Three
I’m not big on quotes. I find them mostly simplistic (fair warning: I am hopped up on head cold and my thinking is fuzzy at best), but there are a couple I find really useful across broad contexts (and one that I find useful for writing fiction).
One quote I find indispensable came from a beer talk with Kevin Canty and had to do with writers’ groups, but I think goes far beyond them: “If I show you a bowl of dog shit and tell you it’s vanilla ice cream, and you agree with me, who is being served?”
This post started out as having a lot to do with Merlin’s funny little list essentially calling “dog shit” on a lot of lists that get pumped out these days, but I don’t think it has much to do with that any more.
It has to do with creating good things and being more cognizant of when you’re ingesting heaping bowls of dog shit.
I don’t claim to be above lists. I don’t claim to be above heading over to LifeHacker and taking a spin around the grounds (well, I do now because I don’t go there any more, but I used to, so it still serves my argument’s purpose. Again, head cold). I honestly believe in some part of me that should I find the perfect messenger bag with just the right pockets for this or that, and the little holder for that one thing, I will self-actualize and suddenly become this new, amazing version of myself that other versions merely shadowed. A full-on Plato’s cave type of thing. But really, I understand none of those things is going to fix my life (in as much as it needs fixing).
I can see why Merlin turned inside out on the productivity pr0n business. He’s said as much, probably more eloquently than I ever could, but I’ll see if I can add something new: as long as we keep looking for easy fixes, none of us is going to be a better person. We’re all going to be lists and catch phrases and little do-hickies that supposedly make life easier, but that I would wager make life a little emptier. I mean, honestly, do you really need a list of 43 things to help you simplify your life? What’s that going to teach you? How about you take a second and do some heavy mental lifting. Sure, you might suck at first. It’s ok. The muscles probably haven’t been used in a while. But if you’re feeling overwhelmed, really sit down and figure out what needs to be there. And then protect it like you would your offspring.
(One of the other great quotes? “Learn to play your instruments; then get sexy.” Attributed to Deborah Harry.)
