Happy Sunday!
Did you know New York City has over 30 000 acres of parkland, and 14% of the city is green space?
Stumbling upon parks while exploring the city was one of my favourite parts of NYC. We started picking green spaces as way-points to guide our trekking. Each park offered a (relatively) quiet reprieve from the rushing of the city streets. Most of these parks, even the smaller ones, made me feel far away from the chaos. Small sanctuaries waiting to be found.
It’s funny the things you find when you’re not looking for anything in particular.
It becomes the paradox of visiting a new place. You want to see the things that make it unique, but often, what makes it unique to you is not what you expected at all. You can visit Times Square, walk the Brooklyn Bridge, and squint across the bay at the Statue of Liberty.
But what you will remember most vividly are those two hours in the rain under an umbrella in Bryant Park, the side quest to find sunscreen, and walking the Brooklyn Piers right after sunset.
The things that stick with you won’t be the ones on the itinerary.
Adventures of August
🏙 Downtown living in Calgary – Sarah and I (and the cats) have settled into our new home. I know downtown living isn’t for everyone, but it suits us well. I walked a lot before, but now I walk even more.
🛩 NYC – I embarked on another exciting adventure with my walkabout buddy, Jason. Thanks to his nudging back in January, I finally made it to New York City! We walked more than 150 km through Manhattan & Brooklyn in 7 days.
I saw the things you go there to see, but more than that, I soaked in the city. It’s a marvel of human ingenuity everywhere you look. It’s so big and complex that it doesn’t seem like it should work.
🗽 New York moment – We went to a show at the Comedy Cellar on our last night in NYC. Mark Normand (one of my favs) closed out the show. Afterwards, I stopped to say hi. I suggested an ending to a joke he was working on, and he was into it! We riffed on it briefly before the security guard told me it was time to go.
It was magical, Jerry! I was buzzing.
Three Lessons Learned in August
I. Everything sucks when you’re getting started.
On Monday, August 7th, I was staring at my laptop, struggling.
It’s a cloudy afternoon, which isn’t helping. I’m struggling to write a cold email. The next step in my ghostwriting journey is selling my services. This step is a big part of why I joined PGA. Outreach has always been a struggle, and I’m still here struggling.
I was reminded that knowing something and doing something are important distinctions. You probably don’t need more information, you just need more reps.
And as Alex Hormozi says, “This is what hard feels like.”
II. Understanding isn’t the same as knowing.
Travelling will show you what you know versus what you think you know.
I watched dozens of videos in preparation for my trip to NYC. I jotted notes, familiarized myself with the map, and thought I was prepared.
I was wrong.
Even with the preparation, we got lost, sidetracked, and turned around. The map made sense looking at it from above, but not so much surrounded by buildings. I don’t think we ever managed to exit a subway station in the right direction.
I thought because I understood how things worked in principle, I would naturally do them “properly” in practice. But that’s not how life works.
You need to experience things to really know them. Understanding isn’t enough.
III. Suffering is an integral part of the yin & yang of life.
I’ve travelled enough to know that setbacks are inevitable.
Not long before the trip, I listened to Alan Watts speak about Yin and Yang. He said you can’t have too much of one without the other. They’ll always even out.
Like with the lesson on setbacks from last month, this idea braced me for the challenges to come. And when they arrived, I didn’t react too harshly or take things too personally. I let go to the flow.
Suffering is inevitable, just as joy is. Without darkness, we can’t appreciate the light.
Enjoy it as it comes and goes because the sun always shines behind the clouds.
I’ll leave you with a quote 🤔
“Don’t let yesterday use up too much of today.”
— Will Rogers
If you enjoyed the newsletter, send it to someone else that will too.
Until next time, remember to live and let go,
Scotty
PS I met this guy
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