Brevity | ‘brevədē| noun
Concise and exact use of words in writing or speech.
• shortness of time: the brevity of human life.
PHRASES:
Brevity is the soul of wit —proverb
i.e. the essence of a witty statement lies in its concise wording and delivery.[from Shakespeare’s Hamlet ii. ii. 90.]
ORIGIN:
late 15th cent.: from Old French brievete, from Latin brevitas, from brevis ‘brief.’
–From the dictionary on my MacBook: Version 2.2.1 (178)
I was just listening to Rolf Potts and Tim Ferriss talking about their agonizing processes of writing, and it started me wondering, “Might I actually write something right now and share it, which is to say, put it online at the least and let others read it or not read as they like?” Why not? So, here I am, writing, no? Yes. I read something yesterday that probably applies here, to writing in general maybe, though it was originally directed to businesses. Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, said,
“If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.”
Then another idea came into mind: open up GarageBand and start recording songs I’ve written, and do the same thing–publish them, make them available for others to hear. Why not? Might be fun, satisfying, and who knows? Others might enjoy and otherwise benefit from something I create. Ditto for interviews, videos, and whatever other kinds of expressions this one might generate. So, look, ma, I renewed writing with the intention of sharing the ideas. And now, I’m going to schedule a Pomodoro for making music, specifically for getting the wheels turning again on recording to share.
And then I did just that. It had been months and years since I’ve done any recording, so there was some initial befuddlement and frustration. I persisted, and started recording. Then I took a break from that and resumed my actual garage streamlining project. I’ll probably go back and forth.
“Soak it up.” That phrase popped into mind after watching a junco sitting on a redbud branch outside my window in the 20F degree cold, fluffed up with wings slightly extended, turning, apparently to sun all over. Savore Momento!
I’m tickled that Tim Ferriss has a podcast. For me it’s soul-nourishing, funny, and a little zany. I’ve enjoyed his eclectic treasure hunting (and finding) of things practical and contextual since I read The 4-Hour Workweek some years back. This interview with BrainPickings Maria Popova brings yet another wonderful, full-of-wonder ally into this human’s life of curiosity, creating, and caring (my aspirations, at least). Maria relates that she started her blog as a way to explore what she finds interesting and worthwhile. That reminded me that I’d created this blog last year with a similar intention. And here we are, on the skinny left end of the learning curve of WordPress. Isn’t it a lovely ride?
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