Deep Thoughts

Like random thoughts, only deeper.

This is just going to be a quick post – really, I mean it. Mainly because the essay(s) I’m citing are long enough already.

I’ve been reading Mark Manson lately. This guy is my new favorite blogger. He writes about relationships, psychology and personal development. He’s refreshingly straightforward, talking about how much of what we’re taught by popular culture/society/our own misconceptions is not necessarily true. Why we act the way we do, and how we can do better. This sort of thing fascinates me, when done well.

Plus, he swears a lot. That’s always fun.

One post featured a speech by David Foster Wallace, a postmodern American author you may or may not have heard of. I read The Pale King a few years back and came away with mixed feelings. That’s not the case here.

Maybe it’s because I can relate to the day in, day out, and how easy it is to let my mind default to negativity. Maybe it’s because when I read it, I’d been assuming the worst about something unrelated, and the content seemed suspiciously well-timed.

Maybe it’s just a really good piece of writing.

This is an excellent, eloquent explanation of how our perceptions shape reality, and how the way we see the world is always a matter of choice. Without further ado –

This is Water.

David Foster Wallace killed himself in 2008. Parts of his speech seem hauntingly prophetic. In the end, he couldn’t master his own mind.

Go on.

Read it.