Actually, I am going to look back. To recap 2022, I want to share some of the best BAM content I consumed. Books. Articles. Me.
As you can tell, I’m a consultant. Everything must compress into an acronym, no matter how strained.
On a sincere note, thank you for reading Thoughts from a Bench this year! I appreciate your support and I’m looking forward to 2023. As always, feel free to reach out if anything you read resonates or if you have any feedback. Have a happy holiday and New Year.
Let’s get to BAM…
Books
Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy: This book covers endless ground. Romance, the meaning of life, work, suffering, character… and the awkward timing of when to ask someone to marry you. Some people suggest you should read Anna Karenina every 10 years. It’ll resonate differently each time.
The Status Game, Will Storr: Status—feeling valued and admired by the group—is a fundamental human need and influences some of our best and worst behavior. At its best, status is what motivates soldiers to defend their country, scientists to save lives, and entrepreneurs to take real risks that benefit everyone else. At its worst, status can promote violence, paranoia, snobbery, racism, and exclusion. This book unpacks how to live in a world in which status is inextricably tied to how we perceive ourselves and others.
Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole, Susan Cain: One quote to rule them all: “Whatever pain you can’t get rid of, make it your creative offering.” And, despite what toxic positivity / LinkedIn may suggest, it is ok not to feel “totally great!!!" all of the time.
The Myth of Sisyphus, Albert Camus: A dense and thought-provoking treatise on human existence and meaning. Camus equates life’s infinite struggle to the Greek figure Sisyphus, who was punished to eternally roll a boulder up a hill only to watch it roll down again.
Behave, Robert Sapolsky: I’d highly recommend this book if you’re curious about the intersection between science and human behavior. An interesting excerpt: “In a study of more than 1,100 judicial rulings, prisoners were granted parole at about a 60 percent rate when judges had recently eaten, and at essentially a 0 percent rate just before judges ate.” Other fascinating studies—examining ego, politics, religion, and altruism—abound.
Articles
Astrology’s relentless appeal, Haley Nahman (Maybe Baby): Astrology preys on our cognitive biases and our need to weave convenient narrative from disparate observations in the world. “I don’t remember what she told me, but I remember how it felt to want to believe her: the pleasure of giving in, however briefly, to the idea that there was a divine order to my life because I was born in San Jose at 2:17 p.m”
I Wish I Was a Little Bit Taller, Chris Gayomali (GQ): An inside look at leg-lengthening surgery and the men who are desperate enough to do it.
Hollow Men, Hollow Markets, Hollow World, Ben Hunt (Epsilon Theory): “Over the past 25 years, our leaders have intentionally constructed an Apocalypse Now world of proclamation and fiat, where our wealth has grown much faster than our economy.”
In Praise of Anxiety, Tracy Dennis-Tiwary (Wall Street Journal): Anxiety is uncomfortable, but if harnessed properly, it can spur us to focus, innovate and persist while facing the throes of uncertainty.
Poems again, Avan Jogia (typing w/ feeling): “I had to leave LA // The spray of crazy // and luxury sweatpants.”
Me
Dan (of Circle Three), myself and Jen (of Letter from a learn-it-all) at a trendy Japanese fusion restaurant that specializes in—you guessed it—”small plates”
Would you like chips or cookies? #2 : Reflections on reversible and irreversible decisions. And how reversible decisions can congeal into stubborn irreversibility with time and complacency.
Incurvatus in se: Why is pride the deadliest of the deadly sins? It’s not only disorienting (as we see it unraveling with Kanye West), but isolating. A prideful, self-absorbed, self-interested person is disconnected—almost quarantined—from others in a way that deprives them of the best aspects of humanity.
I quit social media, for a different reason: As Sam Harris says, “We become what we pay attention to.” If we pay too much attention to social media, we pay too much attention to other people’s ideas. And we stop practicing the skill of thinking on our own.
Coda: the title of this article, “Don’t Look Back” popped into my head because I recently heard Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream”:
“The way you turn me on, I can't sleep
Let's run away and don't ever look back, don't ever look back”
Indeed, inspiration may emerge from surprising places.
Thanks for reading! I love when these thoughts lead to conversations with readers. Did you find anything interesting or surprising? Reply to me and let me know.
OK, “I wish I was a Little Bit Taller” resonates for me. Actually my article title would be: I wish I was a Lot Taller!