The Obscure, Trailblazing Writer Who’s My Biggest Source of Inspiration
Over the course of my life, there have been only a handful of people whose lives I’ve sought to emulate. Maria Popova, the writer, and curator of the highly popular global online site Brain Pickings is at the top of that list.
Her journey is largely what inspired me to launch my own site in 2020, “Great Books, Great Minds,” a global community that seeks to fuel the compelling power of conversation, one book at a time.
With Maria as my muse, here are a few things that became abundantly clear to me in 2020.
I Crave Intellectual Depth: Like Maria, I am a sponge for deep knowledge engagement, fueling my wanderings, curiosity, and thinking. I also like unearthing the meaning of esoteric words to integrate into my latest writings (Panopticon is my latest). The intellectual journey is my raison d’etre.
An Inner “Value-Driven” Intent Drives Me: I’m primarily fueled by three values: Conversation, Freedom, Expansion. I aim to acquire enough knowledge capital to talk to anyone, at any time, anywhere, on any topic. I desire to have the type of freedom that allows me to do what I want to do when I want to do it. And I seek to constantly expand and evolve as a human being in order to bring the best version of myself to the table every day. I find that to the extent that I stay grounded in these areas, my life flows effortlessly.
In 2021, I’ll Be Focusing My Intellectual Attention On: ……..the intersection between Black History and Libertarianism. This year I am particularly excited about the opportunity to share a deeper historical context of the Black experience related to social and economic freedom.
The “Money Grind” Is Soul Deadening: It sucks to feel like you have to do work for the sole purpose of making money. This felt never so true than during this pandemic. By way of example, in June I took on a contract writing assignment that offered steady work and paid handsomely. Problem is, it involved writing about topics like “Random Forest Classifier” and “Probability Theory” that were nauseatingly uninteresting to me. Now knowing that when I focus on what fills my heart money flows effortlessly, I have resigned myself in 2021 to no longer engage in this “grab anything that makes money” practice.
Avoid Useless Conversations: Social media sites are a cesspool of opportunities for energy-draining and distracting conversations about topics like Trump vs Biden, masks vs no masks, and Black Lives Matter vs All Lives Matter. Because these bloviations have the tendency to knock me off task in my aim to become world-class, I generally refrain from them. I will be taking this philosophy up another notch in 2021.
What inspires you for 2021? Please let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
Happy New Year! Stay Thirsty For That Next Great Book