I’m absolutely excited to read your posts, as your speak to my heart. Your recommendation and musings have taken me personally on a lot of adventures paths . Not sure if ti means anything to you but I only subscribed to your and Maria Popova writing. Keep up the excellent work that you do as it is important to a lot of us out in this cold cruel world.
John Gregory Dunne was married to Joan Didion, as I'm sure you know. He never got as much publicity as she for his writing. But one of his books, "Vegas, A Memoir of Dark Season," I thought was truly outstanding.
Have you ever watched Line of Duty? The title of this week’s newsletter reminded me of what Ted Hastings said. Don’t want to run afoul of anyone sensibilities, but his Irish exasperation ends this way: …and the wee donkey, can we just move this thing along…”
Do you realize that you mentioned mid-life crises twice in this post? It made me think about what type of crises comes after mid life. Is there a name for this?
Hi—the link to The Imperfectionist takes us to an Amazon link for the book Four Thousand Weeks. Does Burkeman have a newsletter that’s not on Substack? Thank you! (And I enjoyed this week’s ideas on “Donkey Work”!)
Hi Austin. I am not getting emails any longer. I’m subscribed to this one and Tuesday but for the past few weeks nothing. Can you check? They’re not going to spam or any other email. markjohn1@mac.com. Thanks.
Does “the comfort zone” get a bad wrap? - what a fantastic question. One I never considered before. I have been slowly breaking up with productivity culture (and its cousin perfectionism). I’m starting to wonder if this push to “get out of your comfort zone” (especially when it comes to work) is just another way for hustle culture to exist. Getting out of your comfort zone can be good to try new things and explore, but like all things the flip side can put unnecessary pressures on a person. More to ponder…
Just this week I made Donkey work out of writing a newsletter, it was so hard until I virtually crumpled up the drafts and let thing flow stream of conscious. It’s like once all the Donkey Work, (or Ugly Work) is done, the creativity can flow!
I’m absolutely excited to read your posts, as your speak to my heart. Your recommendation and musings have taken me personally on a lot of adventures paths . Not sure if ti means anything to you but I only subscribed to your and Maria Popova writing. Keep up the excellent work that you do as it is important to a lot of us out in this cold cruel world.
I really loved Four Thousand Weeks—he basically confirmed my own philosophy of how I live my life. ❤️
John Gregory Dunne was married to Joan Didion, as I'm sure you know. He never got as much publicity as she for his writing. But one of his books, "Vegas, A Memoir of Dark Season," I thought was truly outstanding.
Have you ever watched Line of Duty? The title of this week’s newsletter reminded me of what Ted Hastings said. Don’t want to run afoul of anyone sensibilities, but his Irish exasperation ends this way: …and the wee donkey, can we just move this thing along…”
I really like the word donkey. It’s just a funny word.
Do you realize that you mentioned mid-life crises twice in this post? It made me think about what type of crises comes after mid life. Is there a name for this?
Hi—the link to The Imperfectionist takes us to an Amazon link for the book Four Thousand Weeks. Does Burkeman have a newsletter that’s not on Substack? Thank you! (And I enjoyed this week’s ideas on “Donkey Work”!)
Thanks for the heads up. Link fixed. https://www.oliverburkeman.com/the-imperfectionist
Correct! Oliver's is not on Substack https://www.oliverburkeman.com/the-imperfectionist
Hi Austin. I am not getting emails any longer. I’m subscribed to this one and Tuesday but for the past few weeks nothing. Can you check? They’re not going to spam or any other email. markjohn1@mac.com. Thanks.
Sorry I’m away from my computer for a week. Send an email to support@substack.com and they can get you sorted out quickly
"On Writing" by Stephen King was excellent!
Does “the comfort zone” get a bad wrap? - what a fantastic question. One I never considered before. I have been slowly breaking up with productivity culture (and its cousin perfectionism). I’m starting to wonder if this push to “get out of your comfort zone” (especially when it comes to work) is just another way for hustle culture to exist. Getting out of your comfort zone can be good to try new things and explore, but like all things the flip side can put unnecessary pressures on a person. More to ponder…
I love the Donkey Work Quote!
How do you make writing NOT Donkey work?
Just this week I made Donkey work out of writing a newsletter, it was so hard until I virtually crumpled up the drafts and let thing flow stream of conscious. It’s like once all the Donkey Work, (or Ugly Work) is done, the creativity can flow!