(Onder dit verhaal, stel je voor het continue commentaar bij de American Football wedstrijd die op de tv’s aan de muur wordt weergegeven).
Links van me zitten twee mannen van een stuk in de veertig, collega’s waarschijnlijk, cola te drinken achter hun laptop; de ene een dikke Sony, de ander een slanke MacBook Air. Van die jongens met koltruien. Eén zit de hele tijd met zijn been te trillen terwijl ze een tekst editen.
Achter ze zit een een ouder stel dat hele foute blousejes draagt. Zij heeft er een met fijne roze bloemetjes, hij draagt een shirt met een soort golfpatroon in fletse kleuren blauw, paars en grijs. Beide hebben ze witte sportschoenen aan hun voeten. Ze drinken witte wijn, wat ik voor dit tentje nogal afwijkend vind. Ik kan me slechts een oude goedkope sauvignon blanc bij voorstellen. De man heeft flaporen en een bijbehorend schlemielig kapsel, de vrouw is waarschijnlijk bij dezelfde kapper geweest.
Het meisje dat me bediend heeft een knap gezichten kort geknipt, zwart geverfd haar. Ze is maar een beetje dik. Ze heeft zwarte ogen en ik blijf nog even langer zitten om daar nog een paar keer in te kunnen kijken. Aan de overkant onder de televisies (American Football en een soort bingo) zitten zich te vervelen: een jong paartje (beide staren naar hun smartphone), een gezinnetje (hoewel die het kennelijk wel gezellig hebben met zijn drieën, een echtpaar van midden veertig (die elkaar commentaar delen over de afgrijselijke televisieprogramma’s die boven mijn hoofd worden vertoond). Iedereen zit langs de wand, valt me nu op; geen mens bezet de tafeltje in het midden van deze ruimte.
Onduidelijk wat de foto’s van oude auto’s aan de muur moeten vertellen. Ik kan alleen maar vermoeden dat bedoeling is een jaren zestig gevoel op te roepen, aangezien de mica tafeltjes en de bankjes langs de muur hetzelfde lijken te beogen.
De collega’s hoor ik net, zijn Engels. Dat verklaart de kleding. My goodness, de oudere vrouw van dat echtpaar, met haar beige broek met grijze sokken, zet haar rugzak op haar schoot er gaat er liefhebbend met haar armen omheen geslagen zitten wiegen.
Er is een Chinees stel 2 plaatsjes verder voor me gaan zitten. De man is erg nerveus. Staat op, gaat weer zitten, praat te hard, trekt zijn bruine leren jas aan, gaat staan, neemt een hap, gaat weer zitten, gaat weer staan, neemt een hap van het bord van zijn partner, stelt een vraag, gaat nog een paar keer zitten en weer staan, terwijl hij happen blijft nemen van de borden op tafel. Ondertussen zit zijn collega rustig op zijn netbook door te werken.
Tot zover Detroit Online. Ik drink mijn Sam Adams op en ga een plasje doen.
De televisie is overal.
Terwijl ik wacht tot we aan boord gaan, kijk ik naar Ahmadinedjad op het nieuwsbulletin. Hij krijgt enorm veel tijd om zijn standpunten uit te leggen. Dit is Amerikaanse televisie.
The story about the recession in the 1970s should be a awareness starter for all swayed-by-the-issues-of-the-day politicians. Especially an interesting analysis of Enoch Powell’s affairs. Very relevant today, this more intelligent and eloquent British predecessor of our Geert Wilders.
Interestingly, Nooteboom in the book contemplates when he would be able to travel through Europe without having to change money and with a European passport in his pocket. In a wheel chair, he assumes.
He wrote this in 1977, and we can say things have been achieved in Europe after all.
Marcus Aurelius is Holiday’s big example, the book’s name-giver, and its core idea.
“And from what we know, he truly saw each and every one of these obstacles as an opportunity to practice some virtue: patience, courage, humility, resourcefulness, reason, justice, and creativity.”
And he himself quotes non-obvious but remarkable people.
He quotes Henry Rollins. Yes, Henry Rollins from Black Flag – the last person I had expected in this book.
Henry Rollins
I searched and found where this quote came from. Here is the Henry Rollins quote on being. Or rather his definition being a hero.
“People are getting a little desperate. People might not show their best elements to you. You must never lower yourself to being person you don’t like. There is no better time than now to have a moral and civic backbone. To have a moral and civic true north. This is a tremendous opportunity for you, a young person, to be heroic.”
Montaigne
Holiday quotes Montaigne.
I did not know that Montaigne had a near-death experience that became a turning point in his life. I found interesting but not very consistent stories on this here in the Guardian, on NPR and here.
The book maintains a strong, compelling tone.
I made a shitload of notes, as Tim Ferriss would say. All of them make you think. Some make me feel like a lame and lazy sod.
“We’re dissatisfied with our jobs, our relationships, our place in the world. We’re trying to get somewhere, but something stands in the way. So we do nothing. “
I plead guilty.
Aurelius so inspires Ryan Holiday that he has divided this book into three parts based on Aurelius’s summary of what is needed.
“It’s three interdependent, interconnected, and fluidly contingent disciplines: Perception, Action, and the Will.”
On perception.
The way a person handles his emotions and is aware of them is a key to mastering all situations.
“Where one loses control of emotions, another can remain calm. Desperation, despair, fear, powerlessness – these reactions are functions of our perceptions. You must realize: Nothing makes us feel this way; we choose to give in to such feelings. Or, like Rockefeller, choose not to. And he provides clear guidance to how to go about keeping your nerves under control and stay calm.”
“To be objective, To control emotions and keep an even keel, To choose to see the good in a situation, To steady our nerves, To ignore what disturbs or limits others, To place things in perspective, To revert to the present moment, To focus on what can be controlled. This is how you see the opportunity within the obstacle. It does not happen on its own. It is a process — one that results from self-discipline and logic. “
He warns us that when we aim high, unpleasant things will haunt us, and this is where self-control is your only way to stay up.
“When we aim high, pressure and stress obligingly come along for the ride. Stuff is going to happen that catches us off guard, threatens or scares us. Surprises (unpleasant ones, mostly) are almost guaranteed. The risk of being overwhelmed is always there. In these situations, talent is not the most sought-after characteristic.”
“tranquil courage in the midst of tumult and serenity of soul in danger, which the English call a cool head.”
But who is this guy John Churchill? His name is really John Churchill, son of Sir Winston Churchill, sic! But this Winston lived from 1620 to 1688. And yes, our 20th-century Winston Churchill is a descendant.
John Churchill – The First Duke of Marlborough
I love these details.
“Remaining calm is one of the most important skills to be learned to manage fear. And it can be trained.”
“Uncertainty and fear are relieved by authority. Training is authority. It’s a release valve.”
“The Greeks had a word for this: apatheia. It’s the kind of calm equanimity that comes with the absence of irrational or extreme emotions.”
“Or try Marcus’s question: Does what happened keep you from acting with justice, generosity, self-control, sanity, prudence, honesty, humility, straightforwardness?”
Now, clearly, that all sounds great in theory, but there are tools that help you achieve this coolness.
“Perspective is everything. That is, when you can break apart something, or look at it from some new angle, it loses its power over you.”
“So what if you focused on what you can change? That’s where you can make a difference.”
“As Laura Ingalls Wilder put it: “There is good in everything, if only we look for it.””
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Or some unattributed quote:
““That which doesn’t kill me makes me stronger” is not a cliché but fact.”
On Action. Waiting for things to happen will not move things in your desired direction. Making things happen does.
“If you want momentum, you’ll have to create it yourself, right now, by getting up and getting started.”
“And again, it is in the act and persistence , not so much in the talent you have.”
He elaborates on this point that talent is often overrated.
“Too many people think that great victories like Grant’s and Edison’s came from a flash of insight. That they cracked the problem with pure genius. In fact, it was the slow pressure, repeated from many different angles, the elimination of so many other more promising options, that slowly and surely churned the solution to the top of the pile. Their genius was unity of purpose, deafness to doubt, and the desire to stay at it.”
Destiny is not the goal; it is the process of achieving that goal, and you should focus on the process if you want to move forward.
“Okay, you’ve got to do something very difficult. Don’t focus on that. Instead break it down into pieces. Simply do what you need to do right now. And do it well. And then move on to the next thing. Follow the process and not the prize. “
“The process is about doing the right things, right now.”
And get your boots dirty.
“Only self-absorbed assholes think they are too good for whatever their current station requires.”
Bang!
“Think progress, not perfection. Under this kind of force, obstacles break apart. They have no choice. Since you’re going around them or making them irrelevant, there is nothing for them to resist.”
On will.
If your have the right mindset, you are taking actions. Now it is the time to get going.
“To be great at something takes practice. Obstacles and adversity are no different.”
Anticipate hardships.
“Always prepared for disruption, always working that disruption into our plans. Fitted, as they say, for defeat or victory. And let’s be honest, a pleasant surprise is a lot better than an unpleasant one.”
About persistence and perseverance.
“Persistence. Everything directed at one problem, until it breaks.”
“Persistence is an action. Perseverance is a matter of will. One is energy. The other, endurance.”
And determination.
Determination, if you think about it, is invincible Nothing other than death can prevent us from following Churchill’s old acronym: KBO. Keep Buggering On.
And then we have arrived at Churchill we know, Sir Winston …
The Dutch subtitle of Bill Bryson’s book Shakespeare is “Een biografie” (A Biography). I read the book and found this subtitle misplaced.
The subtitle of the english original is “The World as a Stage”. How does that translate to “Een biografie”?
Bryson writes right in the beginning of the book that very little is known about Shakespeare. So little, that you realistically can not expect more from a book about Shakespeare than the description of a handful of meagre facts, augmented with assumptions, phantasies and preliminary conclusions about the life and times Shakespeare.
Bryson even admits this is the reason the book has such a modest modest size.
To start with the same introduction that Austin Kleon uses at the beginning of his book Show Your Work.
I just read Walden by Henry David Thoreau, a book that I had to let go of. I could not consume these elaborations on his simplified way of life any longer. However, I found his worldview interesting. I also liked the way he exchanges philosophical elaborations with down-to-earth statistics and lists of stuff he bought and sold for his house or from his gardening.
But Show Your Work reads very well. It is practical and motivational.
And the conclusion: Do The Work. This keeps coming back so often. Pressfield wrote a book about it. Get the fuck out of their chair. Start typing.
Kleon takes the myth out of most things. Everything is basically common sense. Don’t bullshit. Find an easy way of sharing work.
Do not do networking, but let the network do the work while you add value to your network.
The amateur is king: the amateur is not afraid to do things a new way, another way than the established professionals.
Naivety = openness to new things.
“Watching amateurs at work can also inspire us to attempt the work ourselves. “I saw the Sex Pistols,” said New Order frontman Bernard Sumner. ‘They were terrible. . . . I wanted to get up and be terrible with them.’ Raw enthusiasm is contagious.”
Interesting, as Johnny Rotten/Lydon has always referred to punk as a similar notion:
“Punk is a state of mind open to new ideas, with a desire to constantly evolve, to find the next step, not only in music but also in the world around us.”
“I constantly try to deliver this message: “Admire someone’s work, but don’t imitate it, don’t lose your personality.”
Kleon is a Buddhist, I think. He writes:
“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.”
Some time go I read Buddhism for Dummies, Jonathan Landaw, Stephan Bodian, and Gudrun Bühnemann:
“Buddhism has always considered death to be one of the most powerful teachers, but this doesn’t make it a joyless or life-denying religion. Buddhism simply acknowledges that death has an unparalleled capacity to force you to look deeply into your own heart and mind and recognize what really matters.”
Kleon later on expresses:
“The experience of shaping the work is what matters”
Klein does bother about sharing his knowledge and experience with competitors. He knows his value. He even put it stronger as a competitive advantage:
“Teaching people doesn’t subtract value from what you do, it actually adds to it.”
Got up early to get a head start on my collegues.
