Mr. Zane Harding
the book is so super not a five star read, but many of its passages are worth more stars than a rating could ever convey
also thoreau taking his laundry into town was totally me as a college freshman and i should've built a little log cabin instead of taking on 10k in student debt just to live in a dorm!!!
love u, henry. it was nice visiting your pond. (shoutout deedy; i need to respond to u on facebook messenger but i hate facebook)
responding to a fellow reader's interpretation —
the cabin is not the solution. we are infinitely complex and unfortunately, we are the solution.
event + response = outcome is a philosophy i was taught by the current michigan athletic director in an education class my senior year... we can only control our response to our circumstance, and we impact the outcome, but the event does as well.
adam sandler essentially said in an snl sketch around the same time, "wherever you go, there you are" :)
so like, me; i want to spark a creative project of some point in my adult life, but i haven't yet in my time. not having ample time and stability to focus and think destroys that. deep work invests into that. it definitely teeters on dave ramsey - core "just eat PB&J" advice, and doesn't account for the unfair nature of the world, but... nothing does :/
one more. jack white's lyrics to little room are below. this book is little room, but it's just the first two lines. it's on you to clear out the noise that distracts line 1-2's creativity versus lines 3-8 :) thank you, cal newport, for your insights on giving my brain room to breathe and produce. i'm always looking for my little room in a busy life, unfortunately!
"Well, you're in your little room
And you're working on something good
But if it's really good
You're gonna need a bigger room
And when you're in the bigger room
You might not know what to do
You might have to think of how you got started
Sitting in your little room"
