White Noise Wrapped: 2022
Most of us have two lives: the life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance…Never forget: This very moment, we can change our lives. There never was a moment, and never will be, when we are without the power to alter our destiny. This second, we can turn the tables on Resistance. This second, we can sit down and do our work. —Steven Pressfield
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
—Dylan Thomas
Above: Greatness calls. This year, answer. | Caravaggio’s The Calling of Saint Matthew.
And that’s a wrap for 2022. What a year it was.
Part good, part bad, and part ugly, this trip around the sun was nothing if not eventful.
For this humble author, it was one of abundance and grace.
By the numbers, it consisted of:
Dozens of articles,
Hundreds of paragraphs,
Thousands of supporters (including you, dear reader),
And many, many more words—both read and written—than I could ever possibly count.
Throughout the course of the year I published a whopping thirty-four pieces.
Some elicited sadness, others mirth; some laughter, others longing. Each and every one serves as tesserae that—when placed just right—make up the mosaic of the year that was. More, the act of putting metaphorical pen to paper has helped me chronicle where I was, why I am, and who I hope to become.
Put simply, these writings have changed the trajectory of my life for the better. For this gratuitous serendipity, I am deeply grateful.
That said, despite its joyful ends, the means behind my writing remain downright wretched. More nights than I care to admit, I resembled the scrivener portrayed in Why I Write:
It’s 2:00AM and I am exhausted.
I am tired of reworking this draft for the umpteenth time.
I am tired of hunching like Quasimodo in this worn leather chair.
I am tired of the vinyl tiles that checkerboard the ceiling.
I am tired of pecking at my beat-up laptop, of willing coherent prose to appear on the blue screen.
I am tired of being mocked by the staccato palpitations of the black cursor.
I am tired of baring my soul to the world and publishing to deafening silence.
Simply put, I am tired of writing…
I have been working on this godforsaken piece (yes, the very one you are taking in, dear reader) for hours on end. All I have to show for it is yet another day of written humiliations.
I lean back — craning my neck and flattening my hunchback — and close my eyes. I ask the Ghosts of Writers Past:
“Why do I do this to myself?”
In every trial rests eventual triumph.
If anything, the practice of writing week in and week out has taught me the necessity of showing up in life—for people and projects and processes—even when you least want to.
Per the prolific, wickedly-talented Steven Pressfield, this steely discipline differentiates the grizzled professional from the green amateur:
Turning pro is a mindset. If we are struggling with fear, self-sabotage, procrastination, self-doubt, etc., the problem is, we're thinking like amateurs. Amateurs don't show up. Amateurs crap out. Amateurs let adversity defeat them. The pro thinks differently. He shows up, he does his work, he keeps on truckin', no matter what.
Frustratingly, he’s spot on. Ironically, some of my very best work has come when I least wanted to write. After all, nothing worth doing ever comes easily.
Though I am not yet there, slowly but surely I trek and trod—sometimes with concrete feet—along the path that leads to the storied citadel of professionalism. I can only see what’s in front of me, but I can make the whole journey that way. Per my late grandfather, the key is to “run hard and shoot for the top.”
To that end, I hope that this is the year that you show up.
The year that you change your life for the better.
The year that you create what you dream and discard what you must.
The year that you delve deeply into your soul to extract those quiet, buried dreams.
The year that you shed light onto your true, private wanting and bring it forth for the world to see.
The year that you experience unembarrassed joy at life’s inherent beauty and wonder.
Without further ado, below I share 2022’s five most read pieces alongside a favorite excerpt from each. I invite you to read any that speak to you in preparation for another year of learning and loving.
5) All the Things We Cannot See: The Rise of the Information Nexus
[O]ur acceptance of an information nexus society is too naive, enthusiastic, and shallow. It robs us of the joys of sharing information in tighter, more intimate relationships with one another. After all, feeling is a vital component of the machinery of reason and cooperation.
The cash nexus commodified and sterilized relationships organized between parties (while also, of course, ensuring that supply met demand, among many other benefits).
The information nexus operates in a similar fashion, commodifying information and alienating the producer and consumer of the information from one another.
We are changing and reordering an experience that is pivotal to the human existence. More, we are doing it without really thinking about it.
This cannot be.
4) ✔️ Just Do It ✔️
Later is where dreams go to die. Someday doesn’t exist. Both are figments of the aspirational imagination.
Life isn’t a game of tag; dreams and goals don’t chase you back. Choosing not to do anything is the worst choice of all because your opportunity cost becomes everything. The longer you spend undecided, the greater that cost grows.
You cannot know if you don’t swing, if you keep the bat forever resting on your shoulder. Turn that which is potential into the kinetic; step up to the plate, swing hard, and—BOOM—the next thing you know, you’re rounding the bases. One piece of solid contact could be the home run that defines your year, career, or even life.
3) Verbal Portrait No. 4
At twilight, the frenzy died down and the staccato rhythm went mute. Like a top losing its spin, the heartfelt, tightly-wound process slowly unraveled into more relaxed evening. He shut the door, fiddled with the lock, and inserted the paint-stained key just so.
As he sat in his truck, he let out a sigh and rubbed his red-tinged eyes. Yet another hard-won day.
This craftsman’s path wasn’t the easy one, but it was the right one. That much he knew for sure.
He thought to himself:
It's not much, but it's honest.
It's not easy, but it's simple.
It's not labor, but it's love.
And that's a lot more than can be said for most people.
2) Once Upon a Time
Good stories make prices go up and help things happen.
They get you the job or the girl.
Great stories create generational wealth and unlock leaping emergent effects.
They get you the promotion or the “yes” in response to proposal.
Bad stories destroy fortunes, friendships, future opportunity.
1) Sisyphus
For every man, a boulder.
For every boulder, a slope.
For every slope, a hill.
For every hill, a peak.
For every peak, a downturn.
For every downturn, a trough.
For every trough, a valley.
Lastly, if you read just one more piece of mine for the rest of your life, make it Standing Firm.
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