Thoughts That Made It Out

Most of what goes through my head does not survive the trip. It shows up somewhere between the shower and the car, it is briefly the best idea anyone has ever had, and then it is gone and I am left holding the shape of it.

These are the ones that made it onto paper. No particular order, no particular theme, and no claim that any of them are right.

On being the oldest person in the room

It happened gradually and then it was just true. The useful part is that nobody expects you to prove anything. The dangerous part is that nobody corrects you either. You have to go and ask.

On advice

Advice is mostly autobiography. When somebody tells you what to do, they are usually telling you what they wish somebody had told them. Listen for that part. It is the honest part.

On being wrong

Being wrong quickly costs almost nothing. Being wrong slowly, in private, for years, costs everything. The whole skill is in shortening the gap.

I have never regretted admitting I did not know. I have regretted the three months I spent pretending I did.

On work that lasts

Nothing I built to be impressive has lasted. Several things I built because somebody needed them that week are still going. I do not fully understand this but I have stopped arguing with it.

On stopping

I am not interested in stopping. I am interested in doing less of what I was only doing out of habit, which turns out to be most of it, and more of the part that still makes me sit up.

More of these when they make it out.