The Daily Blog is dead. After much havering, this is what I’ve come to.
I am no longer able to stave off the guilt about posting too much. One part of me thinks I’m gone mad. It smacks of impostor syndrome, but I cannot resist it any longer. Thus ends 33 days of daily posting.
I think. Probably.
I’ve been talking to friends about it over the past few days and I’ve been journaling about it like a mad man the past couple of days. As well as the guilt for overposting, I’ve also been itching because I’m not getting out with my camera and I’m not working on another major script.
After much journaling this morning, I came to this: the obstacle is the way. This inner conflict I’m having will be the subject of the next script. In the past month of daily posting there have been many articles about creativity and inspiration and the individual and archetypal dynamics of this. The only clue I had for the next video up to now was an aesthetic. As it so happens, this aesthetic connects with this topic so it looks like we have found the way forward.
So the daily blog is over…for now. It is with some hesitance I make this call. I’ve dreamed for years of such productive abundance. 33 days of blogs (with another few in reserve) is a wonderful proof to myself. It has conquered some demon in me. I remember reading about Taylor Swift’s youth and how she would go to writing as a safe haven; it was relaxing for her. For me, writing has always been a struggle. But with this, it wasn’t. This was pure flow. I would lose myself in inspiration for hours at a time. The thing is, not all of Swift’s writings ended up on albums; the same thing with Dylan’s “ticker tape” days of abundance in Greenwich Village (and beyond; the nutjob cut Blind Willie McTell from Infidels). I’ve decided to take a page from their books. Kill your darlings, as the old writing advice goes. Forgive me for having to waste your time while I learned this lesson!
So, new plan: I will continue to write every day, but henceforth I will do more curation of what I write and publish 1-2 times per week (not including the poetry club). I hope to share the cream of the crop with you.
I’d love to hear what you think. Have you enjoyed the month of daily blogs? Found it overwhelming? Perhaps you enjoyed picking through and finding what you liked? Or perhaps you like less regular, more monumental pieces? Perhaps you enjoyed some content like the political or poetic, but not others like the creative and dreams? I have loved engaging more with you guys this past month. It has felt more alive in that way, and maybe I’m just being thin-skinned (the vulnerability of constant posting being more of a factor that perhaps I am taking into account). I will continue to write every day and continue to bring you regular work.
This Week’s Posts
MAGA Marx: we kicked this week of radical reflections with a musing on Marx and MAGA and how these seemingly opposite theories play well together
Poetry Club #1: Bluebird by Charles Bukowski: then we launched our poetry club, and it was delightful! I’ve been relishing the bit of poetry in the mornings and letting Bukowski get deeper into me. Each day seems to bring something new
Aphorism #11: Archetypalisation is Niche; Individuation is Suicide: in keeping with my goal to write shorter pieces this week, the aphorism makes its return, this time contemplating the flattening of the individual in the face of the archetypal
Aphorism #12: The True Source of Greatness: I managed to be brief two days in a row! Well…ish. Thursday’s piece wrestled with two hypotheses about greatness: immersion in the thick of it, or contemplation from the edges
Emptying the Mind Before Sunrise: Friday, the reins of brevity loosened a bit, and I found myself waxing lyrical about my second favourite movie trilogy (after Lord of the Rings obviously), Richard Linklater’s Before serie,s and in particular meditating on a quote from Before Sunset about finding stillness and creativity in alien settings
How to Save Democracy: the Swiss Safety Valve: yesterday bookended the week’s radical reflections with some thoughts on a quirk of the Swiss direct democracy system that could perhaps save us from the Chaos of radicalism
Other updates
I am crossing the Atlantic this week! I’ll be visiting my brothers in Toronto and catching up with some folks there before heading down to Massachusetts for a spot of meditation (the topic of the next video).
Also: my philosophy burnout seems to have receded (also: I realised I’ve been going through philosophy burnout). This week I felt enough space of mind to tackle Heidegger’s Being and Time again, and it is going surprisingly well. As expected, it is a dense labyrinth, but 10% in, I’m beginning to recognise some patterns in the labyrinth. It feels enervating to be taking on such an audacious challenge once again.
Thank you James…. I have enjoyed it all.