The Sovereign Artist—Episode #3
How to Find your “Passion” & The Decline of Leisure & Why Work is the New Religion & The Side-effects of Material Wealth & more
Friends,
Vizi here—say hello on Twitter.
Greetings from Transylvania!
And welcome to Episode #3 of the The Sovereign Artist series.
This is a sweet reminder that I’m writing a book in public. And this newsletter is the playground that gives me the freedom to organize my research, exercise my creativity, and seek feedback.
I hope you’ll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it 🥂
Here are 3 aphorisms, 2 essays, and 1 question for you to reflect on.
3 Aphorisms
I.
Kindness without truth comes across as flattery.
Truth without kindness comes across as disrespect.
Those who manage to find the sweet spot are the most persuasive.
II.
Your “passion” emerges as a result of trial-and-error tinkering rather than predetermined desire or choice.
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to aim at something.
Follow your curiosity and see what happens.
III.
Never worry about missing opportunities.
Worry about not being in a place that attracts opportunities.
If you are at the wrong bus station, every bus is the wrong bus.
Work is the New Religion
“If you want to understand what a society truly worships, don’t examine its art or literature...simply look at its tallest buildings.” — Joseph Campbell
Few are able to realize that long periods of steady, monotonous work are a remnant of the Industrial Age.
The Industrial Age normalized workaholism. We idolize workaholics and recognize them as heroes and models of our secular society. They are the new gods. Work is the new religion.
“Whoever does not have two-thirds of his day for himself,” Friedrich Nietzsche wrote in 1878, “is a slave, whatever he may be: a statesman, a businessman, an official, or a scholar.”
The difference between a workaholic and a slave is largely psychological. A slave is forced to work hard; a workaholic is programmed to choose to work hard. The alchemy lies in giving the victim a sense of independence about his/her decisions.
One of the most common myths we believe in is that medieval peasants worked very long hours.
The truth is—medieval peasants worked only 150 days per year. The Church believed mandatory and frequent holidays were crucial for well-being. They enjoyed so much free time that we find it impossible to accept it.
By the same token, note that the tempo of life used to be slow, very slow, even leisurely; the pace of work was relaxed.
Our ancestors may not have been rich, but they had an abundance of leisure.
When industrial capitalism raised their incomes, it also took away their time.
It’s hard to come to grips with this, but we work (much) more than medieval peasants.
My bet is that relentless ambition and working for long hours is against our nature.
We aren’t wired to function like that.
Instead of “hustling” all day long for seven days a week, you might be better off “taking wise sprints”—performing deep work—for a few hours a day while devoting the rest of your time to reflection, meditation, learning, and relaxation.
The Romans had a word for this in Latin—otium—referring to leisure time in which a person can enjoy playing, resting, contemplation, but also the pursuit of academic endeavors.
Changing the Letter, 1908, by Joseph Edward Southall
Exactly those things which we consider to be “unproductive” are the ones that will give us the mental clarity to be truly productive.
If you want to be more creative, you may have to—paradoxically—prioritize rest. And then take sprints when inspired. Prioritizing rest is what will improve the quality of your “sprints.”
During the week, I tend to take (long) walks and spend most of my time meditating in cozy cafés—I’m grateful that I live in a human-scaled town (Brașov) in Transylvania, brimming with colorful vernacular and baroque architecture, surrounded by nature. My work thus seldom feels like work. It feels like play. Ironically, the more it feels like play, the better the results.
My fiancée pointed out recently that, sometimes, I get stressed on purpose, as I feel guilty to be at odds with society at large. Enjoying what you do, failing to perceive your craft as work, is a curse in a world of workaholics.
My hope is that, as we’re slowly making the transition toward the Information Age, creative work will not merely be in high demand but rather become the only kind of work that will be rewarded.
This will require a revival and a rediscovery of the sacred ways of work, coupled with a genuine curiosity to sympathetically integrate the best tools of the Information Age into that philosophy.
“F*** You Money”
In Politics, Aristotle tells the story of Thales of Miletus.
Thales was the founder of Greek philosophy, a legendary philosopher and mathematician, and one of the Seven Sages.
What’s fascinating about him is that he lived in poverty.
Despite his intellectual accomplishments, the story goes, his meager lifestyle was often cited as proof of the uselessness of philosophy and all other non-applicable knowledge.
One winter Thales used his knowledge of astronomy to predict the future of olive crop yield in the cities of Miletus and Chios. Knowing in advance that it would be larger than usual, Thales leased all the olive presses in the area at a massive discount. Later that year, when the bountiful harvest had come to bear, Thales was able to let out the presses at astronomical prices, becoming rich in the process. Then he went back to philosophy.
In Antifragile, Nassim Taleb came up with a witty remark:
“What Thales collected was large, perhaps not enough to make him massively wealthy, but enough to make the point—to others but also to himself—that he talked the talk and was truly above, not below, wealth. This is what I like to call f*** you money—a sum large enough to get most of the advantages of wealth (the most important one being independence and the ability to only occupy your mind with matters that interest you) but not its side-effects, such as having to attend a black-tie charity event and being forced to listen to a polite exposition of the details of a marble-rich house renovation.”
“You’re rich only if money you refuse tastes (way) better than money you accept.” — Nassim Taleb
1 Question
Are your goals your own, or simply what you believe you should want?
Are your dreams indeed authentic, or are they default ideals and prepackaged narratives designed by Hollywood, corporate advertising, and intensive social media sessions?
Hope you liked this episode 🥂
Any feedback, suggestion, or criticism is welcome: feel free to reply (if you got this in your inbox) or send an email to viziandrei@outlook.com
Thank you for your time,
Vizi Andrei