Learning Infinitely
Hello hello,
Happy Fall. It’s that time of year when everything feels in transition, whether life is changing dramatically or not. It’s still nice and hot in Austin and feels like a warm New England summer (my favorite season).
Recently, I’ve been acutely aware of how infinitely deep every single topic goes. People spend lifetimes understanding, dissecting, reading, writing, watching, and building in one space, for one niche. When I’m exposed to stories about those people, I get an immediate jolt of energy. The infinity of learning is so motivating.
With that, I’ve noticed myself gravitating toward certain areas, certain aspects of web development, literature, and physical activity. When I was in college, I said yes to everything, burning myself out at times. But now, I’m finding myself saying “no” to the mediocre stuff, and “heck yeah” for the few things that bring me joy or that I’ve defined as a professional priority.
Some of my focuses/rabbit holes lately:
- Docker - portable application development
- Learning Chinese - we’re planning to go to Taiwan soon 🤩
- Fantasy Worlds - Middle Earth & Harry Potter especially
- Obsidian - a fantastic note-taking tool that’s now the center of my second brain.
I could talk about continuous learning forever, and I guess that’s the point. When I’m on a flywheel of learning, it feels great. Every day feels different because every day feels like progress.
Life Things
Here's a picture of Tuki, our cat, pretending to be a loaf of bread. We adopted her from Austin Animal Shelter in July, and she's already a fantastic addition to our crazy place.
Sweet Reads Lately
As you can tell, based on my thoughts about depth and infinity of learning, I’ve been on a reading kick lately. Here are a couple of my recent favorites.
Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte Truthfully, this email wouldn’t be headed to you without this book. The methodology described by Tiago Forte comes together to help us build our own “second brain,” an extension of our knowledge system that grows upon itself over time. Where do you think I’m writing the draft of this newsletter?
Recursion by Blake Crouch This mind-bending thriller is all about time, memory, presence, and consciousness. It had me hooked the moment I dug in, and I won’t say more because it’s way more fun to experience it yourself. I hear that Netflix is making a movie/show about it, which I’m now really excited about.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix When I was in middle school, I first read the Harry Potter series. I dragged Dad to Barnes and Noble on the night the Deathly Hallows came out. But I HATED the Order of the Phoenix growing up. Harry was angsty, the plot felt too slow, and the book was massive. I thought I hated this book but I thought wrong! I re-read this thing in three days, and whoo, what a ride. The nostalgia of my first read made it even better.
A Question For You
What’s something that you’ve felt unimaginable depth in lately?
I’d love to hear your thoughts and any life updates!
Saalik