PinnedMember-onlyHow Social Media Has Made Us All RivalsIt’s a Chamber of Desire from which there is no escape — In the isolation of the pandemic, our need for social media has been especially acute. It helps us to make sense of who we are. We didn’t know what to desire. So we turned to other people, on our phones, to tell us: Watch Tiger King, drink negronis, adopt dogs…Social Media8 min readSocial Media8 min read
Mar 18Member-onlyWhat It Will Sound Like When the Content Bubble BurstsIt’s not what we even wildly imagine. — What will it sound like when the content bubble bursts? The Silicon Valley Bank collapse has only led to a louder and louder cacophony of voices, and drawn attention away from the spiritual emptiness and moral confusion of most people in the business world — especially the venture capitalists who…Content6 min readContent6 min read
Mar 4Member-onlyWhen the Words “Don’t Worry About It” Are Truly MeaningfulIn a world full of pious platitudes, easing someone else’s anxiety with these simply words can be act of mercy they might never forget—if they know you really mean it. — In the mid-2000’s I was living in Las Vegas and struggling to get a fledgling young company off the ground. My life had become chaotic, an unhealthy blur of work and play in which the two were sometimes indistinguishable. Yet something was changing inside of me.Anxiety9 min readAnxiety9 min read
Feb 26Member-onlyInvitation to a Special Event—NOVITATE 2023A conference to explore and celebrate the life and work of René Girard — I cordially invite you to join me at a special event that I’m hosting in Washington, DC, on Friday, October 13, 2023, called NOVITATE (Latin: Nove-ee-TOT-ay) — an interdisciplinary gathering to explore and celebrate the work of the great social theorist René Girard, on the centennial anniversary of his birth. …Events4 min readEvents4 min read
Feb 12Member-onlyDo You Know Your Motivational Pattern?Narrative Psychology, Storytelling, and 27 Themes of Core Motivational Drive — Identifying and understanding your core motivational drive — what truly moves you, daily — is one of the most powerful Anti-Mimetic tactics that I have ever discovered. There is no doubt that motivational energy can be siphoned and suctioned off in a million different directions, spent up chasing a thousand…Motivation9 min readMotivation9 min read
Feb 12Member-onlyNew “Rights” Of PassageOn Leaving, Liminality, and Incorporation — And The Nature of Modern Rites — Our world is filled with various rites of passage that speak to the universal human desire for transcendence — the desire to be someone who we are currently not, someone beyond our current state of life. Some of these rites we choose to undertake voluntarily, like when a child leaves…Philosophy8 min readPhilosophy8 min read
Jan 30Member-onlyDo You Know Your Motivational Pattern?A Practical Approach Using Narrative Psychology for Discovering What Really Drives You Everyday — Identifying and understanding your core motivational drive — what truly moves you, daily — is one of the most powerful Anti-Mimetic tactics that I have ever discovered. There is no doubt that motivational energy can be siphoned and suctioned off in a million different directions, spent up chasing a thousand…Motivation7 min readMotivation7 min read
Jan 14Member-onlyHow to Avoid Financial NihilismIf you don’t believe in anything, you’ll believe in everything—and begin to feel that nothing you can possibly do will build true wealth. — “It is because you don’t know the end and purpose of things that you think the wicked and the criminal have power and happiness.” — Boethius Nobody has a precise idea how much wealth anyone else has. There is a good chance that you don’t even know your own. …Finance9 min readFinance9 min read
Jan 8Member-onlyMeditation In An Art StudioThings I’m Looking “Along” in 2023 — As I read this meditation in a toolshed this morning, I was transported back to my grandmother’s art studio in Traverse City, MI, the place where my imagination was first formed. Here are some of the things on my mind as we begin 2023: Looking Along Things. It is necessary…Literature5 min readLiterature5 min read
Dec 11, 2022Member-onlyAnti-Mimetic Ideas for 2023Cooking with no recipes, selecting records, anti-memes, and more. — One of the most popular editions in this newsletter’s short history is the article “25 Anti-Mimetic Ideas”, which I published last December — so I figured I’d start a tradition and share a few more. Being anti-mimetic doesn’t mean being a “contrarian”; it means being resistant to the forces of…Writing8 min readWriting8 min read
