Thoughts on Minimalism

My two hobbies are writing and weightlifting. The one feeds off the other. To explain I will offer a negative comparison: Every day people pace aimlessly around the gym floor, adjusting headphones and tapping touchscreens and gazing into televisions. They socialize with other regulars and occasionally perform a set on a well-sanitized piece of plastic and metal. Some of them have overpaid trainers following them around and pretending to pay attention. Shockingly enough, they progress slowly or not at all.

I don't know the names of anyone at my gym. I try not to be anti-social, and always nod or greet everyone I recognize. But that's it. The weights are meditative. The iron teaches through its lack of caring. It doesn't know that I haven't slept, that the big project is due at work, that the pretty redhead on the treadmill keeps shooting me looks. The iron demands the fullness of my focus and attention, and I give it no less. I've made the mistake before, and paid a high price. As a teenager I demanded too much of myself without really knowing how to ask the questions. Pushed too hard, went too heavy. Scars tell the tale.

What does this have to do with writing? I believe in absolute focus. I turn off the wifi, hide the phone, put on some music, and generally develop tunnel vision as I flow through a piece. In a world constantly demanding our attention in a hundred places, it's a rare and valuable skill to do less. There's a kind of courage to it, really, a certainty and confidence that being the very best at a single thing is far better than sucking at many things.

I've recently been watching the show "Shark Tank" quite a bit. It's wildly entertaining, a kind of steroidal embodiment of capitalism. Many entrepeneurs come with big ideas, wild dreams, promises of changing the world. The Sharks care only about making money. They care little for dreams, and speak only in revenues, supply chain, online vs retail. It's the clash between ideologies that gives the show its appeal. Companies that get funded have made the Sharks confident in their ability to do exactly one thing, no matter the route taken in pursuit of profit. There are infinite methods but only one methodology.

With writing, and the weights, and so many other aspects of my life, there is always a goal. Sometimes I can achieve it in a day, sometimes five years. But always there's something towards which I'm working. Consider day to day, hour to hour, second to second, whether you're getting closer to whatever it is that you need. Act accordingly.