good morning John two days ago I was
holding my beautiful son in my arms like
this and he looked me directly in the
eyes and we were having a very good
father-son bonding moment as he sneezed
into my mouth long story short I have a
cold so my brains got tiny chickens in
it and I'm not thinking super clearly
but I did watch your video and it didn't
make me think a bunch of things and I
want to work through them let's do it
back and forth like we're having a
real-life conversation except that I
know what you're gonna say and you have
no idea what I'm gonna say good I kept
thinking about that e Cummings poem that
begins spring is like a perhaps hand
which comes carefully out of nowhere I
like how here you assume that I know an
EE Cummings poem it's adorable and I had
it with me this line like seven times to
start to get my mind around what it
means which sometimes I feel like it's
the point of poetry like it's one of
those boxes that you have to do a secret
to figure out how to open it except it's
made of words it sounds like I'm whining
but I like those boxes anyway none of
this is my point back to your video for
me doing nothing means not making an
active choice to do something this is a
really great insight but for me at least
it doesn't quite get to the whole thing
I agree that part of what doing nothing
is whatever that is is that it's a
passive choice but I don't think that's
the whole thing doing something feels
like making a choice and doing nothing
feels like not making one I think I'm
figuring this out through the haze of a
rhinovirus here for me scrolling through
Twitter is nothing because it's the
default that I end up with when there's
no structure left when all of the things
run out it's what I planted to just like
but for me taking my medicine is the
default choice there are lots of things
that we don't really choose to do that
are not nothing like work being a pretty
big one that's how I do like 95% of the
things that I do I make the non choice
of something does that make sense I hope
so okay I'm just working this out right
now as I'm recording here's how I'm
trying to understand you have active and
passive and you have nothing and
something you have active nothing's
where you choose to do nothing and
that's good you have passive nothing's
which is like the worst thing where you
end up choosing to do nothing just
because there's nothing else to do and
that
doesn't feel good there's active
something's which is hard to do and then
there's the best thing and I swear I
didn't mean for this to happen there's
passive something's I'm sorry feels way
better for me to use the limited mental
energy that I do have to create more
passive something's like I'm just gonna
be annoyed if everything is an active
choice I don't have it in me this is
like most of the appeal of a meal kit
delivery service for me like I have to
do it or it's gonna go bad but I
wouldn't make the active choice to do it
cuz it's just too hard and then it's
already 6:30 in your uber eats and
Krispy Kreme I'm not choosing between
doing something or doing nothing I'm
choosing which something to do this is
absolutely true but I can't imagine the
world this way it sounds exhausted so
with the choice making energy that I
have I feel like it's better to set up
like ever do everything I can to set up
these passive something I want to make
some active choices absolutely but I
want to also be realistic about the fact
that I just don't have that many in me
in a given day my guys an example what
if every Tuesday is call your mom day or
draw something day or do a podcast with
your friend day what I need most days is
to have my nan choice be not nothing how
do you do this how do you set up passive
some things I don't know I've had a lot
of practice and I'm still not great at
it like you don't want to see my YouTube
history i watch a lot of lock-picking
lawyer videos for some reason I mean
this guy carved a pencil from a pencil
from a pencil so I did not actively
choose to watch that video as great as
it is it's a passive nothing let's be
honest with ourselves Hank thank you for
doing this something with me for the
last 12 years I will see you on Friday
John you're welcome you dork I'll see
you on Tuesday