Let the rest take care of itself, as it will with or without your consent.”
Thank you for the great quote, Katherine! I’ve read a couple of Ryan Holiday’s books and I love how clear and accessible they are.