Creating a Happy, Loving, Peaceful World
Here's a way to do your part
Big thanks to Tim Ferris and his Five-Bullet Friday email for putting this quote in front of me this week.
“How could you go about creating a happy, loving, peaceful world? By learning a simple, beautiful, but painful art called the art of looking. This is how you do it: Every time you find yourself irritated or angry with someone, the one to look at is not that person but yourself. The question to ask is not, ‘What’s wrong with this person?’ but ‘What does this irritation tell me about myself?’”
— The Way to Love by Anthony De Mello
One of the truly transformative things about writing for change is that– if you do it right – you’re changing your own life in the process, as well as that of your readers.
As Joan Didion once put it:
“I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.”
This is why we humans need to keep writing – even if eventually AI becomes good enough to do our entire job for us. It’s not just about the product. It’s very much about the process. It’s about the person we become when we sit down to write.
We all have our pet projects when it comes to our writing. Inequality, injustice, or environmental sustainability maybe. Exposing corrupt politicians, or evil billionaires perhaps. Mental health, or physical health or community building or advocacy. We know our topics well. But we don’t always fully know ourselves.
Looking within is where a true transformation – and a potentially world-changing article, essay or story – can start. Today, don’t write (exclusively) about the topics you’ve already formed a clear opinion on. Think about the quote above.
When were you last irritated or angry with someone? Why? What did that tell you? About yourself, your pre-conceived ideas, your sense of justice, your boundaries, and your limits? Maybe it also told you something about the world we live in, the system we operate under, the norms we take for granted.
Brainstorm it out. Do a little free writing. Perhaps it will evolve into the shitty first draft of a potentially awesome piece of writing. Maybe it will just teach you a little about yourself: where you draw your lines in the sand and why.
When you sit down to write today, see if you can take your irritation with a person or situation, and turn it into a piece of writing that explores those feelings.
You don’t necessarily have to come to a place of acceptance or peace or understanding regarding the actions or attitude that riled you up. You just have to take a really close look at why it did.
Maybe the real issue or injustice or fear you hold around this issue is different, deeper, broader, or more nuanced than you realise. Dig around. Write it out. Find out what you really think and why.
At worst, you’ll gain a little self-awareness. At best, you’ll write something amazing. If it’s good enough to publish go ahead. And tag me so I can read it – because I’d love to.
Some thoughts from others I’ve been enjoying this week
Master the Art of Growing Your Author Newsletter with These 10 Proven Strategies from
Oscar Wilde On Art and Soul from
What else I’ve been up to this week
Reading: Wuthering Heights (ahead of the new film version currently filming - and as part of a quest to re-read all my favorite classics from my very bookish but long-behind-me youth.)
Watching: You - final season
Listening to: Ebook Sales, Subscriptions, Audiobooks And Book Marketing With Tara Cremin From Kobo Writing Life (on The Creative Penn Podcast)
This week’s Medium posts
No new posts on Medium this week, so here are a couple from the archives. Friend links, as always, so you can read for free if you’re not a member.
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Thank you so much for the kind share, Karen! You 🤘🎸🥁