While I've been writing essays these last few months, I've been thinking about the purpose behind publishing an essay, and in general, what I hope to get out of a more dedicated commitment to writing. I have this fear that the type of writing I'm interested in too easily distances itself from the true nature of what I'm trying to describe. There's a delicate balance between the value of actually doing something and the diminished value of simply talking about the ideas behind the doing.
Along these lines, I really enjoyed C.S. Lewis' essay, Meditation in a Toolshed, that elegantly describes the conflict and compromise between looking at something vs looking along it.
As someone who spends a lot of time both reading and listening to music, I'm saddened by the decrease in good music critique and review. There's something almost mystical about being able to capture and convey the essence of a musical piece through written word. This 2023 piece in Pitchfork, reviewing Laurel Halo's album Atlas, is an excellent example of what I'm hungry for. Evocative, detailed, and most importantly, interesting. I recommend listening to the album and reading the piece simultaneously.
Here's a NYT piece about a cool project at the intersection of reading, teaching, and AI. Rebind Publishing uses extended Q&A sessions with authors to teach an AI model about a piece of literature. Users can then have a detailed conversation about the text, with the ability to highlight and add notes to personalize the output. I'm on the waitlist and am very curious to see the finished project.
Rob Hardy is leading a personal manifesto movement, with his thesis centered around the power of writing and publishing what matters the most to you. From his essay, Manifestos are magic spells: "The process of writing a manifesto, at its core, is the process of clarifying your desire. In a world that's constantly distracting us with digital noise and shiny objects, keeping us running on a mimetic treadmill of manufactured desires, getting clear about what you want, deep down, is a radical act."
NPR's Tiny Desk is always a dependable source for bite-sized concerts from talented musicians. This one is particularly good, featuring pianist and producer Kiefer.
For another music selection, here's a wonderful live show with Nils Frahm, a one-man instrumentalist extraordinaire. Beautifully shot, with a meditative whirl of acoustic instruments and electronic rhythms.
Though slightly overbearing, One Square Inch of Silence by Gordon Hempton will influence the way you hear the noise around you. It's equal parts environmental treatise, travel memoir, and deeply passionate nature prose. Worth the read, especially if you spend significant time in nature thinking about the world around you.
Wrapping up with a few more selections: How to Know a Place, an insightful look into the process of nature writing, and the struggle to balance deep understanding with tight deadlines. Writebook, a free self-hosted tool to make it easy to publish a book online, by the talented team behind Basecamp and Hey. And, Life After Lifestyle, a long but thoroughly compelling piece exploring the cultural shift in how we associate and tolerate brands and their positioning in the marketplace.