I am not sure what brought you to this newsletter. Maybe you are a friend or family member and you just did it to be nice, maybe you want to make money on the side, maybe you read my tiki bar blog post and you wanted to hear more, or maybe you are not happy with your job or your life and something about it resonated with a little voice inside of you that says there has to be more, whatever the reason I am glad you are here.
One of the main thoughts that has challenged me throughout the writing of these letters is the idea that I am too idealistic in regards to day-to-day life and that by entertaining unconventional ideas, I will lose track of what might be called “practical reality” or even “practical responsibility”. After all, the line between sanity and delusion is surprisingly thin and in walking it I have felt at times close to falling into the latter.
As a result of this thought, I have often felt the need to “pull back” from these ideas or at least make sure they can be more easily reconciled with “normal life”.
But this is a mistake. And here’s why.
You see just a few minutes ago I did something I have never done.
I paid $5 dollars to get access to an essay on Twitter that caught my eye and demanded to be read.
I don’t really know why I decided to pay for it because the author of the essay had shared it for free (just put in your email) but he also had an optional “pay what you want” submission.
Perhaps it was my intuition that this was something of value or perhaps it was me hoping for reciprocal behavior towards my own writing but either way, I popped in $5 and went on my merry way.
At this time that I write this, it is a few hours later and after just reading the essay I can honestly say it was worth every cent and much more. This is the very best thing I have read in a large number of days.
The reason I liked it so much is that it was articulated and validated my thought from above and it confirmed my suspicions in the best way possible.
It clarified the line between delusion and sanity in addition to demonstrating that most people most of the time have these labels the wrong way around.
In other words: in a world gone insane, it is common sense that becomes unreasonable and true sanity looks like delusion.
In a world gone insane what appears to be delusion might in fact be the only way back to sanity.
But make no mistake this is not some esoteric essay about philosophy, this is a guy writing about leaving a secure job (that he hated) and venturing out to start something new (insane!) and why you might want to do the same.
This guy makes the argument for trading misery for exciting uncertainty and I have to say he makes a pretty good case.
If it's normal to be “stuck” then getting “unstuck” might look pretty crazy.
Life problems? Money Problems? Job Problems? Maybe it's time for what Mark calls the “Death Ground Strategy” which you might want to implement ASAP.
But I will let you decide for yourself because you can read it right here (for free, unless you want to pay something).
Now I want to warn you, this may interest you or it may annoy you, but one thing I can guarantee is that it will make you wonder… and that is a good thing because that is what this newsletter is all about,
Yours in the difficult delusions,
Ben