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Barry Fralick

Sunday Notes 4/28/24

Published 17 days ago • 1 min read

Greetings friends.

Here are this week's notes.

From me: A PSA

I'm writing this email, except I'm not writing at all. Instead, I am organizing the refrigerator, wiping down the outside of the stove, and going through the spice cabinet.

Writers are notorious for distracting themselves with dumb tasks. My home has never been so clean. Why? Because cleaning's easier than doing the hard thing. Writing, in this case, is the hard thing.

But it doesn't feel good. I know this email is more important. I know I am procrastinating which is the point of this little tale.

Most of the time busyness is a distraction. I beat this drum a lot because there are no prizes for simply 'being busy.' Without clear intentions, it is a form of laziness. I have to constantly remind myself to work on things that move the needle. Maybe you do too.

Next time you find yourself in the midst of mindless busyness ask yourself: Am I busy in an attempt to avoid what's truly important?

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A quote:

When you don't know that you don't know, it's a lot different than when you do know that you don't know.
— Bill Parcells

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Interesting: Why Everything is Becoming a Game

All the things a gamified world promises in the short term — pride, purpose, meaning, control, motivation, and happiness — it threatens in the long term. It has the power to seclude people from reality, and to rewrite their value systems so they prioritize the imaginary over the real, and the next moment over the rest of their lives.

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LOL: Mother's Day is around the corner and snarky captions highlighting the ridiculousness of stock photos and adverts related to parenting seem fitting.

It's Like They Know Us is the most amusing thing I have stumbled upon in quite some time.

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On YouTube: This 2004 60 Minutes interview with Bob Dylan is one of my all-time favorites. During the interview, Dylan discusses seeing his destiny, wrestling with fame, and feeling like an imposter as a musician and songwriter.

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From Twitter: Kurt Vonnegut on finding joy in the ordinary via Dennis Geelen.

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Lastly, a question worth pondering: As humans, we are very good at lying to ourselves. What are you telling yourself you can't do?

That is it for this week's edition.

TTYS

Barry

Barry Fralick

Writer exploring culture, technology, life design, and the human experience. Writing at BarryFralick.com

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