I feel I perform better at my sport, wheelchair rugby, when I don’t pay attention to the score, but perform worse when I let the referee’s call or another player get me upset. I’m convinced that so much of our performance is truly based on how we feel or our managers make us feel. I spent hospital time in Shinagawa with a fellow who seriously injured himself from stepping off a curb while looking at his smart phone. Fortunately he was on his way to work, so he received work insurance benefits. We exchanged stories about the glory days of Juliana’s Tokyo where he went regularly in the day for the discount buffet. He was on a low sugar diet and by his request, I gave him regular reports on my desserts.
Wheelchair rugby sounds intense. Your arms must be jacked.
I did a dive a few weeks ago in Bali and the instructor/dive buddy was a bit impatient and rushing me to do dives (dangerous). It was probably my worst dive and was zero fun. So, I totally see what you’re saying about the impact of others on our performance.
P.S. Just looked up Juliana’s. You talking about this club? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juliana%27s Unfortunately, it was before my time in Tokyo, but judging by the amount of bodycon it definitely looks like a place that I would have frequented. :-)
Yes, that's the one. It was really far away from central Tokyo and I remember the huge line ups on the weekends the few times I went. The crowd moved to Velfarre in Roppongi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velfarre which enjoyed a long run, but still may be before your time. A trip to the Maharaja in Roppongi may give you a snap shot of what it was like in the day.
Hey Misha, I wonder if you are onto something here. Humans are wired to crave attention in one format or another. On the one side of the coin we seem to be experiencing chronic decision and attention fatigue. On the other, numbing seems to be more popular than ever. Maybe beneath all of this is a kind of frustration that slowly comes to the surface during these activities. The 'need' to go deeper, the 'need' for more 'likes', the need for anything other than what is... I think this subtle discontent exists no matter what we try to do about it. It kind of reminds me of Steven Pressfields theme of 'Resistance'. You have to battle the dragon every day. Without it, there would be no mastery and no mountain to climb.
Thanks for making this connection! It’s a big topic that I’m still grappling with. Another consideration is that institutions like the church and family and government and all these mechanisms that traditionally gave us meaning have been in decline. There’s a vacuum there that corporations have filled. These are the same corporations that create the increasing demands on our attention (and make it harder for us to focus in general) and tell us what to watch, what to think, what to eat, etc.
Perhaps some of this numbing comes from a particular lack of meaning (and the search for it), and involving ourselves in the only options that seem available to us that society makes most readily available, which don’t particularly answer our existential problems in the same way that they would have 500 years ago.
Btw, Pressfield is great. I like how he frames the daily battle, overcoming resistance, and all the other nuggets in War of Art. I talked about distractions and resistance a bit in my previous newsletter on overcoming my “alcohol distraction.” One of my most productive times as a writer was when I didn’t drink for three months and traveled around Asia. I guess drinking was a type of resistance for me.
A friend of mine pointed out that the premise of that article was that alcohol is somehow always a distraction, and further that distractions are always bad (I don’t say that, but it’s implied). That’s obviously not always true and there’s a bit of nuance. Playing monopoly or watching a movie or having a beer with a friend can certainly be distractions from working on your novel or starting a non profit, but are they really “Resistance?” Certainly, they can be, but you could already be living a meaningful (and creative) life, be freely expressing your emotions, and have a few beers with a friend without it being a negative distraction. So perhaps the question is whether it’s an adaptive or maladpative/positive or negative distraction and where one is along that path.
Another question: is the sole purpose of every living being to fulfill their creative potential? It sounds nice, but framing all pursuits and purpose as the need to find ones creative potential seems narrow. The structure and the beauty of the ant colony depends on the dissolution of the individual into the whole. Creativity is great, but what about love, altruism, commitment, saving the planet, or even the value being a boring, not-at-all creative conservative politician that keeps the reigns of order tight from devolving into chaos (arguably the conservative politician plays an important role). These are all noble pursuits that don't necessarily fall under the umbrella of a creative life.
I mention this all because I tend to agree with Pressfield but he can take it to an extreme, i.e. he writes mainly with the creator/artist audience in mind, but he can make some sweeping statements (like if Hitler followed his Muse maybe he wouldn’t have started WWII, which is a bit of a stretch considering he painted hundreds of paintings in his lifetime).
Anyways, just some quick thoughts. In Okinawa now, boarding my flight back to Tokyo soon!
The only place I've been to in Japan is Ishigaki island in Okinawa which was pretty awesome. Definitely recommend it. Lot's of different dive spots and there's also turtles and manta rays (year round technically, but they come out to say hi in January).
I feel I perform better at my sport, wheelchair rugby, when I don’t pay attention to the score, but perform worse when I let the referee’s call or another player get me upset. I’m convinced that so much of our performance is truly based on how we feel or our managers make us feel. I spent hospital time in Shinagawa with a fellow who seriously injured himself from stepping off a curb while looking at his smart phone. Fortunately he was on his way to work, so he received work insurance benefits. We exchanged stories about the glory days of Juliana’s Tokyo where he went regularly in the day for the discount buffet. He was on a low sugar diet and by his request, I gave him regular reports on my desserts.
Wheelchair rugby sounds intense. Your arms must be jacked.
I did a dive a few weeks ago in Bali and the instructor/dive buddy was a bit impatient and rushing me to do dives (dangerous). It was probably my worst dive and was zero fun. So, I totally see what you’re saying about the impact of others on our performance.
P.S. Just looked up Juliana’s. You talking about this club? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juliana%27s Unfortunately, it was before my time in Tokyo, but judging by the amount of bodycon it definitely looks like a place that I would have frequented. :-)
Also Nick, I’m sorry to hear about your friend. Hope he recovers quickly.
We were serendipitously in the same room together two years ago when I broke my leg. We never kept in touch after that.
Yes, that's the one. It was really far away from central Tokyo and I remember the huge line ups on the weekends the few times I went. The crowd moved to Velfarre in Roppongi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velfarre which enjoyed a long run, but still may be before your time. A trip to the Maharaja in Roppongi may give you a snap shot of what it was like in the day.
Hey Misha, I wonder if you are onto something here. Humans are wired to crave attention in one format or another. On the one side of the coin we seem to be experiencing chronic decision and attention fatigue. On the other, numbing seems to be more popular than ever. Maybe beneath all of this is a kind of frustration that slowly comes to the surface during these activities. The 'need' to go deeper, the 'need' for more 'likes', the need for anything other than what is... I think this subtle discontent exists no matter what we try to do about it. It kind of reminds me of Steven Pressfields theme of 'Resistance'. You have to battle the dragon every day. Without it, there would be no mastery and no mountain to climb.
Thanks for making this connection! It’s a big topic that I’m still grappling with. Another consideration is that institutions like the church and family and government and all these mechanisms that traditionally gave us meaning have been in decline. There’s a vacuum there that corporations have filled. These are the same corporations that create the increasing demands on our attention (and make it harder for us to focus in general) and tell us what to watch, what to think, what to eat, etc.
Perhaps some of this numbing comes from a particular lack of meaning (and the search for it), and involving ourselves in the only options that seem available to us that society makes most readily available, which don’t particularly answer our existential problems in the same way that they would have 500 years ago.
Btw, Pressfield is great. I like how he frames the daily battle, overcoming resistance, and all the other nuggets in War of Art. I talked about distractions and resistance a bit in my previous newsletter on overcoming my “alcohol distraction.” One of my most productive times as a writer was when I didn’t drink for three months and traveled around Asia. I guess drinking was a type of resistance for me.
A friend of mine pointed out that the premise of that article was that alcohol is somehow always a distraction, and further that distractions are always bad (I don’t say that, but it’s implied). That’s obviously not always true and there’s a bit of nuance. Playing monopoly or watching a movie or having a beer with a friend can certainly be distractions from working on your novel or starting a non profit, but are they really “Resistance?” Certainly, they can be, but you could already be living a meaningful (and creative) life, be freely expressing your emotions, and have a few beers with a friend without it being a negative distraction. So perhaps the question is whether it’s an adaptive or maladpative/positive or negative distraction and where one is along that path.
Another question: is the sole purpose of every living being to fulfill their creative potential? It sounds nice, but framing all pursuits and purpose as the need to find ones creative potential seems narrow. The structure and the beauty of the ant colony depends on the dissolution of the individual into the whole. Creativity is great, but what about love, altruism, commitment, saving the planet, or even the value being a boring, not-at-all creative conservative politician that keeps the reigns of order tight from devolving into chaos (arguably the conservative politician plays an important role). These are all noble pursuits that don't necessarily fall under the umbrella of a creative life.
I mention this all because I tend to agree with Pressfield but he can take it to an extreme, i.e. he writes mainly with the creator/artist audience in mind, but he can make some sweeping statements (like if Hitler followed his Muse maybe he wouldn’t have started WWII, which is a bit of a stretch considering he painted hundreds of paintings in his lifetime).
Anyways, just some quick thoughts. In Okinawa now, boarding my flight back to Tokyo soon!
Where do you go freediving in Japan??
The only place I've been to in Japan is Ishigaki island in Okinawa which was pretty awesome. Definitely recommend it. Lot's of different dive spots and there's also turtles and manta rays (year round technically, but they come out to say hi in January).