July 29, 2021

I'm tired. This contract for my script seems less and less promising. I'm not sure the producer is that experienced, and he definitely doesn't seem to have an overabundance of care. I liked the director alright, though, even though he's one of those guys who talks fast and loud and doesn't give you any space to say anything. A chaotic energy. 

My cat is cute. 

I'm attending a virtual conference this week. It's for business officers in higher education. The general sessions have been around work, the concept of work, how work is changing, what people and companies need to do well in the current environment. There was some cool stuff. Here are a couple quotes I wrote down: "Four hours max for creativity." "Learning is now part of work." "Values over identity." 

I like that last one. I'm getting tired of identity. Like there's one or two colors you can paint on yourself to make everything you do make sense. 

Another general session was with Shankar Vedantam from NPR's Hidden Brain. The main thing that stuck out to me about that conversation was his advice to schedule the day by long-term planning first. (Admittedly, I haven't really started doing that yet.) He said to ask, Who would I like to be in ten years? The answer might be: alive. In which case prioritizing exercising might be necessary. A scarcity mindset makes us focus hard on what's in front of us, often at the expense of long-term goals. 

Who would I like to be in 10 years? Someone with solid friendships, meaning regular quality time with people I can be sincere with. Tender time, silly time, new experience time. I'd like to still be married with a good sex life. I'd like to be working on new projects with projects I'm proud of under my belt. Owning a house doesn't really matter to me right now. Having enough savings is important. Not feeling old, feeling flexible and strong enough, like I can count on my body. It's all the stuff that we know we ought to be doing but don't. Which makes sense if you think that the more daily/immediate stuff is given automatic priority in our brains. It's hard to make a habit out of something that doesn't carry with it its own alarm bells. I'm going to ask friends if they want to come over for a dinner party. Is it a dinner party if it's just 4 people? TBD.