We are the example

My brother sent me a screenshot of James Clear's latest newsletter and I've been thinking about it a lot.

“Many people won't attempt something unless they can find an example of someone else who is already doing it. Rely on this type of thinking too much and you'll never do anything interesting.

Your path through life is unique. It is important to extract lessons from the experiences of others, but you can't wait for a perfect example to take action. You are the example.”

Being made an example of is different than being an example. Our personal worth is often tangled up with our perception of other examples. We are individual and interdependent. Our path is unique and along previously-paved roads. Art is iterative and repetitive, and an opportunity to be bold, to take a stab at something new.

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Reading - I finished Living Rooms by Sam Johnson-Schlee and thoroughly enjoyed it. Read for the history of chintz, philosophy of Live Laugh Love, and truly heartbreaking/warming memoir about walls of framed photos and a rambling house where the inside and outside blend. (If you're local and want to borrow my copy lmk.) This was a wonderful week of new poetry by friends: Catherine Spino's hot and bloody poems in Hobart and Michael Buckius' new book Better Than What of mysterious and mournful poems and photographs (you want to buy a copy.)

Writing - Decided I like reading better this week.

Cooking Eating - Risotto with Parmesan, green onions, and white wine that my mom made for Easter and it was delicious. PSA: Get an Instant Pot and risotto takes 15 minutes (rather than a million hours.)