In The Know #58: Respect, Admiration & A Life Changing Loaf of Bread
Hi friends,
Just a quick one this week, but stoked to keep the ball rolling. Happy Friday!
Jamie
🧐 Two blog posts about what really matters — Respect and Admiration, by Morgan Housel & The Moral Bucket List, by David Brooks
Respect and Admiration resonated with me in part because it starts with the concept of a reverse eulogy, which happens to be one of the most powerful writing exercises I’ve ever done. The essence is that when you imagine how you want to be remembered at the end of your life, it’s not likely for your accomplishments or possessions, but rather that you were respected and admired by those you loved. Interestingly, Housel goes a step further in terms of what he thinks the desire for material possessions says about a person:
Once you see people being respected and admired for reasons that have nothing to do with the stuff they own, you begin to wonder why you have such a strong desire for those possessions. I tend to view material desire as a loose proxy for the inverse of what else you have to offer the world. The higher my desire for fancy stuff, the less real value I have to offer.
Running along a similar vein is David Brooks’ 2015 op-ed The Moral Bucket List, where he describes the difference between resume virtues and eulogy virtues — resume virtues being those of achievement (school, job, accolades, fame), and eulogy virtues being those of character (bravery, kindness, honesty, integrity). It’s fascinating to me that we seem to spend so much of our lives chasing the former, mostly because we believe them to be an accurate indicator of the latter. Yet it’s easy to lose track of the fact that life is about the journey, not the destination, and the path we choose inevitably changes who we are.
🥖 Recipe that changed my morning routine forever — The Life Changing Loaf of Bread (via My New Roots)
I’ve shared this one in the past, but people always ask for the recipe so I thought I’d share it again as you begin your list of healthy habits in the new year. K and I have been making this on a weekly basis for almost ten years, and we now have Ava hooked on it as well. It’s mostly comprised of nuts and seeds (we call it our ‘seed bread’), and prefer to serve it topped with almond butter or smashed avocado (aka guacamole). If toast is one of the things you can’t start your day without, give it a try… like us, you might never go back.
📚 Two apps that have increased my reading volume (and saved $) — Spotify Audiobooks & SFPL
Spotify Audiobooks — With a premium subscription you now get 15 hours of audiobook listening per month (which is more than enough for me), plus you don’t need to commit to any specific title like you do on Audible. Since I was already a subscriber, audiobooks now have zero marginal cost. Big fan.
San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) — This app allows me to reserve books and pick them up at my local branch, which thankfully is only a few minutes away. I used to order all my books on Amazon, thinking the cost of a book is always worth the investment, but despite how easy it was, I found it still added friction to my desire to order them. My cost of reading is now zero, so I can reserve and return books without the guilt if I don’t end up reading/finishing them. Sure, there is sometimes a wait to get a specific title, but I have a pretty large backlog to get through so it’s never a big deal. It also feels good to support my local library and feel part of the community. Chances are your local library has something similar, so check it out.
😅 Quote of the week — “Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another.” ~Walter Elliott
Awesome reflections, Jamie! Lots of shared wisdom in your words… Nameste!