This piece made me feel homesick for somewhere Iโve never lived, but by far my favourite part was this: โThe human experience is just that, isnโt it? Persistence. Living with the fruits or the consequences of trying again and again. At least thatโs how I want my life to be.โ
Going to keep repeating that to myself - thank you! x
so interesting: โitโs important to have both magnitude and direction for ambition.โ iโve always felt that ambition without direction wasnโt ambition at all, just low self-worth. the ambient feeling that big external accomplishments are needed to justify oneโs existence.
i think discourse around ambition gets it backwards. its described as finding an arbitrary external action (founding a company, getting rich, publishing, getting tenure, etc) to cultivate a positive internal quality (self-worth, esteem, โagencyโ etc). but ambition, to me, is the other way around. itโs noticing a positive internal quality, and then finding a way to externalize those life-affirming qualities more broadly in the external world and in others. ambition without direction is just megalomania.
Beautifully written. and I love that SF has ultimately made you feel more calm. (Hey, neighbor! Iโm in San Francisco, too ๐๐ผ)
โNew York makes you desire intensity and status, SF makes you desire thought-leadership and freedom.โ Fascinating and accurate, from what I know of NY at least--never lived there and have enjoyed my visits, but donโt think I could live there. I have been in the Bay Area all my life and Iโd say thatโs 100% the case in my experience.
Also loved the Rilke quote about living our lives in widening circles. Love me some Rilke. โจ
i think this is one of my favorite things you've written! my experience moving to new york echoes the same themes of effort, uncertainty, reinvention :)
This piece made me feel homesick for somewhere Iโve never lived, but by far my favourite part was this: โThe human experience is just that, isnโt it? Persistence. Living with the fruits or the consequences of trying again and again. At least thatโs how I want my life to be.โ
Going to keep repeating that to myself - thank you! x
Thank you! โบ๏ธ
so interesting: โitโs important to have both magnitude and direction for ambition.โ iโve always felt that ambition without direction wasnโt ambition at all, just low self-worth. the ambient feeling that big external accomplishments are needed to justify oneโs existence.
i think discourse around ambition gets it backwards. its described as finding an arbitrary external action (founding a company, getting rich, publishing, getting tenure, etc) to cultivate a positive internal quality (self-worth, esteem, โagencyโ etc). but ambition, to me, is the other way around. itโs noticing a positive internal quality, and then finding a way to externalize those life-affirming qualities more broadly in the external world and in others. ambition without direction is just megalomania.
Absolutely the ending noticing a positive internal quality and then externalizing it is ๐ฏ
Beautifully written. and I love that SF has ultimately made you feel more calm. (Hey, neighbor! Iโm in San Francisco, too ๐๐ผ)
โNew York makes you desire intensity and status, SF makes you desire thought-leadership and freedom.โ Fascinating and accurate, from what I know of NY at least--never lived there and have enjoyed my visits, but donโt think I could live there. I have been in the Bay Area all my life and Iโd say thatโs 100% the case in my experience.
Also loved the Rilke quote about living our lives in widening circles. Love me some Rilke. โจ
Thank you! Yes Rilke is so good :)
i think this is one of my favorite things you've written! my experience moving to new york echoes the same themes of effort, uncertainty, reinvention :)
Thank you Anita!!