Adventure or Vacation?
Hey friend,
This is a short email I send every couple of weeks as a part of the 90-day experiment I’m doing publishing a fictional story every week day. What to expect in this email:
A piece of wisdom I've found in books I'm reading, podcasts, etc.
A line or two from the most popular story I've published
A short note on the project itself
Piece of Wisdom
"The difference between a vacation and an adventure, is that on an adventure you always wish you were at home." - David Mamet, filmmaker of Glengarry Glen Ross and many others
Not sure this is “wisdom” per se, but it stirred some stuff up in me.
This quote reminds me that if it ain’t hard, it ain’t an adventure… and that… At the end of my life, I’d rather laugh at the calculated risks I took than be riddled with regret. I’d rather recount the times I sought out mountains I had no business climbing rather than the safe, well-marked trail I walked. How I dealt with the obstacles along my path rather than how I avoided them. On my deathbed, I hope to be ragged and torn up by how fully I lived.
And this perspective helps me see my current challenges in a different light.
Most Popular Story
From Never Rob Someone of Their Ability to Give:
This story was inspired by the idea that as human beings we have an innate need to give. To be useful to those around us. And we deny people of that need because of pride:
We don’t share our struggles because we don’t we don’t want to look bad
When someone is telling a story or giving us advice, we cut them off and tell them we already know it
When someone offers us help we say “No thanks, I’ve got it.”
(There are, of course, people that take, take, take, and are so absorbed in their own world right now that they never give. This does not apply to them)
Allowing people to help us is a major catalyst to greater connection and feeling of community.
Notes on the project
The only significant thing I’ve tried differently the past couple weeks is writing a few articles just for fun. And it’s been a blast making myself laugh, making Adee cringe, and so on.
Those are:
We’re traveling for the next five days, and I’ll resume publishing stories when I return. Thanks to everyone reading and sending messages with what you’re getting out of them. They are food for my soul and fuel for my motivation.
Peace,
Michael