Reading this, I found myself thinking that the problem may not be unlimited choice itself, but our expectation that we should be able to choose without loss. Every meaningful choice closes a thousand other doors. A life, by definition, is an act of exclusion. Perhaps paralysis does not come from having too many options. Perhaps it comes from refusing to grieve the possibilities we must abandon in order to become something specific.
In that sense, "do something" is not only a call to action. It is also an acceptance of sacrifice. Every path chosen becomes a cemetery of unlived lives. And yet, as you suggest, remaining at the crossroads forever is its own form of death.
This is excellent nuance to the core point, one of many small and searching roots that can grow from it depending on the mind doing the thinking. Thank you for this riff, Sara.
I suspect many of our difficulties with choice arise from treating exclusion as failure rather than as the inevitable cost of becoming something specific. Every life is built as much from what we relinquish as from what we pursue.
Your essay made me think about that. Thank you for writing it.
Maybe Master Yoda was on to something, at least partially! I find that there is actually not much more to a good life than simply action, consistency and presence. Putting that into practice is a whole other story, however.
Thank you for your regular reminders to be present and alive, Sam!
Yoda, Gandalf, the list of wise old men is long, but not nearly long enough. I like your point about putting it to practice. This is something Epictetus hit on constantly—you can understand anything, but actually doing it is all that matters in the end, and is precisely this effort that is too much for many people to take undertake. Given your pursuits and depth of thought, I would say you're doing the work, Kai.
Cool! That character is such an endless source of positive energy and guidance. As he announced to Denethor: “I am a steward. Did you not know this?” The steward is my favorite archetype of the good person (along with the hero, though I think we need more stewarding and less heroics at this time in history).
“Are you angry with me, Gandalf?” Pippin asks as they emerge from the throne room together. “I did the best I could.”
“You did indeed!” said Gandalf, laughing suddenly; and he came and stood beside Pippin, putting his arm across the hobbit’s shoulders, and gazed out of the window. Pippin glanced in some wonder at the face now close beside his own for the sound of that laugh had been gay and merry. Yet in the wizard’s face he saw at first only lines of care and sorrow; though as he looked more intently he perceived that under all there was a great joy: a fountain of mirth enough to set a kingdom laughing, were it to gush forth.”
You guys are definitely giving me a nudge to finally start reading the Lord of the Rings. I've always loved the movies, but I think it's time to delve deeper!
I write with a habit I could not see until now. I reframe everything to land. Beginning, middle, conclusion. I mistook the habit for a rule.
Your essay broke that open. Not everything resolves. Life does not. I try to bring order to my memories when I write, and the fact is life has no order. It’s messy. Lived in the gray. The rose as muzzle flash stayed with me long after the screen went dark. You never told me what it meant. You let me sit with it.
Do something. I have been doing the work. I have not always trusted the reader. That changes now.
It is that ambiguity I have learned to love. To your point, it is respectful towards the reader. But it is also respectful towards ourselves. To assume we're capable of perfect rationality, or of perfect understanding, which I did for a long time, is to miss the entire point of thinking and writing—to dig, and dig, and maybe be wrong, but learn something along the way.
Perfect rationality was a younger man's idea. The older I get the more the good stuff lives in the digging, not the conclusion. I'm learning to leave the reader room because I'm finally leaving myself some. Appreciate you, Sam.
"The cure is actually simple: analog and ancient forms of engagement by doing fucking something, even if it means sitting in silent contemplation..."
Sam, this will be printed today in black, calligraphic text over a field of white heavy stock paper and go hang in my office, right next to the picture of 80s Mark Twight giving the finger. There is nothing more rewarding that starting a working day with "Do fucking something!" and Mark's evil smile giving you the finger.
What a visual... and tying Mark into it makes sense. A mountain, a bit of mortal risk, a middle finger, an idea to chew on—this sounds like a good life.
"We are not at our best when the enemy burns the boats at our back. Rather we are at our best when we burn the boats at our back, stare into the fire, spread our arms, and smile into it"
So true. It's tough to push forward, when retreat is so inviting. What successful person ever seriously contemplated giving up and going back?
It’s a good question. Even though it is rhetorical, I think it’s worth riffing on. I have had some notable moments in “giving up.” I would not claim to be successful, but it was those moments, especially the existentially significant moments, the blackest, that made me the most hungry for life.
Didn’t Alexander the Great purportedly burn his ships when attacking the Persians? Full commitment, no retreat possible, win or, die trying. I like it, a great way to live life or die.
I have Arrian's "Alexander" on my shelf, and I look at it lovingly every day until I can finally sit with it. I hope what you heard is true. But the point stands regardless. To your point, it is a great way to live unapologetically, absolutely alive.
Well burning your “ships” fully commits you to the path you’ve taken. No looking back, no second guessing. It’s like stepping off the ramp of an aircraft at 30,000’ (hopefully with a parachute). 🪂
Maybe there is no point, and that is not only ok, but beautiful.
I have come to believe, while the do something, purely, completely, does focus one’s energy, and removes the ceaseless background noise of existence, it still shows one cannot be at peace, calm, happy, in stillness.
Much like removing carbs may lower your blood glucose, it is actually increasing your insulin resistance.
You should be able to eat 5-6 bananas and never have your blood sugar rise above 140 over the next two hours.
Calm, peaceful, within the storm, not avoiding or minimizing the storm.
One should be able to not choose any of the millions of choices and still be energized, peaceful, happy and content. When the dirt settles, the water of life clears, and you can bask in its perfection, happy, and free from worry, stress, fear, hope even.
Just being is enough.
The pre creation state of WuJi is often mistranslated, or misunderstood,as empty, when it is the opposite of empty, it is full to bursting, just nothing has been chosen, or differentiated, all is one, complete whole, before the “breath of the Dao” moved over it separating into Yin and Yang.
Taiji is also often incompletely translated as Supreme Iltimate, when it can mean those things in context, what it means is the supreme, ultimate extreme, or differentiation, between positive and negative, high and low, light and dark etc.
Which is why it is represented by the polar opposites of black and white, being the complete absence of color, and the combination of all colors.
Or, in the immortal voice of Alan Watts, “maybe”…I am full of shit.🤷🏻♂️😎
This is a great riff, Gregg, and my sense is neither you nor I are full of shit but it may very well be the case. Agreed the definition of "do" includes not only movement but deliberate stillness—the full spectrum of life.
This is counter to how, boys especially, are taught today. They are taught they must NOT take charge, must not take intrepid action or reveal courage that may embarrass classmates. They are rebelling, sadly, through the dirt-bag Manosphere. With manly institutions largely dismantled and initiation rites utterly destroyed, where else can young men turn?
Plan. DO (duh!). Check. Adjust. Repeat. That’s the formula, Sam! Thanks for highlighting the DO.
BTW, I’ve noticed your continuous improvement of your “tag line” culminating in this crisp and clean version: “Thinker. SEAL. Dispatches on meaning and hardship. Also figs and dogs.” Nailed it (until the next iteration)! 👏
I dig that sequence, Baird. As with many things, it is far easier to conceptualize than act on.
Thanks for the note on the tagline. Until Substack starts letting us set essay templates (of if it exists and I learn how to use it) I will have to rewrite it every time! Which is not a bad thing.
That is one of the most beautiful things to "do" in the morning, along with a walk in the woods first thing upon waking up. Say hello to the fig trees for me.
Reading this, I found myself thinking that the problem may not be unlimited choice itself, but our expectation that we should be able to choose without loss. Every meaningful choice closes a thousand other doors. A life, by definition, is an act of exclusion. Perhaps paralysis does not come from having too many options. Perhaps it comes from refusing to grieve the possibilities we must abandon in order to become something specific.
In that sense, "do something" is not only a call to action. It is also an acceptance of sacrifice. Every path chosen becomes a cemetery of unlived lives. And yet, as you suggest, remaining at the crossroads forever is its own form of death.
This is excellent nuance to the core point, one of many small and searching roots that can grow from it depending on the mind doing the thinking. Thank you for this riff, Sara.
I suspect many of our difficulties with choice arise from treating exclusion as failure rather than as the inevitable cost of becoming something specific. Every life is built as much from what we relinquish as from what we pursue.
Your essay made me think about that. Thank you for writing it.
On the lookout for Congo originals for my office.
I was thinking the same thing. Unfortunately, they're probably outside my budget...
"Do or do not... there is no try."
Maybe Master Yoda was on to something, at least partially! I find that there is actually not much more to a good life than simply action, consistency and presence. Putting that into practice is a whole other story, however.
Thank you for your regular reminders to be present and alive, Sam!
Yoda, Gandalf, the list of wise old men is long, but not nearly long enough. I like your point about putting it to practice. This is something Epictetus hit on constantly—you can understand anything, but actually doing it is all that matters in the end, and is precisely this effort that is too much for many people to take undertake. Given your pursuits and depth of thought, I would say you're doing the work, Kai.
“All we have to decide is what to DO with the time that is given to us.” — Gandalf/Mithrandir/The White Rider
You literally made my day roping Gandalf into this.
Cool! That character is such an endless source of positive energy and guidance. As he announced to Denethor: “I am a steward. Did you not know this?” The steward is my favorite archetype of the good person (along with the hero, though I think we need more stewarding and less heroics at this time in history).
Yes! I have Gandalfs entire quote to Denethor memorized. It is probably one of the greatest scenes in all of literature.
One last great scene for today:
“Are you angry with me, Gandalf?” Pippin asks as they emerge from the throne room together. “I did the best I could.”
“You did indeed!” said Gandalf, laughing suddenly; and he came and stood beside Pippin, putting his arm across the hobbit’s shoulders, and gazed out of the window. Pippin glanced in some wonder at the face now close beside his own for the sound of that laugh had been gay and merry. Yet in the wizard’s face he saw at first only lines of care and sorrow; though as he looked more intently he perceived that under all there was a great joy: a fountain of mirth enough to set a kingdom laughing, were it to gush forth.”
You guys are definitely giving me a nudge to finally start reading the Lord of the Rings. I've always loved the movies, but I think it's time to delve deeper!
If you like audiobooks, Andy Serkis (who played Gollum in the films) just did a terrific version of the entire trilogy.
Go for it, Kai! I just finished my third or fourth (lifetime) read, and it was even better than I remembered.
Sam. This one resonates deep.
I write with a habit I could not see until now. I reframe everything to land. Beginning, middle, conclusion. I mistook the habit for a rule.
Your essay broke that open. Not everything resolves. Life does not. I try to bring order to my memories when I write, and the fact is life has no order. It’s messy. Lived in the gray. The rose as muzzle flash stayed with me long after the screen went dark. You never told me what it meant. You let me sit with it.
Do something. I have been doing the work. I have not always trusted the reader. That changes now.
Thank you for the eye opener.
It is that ambiguity I have learned to love. To your point, it is respectful towards the reader. But it is also respectful towards ourselves. To assume we're capable of perfect rationality, or of perfect understanding, which I did for a long time, is to miss the entire point of thinking and writing—to dig, and dig, and maybe be wrong, but learn something along the way.
Perfect rationality was a younger man's idea. The older I get the more the good stuff lives in the digging, not the conclusion. I'm learning to leave the reader room because I'm finally leaving myself some. Appreciate you, Sam.
"The cure is actually simple: analog and ancient forms of engagement by doing fucking something, even if it means sitting in silent contemplation..."
Sam, this will be printed today in black, calligraphic text over a field of white heavy stock paper and go hang in my office, right next to the picture of 80s Mark Twight giving the finger. There is nothing more rewarding that starting a working day with "Do fucking something!" and Mark's evil smile giving you the finger.
Thank you for an another awesome piece.
What a visual... and tying Mark into it makes sense. A mountain, a bit of mortal risk, a middle finger, an idea to chew on—this sounds like a good life.
"We are not at our best when the enemy burns the boats at our back. Rather we are at our best when we burn the boats at our back, stare into the fire, spread our arms, and smile into it"
So true. It's tough to push forward, when retreat is so inviting. What successful person ever seriously contemplated giving up and going back?
It’s a good question. Even though it is rhetorical, I think it’s worth riffing on. I have had some notable moments in “giving up.” I would not claim to be successful, but it was those moments, especially the existentially significant moments, the blackest, that made me the most hungry for life.
Didn’t Alexander the Great purportedly burn his ships when attacking the Persians? Full commitment, no retreat possible, win or, die trying. I like it, a great way to live life or die.
I have Arrian's "Alexander" on my shelf, and I look at it lovingly every day until I can finally sit with it. I hope what you heard is true. But the point stands regardless. To your point, it is a great way to live unapologetically, absolutely alive.
Well burning your “ships” fully commits you to the path you’ve taken. No looking back, no second guessing. It’s like stepping off the ramp of an aircraft at 30,000’ (hopefully with a parachute). 🪂
The parachute would certainly help... that would be a hardcore method of the burning the boats otherwise, one last hoorah.
Thank you, this was very refreshing. 'Effective action' indeed! We 'live' with a bunch of whiners I believe. In truth however, you are what you do.
You’re very welcome. We are indeed what we do, who we surround ourselves with, and of course, what we do not do.
Ah yes, what we do NOT do, a very important point!
Maybe there is no point, and that is not only ok, but beautiful.
I have come to believe, while the do something, purely, completely, does focus one’s energy, and removes the ceaseless background noise of existence, it still shows one cannot be at peace, calm, happy, in stillness.
Much like removing carbs may lower your blood glucose, it is actually increasing your insulin resistance.
You should be able to eat 5-6 bananas and never have your blood sugar rise above 140 over the next two hours.
Calm, peaceful, within the storm, not avoiding or minimizing the storm.
One should be able to not choose any of the millions of choices and still be energized, peaceful, happy and content. When the dirt settles, the water of life clears, and you can bask in its perfection, happy, and free from worry, stress, fear, hope even.
Just being is enough.
The pre creation state of WuJi is often mistranslated, or misunderstood,as empty, when it is the opposite of empty, it is full to bursting, just nothing has been chosen, or differentiated, all is one, complete whole, before the “breath of the Dao” moved over it separating into Yin and Yang.
Taiji is also often incompletely translated as Supreme Iltimate, when it can mean those things in context, what it means is the supreme, ultimate extreme, or differentiation, between positive and negative, high and low, light and dark etc.
Which is why it is represented by the polar opposites of black and white, being the complete absence of color, and the combination of all colors.
Or, in the immortal voice of Alan Watts, “maybe”…I am full of shit.🤷🏻♂️😎
This is a great riff, Gregg, and my sense is neither you nor I are full of shit but it may very well be the case. Agreed the definition of "do" includes not only movement but deliberate stillness—the full spectrum of life.
Thanks Sam, love your pieces.
I love Turners work, sadly haven’t made it to the Tate gallery yet, just the V and A and National gallery works.
Net trip, hopefully soon.
It is simply epic. We need more art like this. More artists like this.
agree 100%
The battle drill for an ambush: Assault through.
Otherwise, you will die where you lay.
This is counter to how, boys especially, are taught today. They are taught they must NOT take charge, must not take intrepid action or reveal courage that may embarrass classmates. They are rebelling, sadly, through the dirt-bag Manosphere. With manly institutions largely dismantled and initiation rites utterly destroyed, where else can young men turn?
Sappers forward.
This “The battle drill for an ambush: Assault through” is the truth, not only of combat, but the combat of life. Thank you for this Truman.
Plan. DO (duh!). Check. Adjust. Repeat. That’s the formula, Sam! Thanks for highlighting the DO.
BTW, I’ve noticed your continuous improvement of your “tag line” culminating in this crisp and clean version: “Thinker. SEAL. Dispatches on meaning and hardship. Also figs and dogs.” Nailed it (until the next iteration)! 👏
I dig that sequence, Baird. As with many things, it is far easier to conceptualize than act on.
Thanks for the note on the tagline. Until Substack starts letting us set essay templates (of if it exists and I learn how to use it) I will have to rewrite it every time! Which is not a bad thing.
Put me in for at least one when the D.F.S. shirts are printed up…
Genius... genius. I'll need a What then shop for this.
Let’s go! This was a great essay- I felt the energy coursing from the intro. Dialed in and on target. Love the galactic FOB as well.
I debated including the daydream... never know how these sorts of things will land. I'm stoked it resonated.
Go places Do Stuff
Rock on. It's the actual going and the doing that stops too many people, and yet it is the simplest part.
Wow, excellent again Sam!! I enjoy your essays!!
Let's go Don, thank you!
Thank you for the reminder to “doing fucking something”.
I am going early to the farm and harvest more tomatoes.
That is one of the most beautiful things to "do" in the morning, along with a walk in the woods first thing upon waking up. Say hello to the fig trees for me.