Happy Sunday!
It was a Thursday afternoon when a man with glasses and cargo pants named Bruce arrived to poke a hole in the bulge above our bathtub.
The day hadn’t started well. We woke up to find water in the washing machine and the bubbling paint over the shower getting bigger, not better.
Avoiding the problem, I left for a haircut and pho with a friend. While I was out, Sarah called for reinforcements. I was home by the time Bruce arrived to burst the bubble. I wondered if it would be bad or really bad. Bruce broke apart the ceiling, giving way to “over a gallon” of gross water, and found … not much else. No apparent leak and nothing further to fix.
Bruce diagnosed the issue as simply “water in the walls” from somewhere upstairs. He seemed unfazed and left us with fancy fans blowing in the bathroom. My worries about insurance deductibles and finding pet-friendly hotels subsided.
Flailing in ignorance, I defaulted to complexity combined with catastrophe. When really, I don’t know enough about plumbing to guess good or bad.
I appreciate all the Bruces out there helping us solve problems we can’t solve on our own.
Homage to October
☕ Sipping in the neighbourhood — In a quest to establish healthier working routines, I’ve been mixing in coffee shop sessions. Turns out I have a handful of cafes nearby to test Americanos and take in the vibes. And I gotta say, the thin veil of social formality does a helluva job. There’s something about the hum of chilled-out strangers that helps with writing.
🍞 Goodbye gluten — Gluten is the glue that holds so many good things together. But after months of denial, I’ve given in and given up on gluten. My mom surprised me earlier this year with a food sensitivity test confirming gluten ain’t good for me. Letting it go has been annoying but undeniably effective. My body and my mind are better for it.
🔨 Free work pitch — I’ve spent much of the past two weeks building out ghostwritten assets for a dream client. These pieces and pitch are a culmination of everything I’ve learned in the past few months. I feel good about it. I’m sending the pitch tomorrow because I’ve been tinkering with it too long. It’s time, and I’m committing to it here.
Three Lessons Learned in October
I. It’s worth considering what you’re excited about.
Have you looked ahead with excitement recently?
I hadn’t.
Sat on a park bench next to Elbow River, gazing at the turning leaves rustling across the bank, I zoomed in and out, looking for excitement. It started as a trickle. Then the drops built until the dam burst.
And by burst, I mean I managed to jot five things down.
But still, the exercise was simple but uplifting. It reframed my perspective, interrupting the habitual cycle to notice the sun shining on the dying leaves. I stood up with a smile, feeling lighter, with a clearer sense of direction.
We all have something to be excited about, no matter how small it might be.
II. Beware the switching costs of all the things you enjoy.
I’ve been pruning my social media feeds for years.
I hide the stuff I don’t like to make more room for the things I do. I figured it would make my scrolling more “useful.” But what happens when everything you see is useful?
In Oliver Burkeman’s new series titled “You Are Here,” he notes the dangers of having too many good, personalized options.
He likens modern social media use to searching for a needle in a needlestack. The algorithms give us exactly what we want, whether we know it or not, endlessly. And if you curate your feeds like I do, the probability of finding that elusive golden nugget in the scroll only increases.
Like a good gambler, it’s best to quit when you’re ahead. Enjoy what you enjoy, but stay aware of where it’s taking you.
The promised land is built with more than gold.
III. Everything takes longer than you’d expect & you have less time than you think.
Academic papers often take 1.5-2x longer to publish than expected. 90% of IT projects have time overruns, averaging 222% more than predicted. Psychologists find people consistently underestimate how long tasks will take – on average, 1.5x as long.
Notice a trend?
I’ve spent 134 hours writing and editing this month. Each project begins with a delicate balance of optimism and dread. I remind myself I’ve refined the process because I know once I dig in, it won’t feel like I’ve refined anything.
I plod through the process, feeling the squeeze of time and deafening doubt until I’ve built enough to believe again. I’m learning to accept the pressure of the process because it’s not going anywhere.
We’ll never have as much time as we want, and everything takes longer than we hope. Might as well get on with it.
3 Interesting Resources
- Tim Ferriss Show #694 with Sam Corcos (YouTube/Podcast)
- You Are Here by Oliver Burkeman (Waking Up App series)
- “How the US & China Are Preparing to Fight Total War” by RealLifeLore (YouTube)
I’ll leave you with a quote 🤔
“Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood“
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
Until next time, remember to live and let go,
Scotty
If you enjoyed the newsletter, send it to someone else who will too.