“People like to make excuses for why their attention is fractured, but the truth is, your attention isn’t being stolen—you’re just giving it away without a fight. If you don’t take control of your environment, you’ll spend your entire life becoming a data point for mega-corporations to package up and sell to the highest-bidding advertiser.”
Mark Manson
“Everybody is creative, but few people are bored. Busyness stifles creativity like wet leaves mashed atop an open fire. Far below, the embers burn red-hot. You just can’t see them until you’ve peeled your eyes from all the Slack threads, flooded inboxes, social feeds and Zoom meetings.”
Cole Schafer
“Truth is, the things you’re naturally good at never feel special. Meanwhile, the stuff that is difficult for you but you got better at feels impressive and mysterious, even though you’re probably quite average at it. It took me too long to realize: your gift will never feel like a gift to you. It feels too easy, too obvious—like a secret everyone should know but somehow doesn’t. But that’s exactly why it’s your gift: it’s not anybody else’s.”
Mark Manson
“He insisted on taking her home, even though she protested that he could easily miss the very last subway back. Once more, they did not speak, but as he walked her from the subway station through the dark cold empty streets to Mrs. Kehoe’s, she felt that she was being held by someone wounded, that the letter had somehow, in its tone, made clear to him what had really happened and made plain to him also that she belonged somewhere else, a place that he could never know. She thought that he was going to cry; she felt almost guilty that she had handed some of her grief to him, and then she felt close to him for his willingness to take it and hold it, in all its rawness, all its dark confusion. She was almost more upset now than she had been when she had ventured out in search of him.”
Colm Tóibín, Brooklyn (Page 192) | Read Matt’s Blog on this quote ➜
Brooklyn [Book]
Book Overview: “One of the most unforgettable characters in contemporary literature” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), Eilis Lacey has come of age in small-town Ireland in the hard years following World War Two. When an Irish priest from Brooklyn offers to sponsor Eilis in America, she decides she must go, leaving her fragile mother and her charismatic sister behind.
Eilis finds work in a department store on Fulton Street, and when she least expects it, finds love. Tony, who loves the Dodgers and his big Italian family, slowly wins her over with patient charm. But just as Eilis begins to fall in love, devastating news from Ireland threatens the promise of her future.
Post(s) Inspired by this Book:
- Trauma-Dumping vs Grief-Sharing (via Matt’s Blog)
“Be wary of liking or disregarding someone’s song simply because of who they are. Don’t allow prejudgments to close your mind. Keep your ears open and listen. Even liars can speak the truth, even friends can lead us astray. Hear the song, not the singer.”
Philip Toshio Sudo, Zen Guitar (Page 120)
“There is a reason why good wine tastes better in a wine glass than in a plastic cup, or why hot dogs taste better at a picnic than at a sit-down dinner. The right frame complements the contents.”
Philip Toshio Sudo, Zen Guitar (Page 116)
“Yes, there is more than one path to the top of the mountain. But the only one that will get you there is your own. Do not look longingly at the paths of others. Give yours your undivided attention and keep your focus. The farther you go on your own path, the more you will understand every other path. At the end, they all converge.”
Philip Toshio Sudo, Zen Guitar (Page 93)
“Sarcasm is an easy way to amplify feedback. It has two hidden costs: (1) It reveals low status. People with power don’t need to use sarcasm to make a point. If you want to lead with status, using sarcasm undermines that goal. (2) It adds emotion where it’s not always needed. The emotion is an amplifier, but it often causes division and defensiveness. If you have confidence in your standing and your idea, then sarcasm is simply getting in the way, because it undermines both.”
Seth Godin
“All true musicians can get along; it’s people who can’t get along.”
Philip Toshio Sudo, Zen Guitar (Page 68)
“When things fall apart, make art. Carry this spirit through to every area of your life.”
Philip Toshio Sudo, Zen Guitar (Page 54)
“In this dojo, you must develop comfort in good habits. You need not try to change everything you find wrong with yourself. Start with one new habit: Do one thing the right way one time. When the next moment comes, make the same commitment. If you do this, the bad habits will take care of themselves.”
Philip Toshio Sudo, Zen Guitar (Page 41)
“Learn to identify quality and appreciate anything that’s well made, wherever you find it. Look deeply into the spirit that goes into making an item of quality—the care, the precision, the attention to detail. Incorporate that spirit into your work in this dojo. Anything you set out to make—music, love, a bookshelf, a meal—make as well as you can. To do otherwise is spiritless.”
Philip Toshio Sudo, Zen Guitar (Page 28)
“While it’s true that in some schools a student formally graduates from one belt level to the next, in the Zen Guitar Dojo there is no such graduation. Students here receive one belt and one belt only: the white belt. Those who put in the time, training, and effort will find their belt getting so soiled that eventually it turns black of its own accord. Only then will they have achieved black-belt status.”
Philip Toshio Sudo, Zen Guitar (Page 18)