Shift
“It has always seemed strange to me,” said Doc.“The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second.”
—John Steinbeck
I just finished Steinbeck’s Cannery Row and I was struck by this statement. The description isn’t completely accurate but it has value in its simplicity. Recently, I’ve felt like I’ve started to lose touch with my values as I’ve spent more and more time focusing on my career and everything involved in being an adult. After spending a lot of time in the most materialistic city in the world and meeting people who spend the equivalent of my student loans as a hobby, I couldn’t help but start to think about money as a priority. I feel like I’m increasingly self-interested, spending a lot of time thinking about how I can get and save money.
As I spend more time reflecting on what has made different parts of my life special, it’s never had much to do with money. What has mattered to me has been the ability to connect with others through art and through experience. It has been the moments of connection during late nights eating ice cream or listening to music or going to shows or sharing stories. It has been writing things that people resonated with and feeling connected with them. It has been being honest with who I am and what I do. What has mattered to me has never been just money or a job.
Although I have a complex religious identity that underlies what I think is the purpose of life, I remember what I used to tell people: “if I can make at least one person’s life slightly happier or more meaningful, then I think that I’ll have lived a successful life.” Somewhere along the way, I lost that drive to live for more than just myself. On this isolating campus in the middle of Georgia, where everyone seems to be drowning in their own worries, it’s hard to escape the overwhelming busyness, but I hope to do more, to shift my thinking back towards my values and live for more than me.
Drops of the Week
where I *drop* recommendations of cool things this week
Article
“Skim reading is the new normal. The effect on society is profound” by Maryanne Wolf- we’re quickly losing the ability to focus on things enough to get a deep look at different things that we are reading. Our interest in going deep on anything is withering, which makes us less likely to care about truly understanding things. It’s concerning.
Book
Cannery Row by John Steinbeck- easily one of my favorite books I’ve read lately. I’d never read a book by Steinbeck before now, but my friend Chris gave me a copy for my birthday and boy am I glad he did. Steinbeck has an incredible ability to tell the most mundane story in an interesting way and sprinkle some incredible truths about life itself along the way.
Album
Homework by Daft Punk- currently in a mood where I think this is the best album of all time. Because it is.
Thanks so much for reading! If you have any comments/concerns or fan/hate mail for me, you know how to reach me (links below).
Love,
Nikhil