{"id":13080,"date":"2019-04-15T18:23:44","date_gmt":"2019-04-15T10:23:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/?page_id=13080"},"modified":"2026-07-20T22:56:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T14:56:58","slug":"start-here","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/start-here\/","title":{"rendered":"start here"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I’ve spent twenty years writing about ambition, friendship, creativity, culture, psychology and how people become who they are. Think of this blog as a workshop \u2013 a lot of it is messy, chaotic and unfinished, but that’s how I work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My current recommended starting order for new visitors:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. The library ethos<\/a> \u2013 on being radicalized by books to see life as a glorious adventure. libraries are one thing civilization got really right.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. We were voyagers<\/a> \u2013 expands on (1) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Are you serious?<\/a> \u2013 love and curiosity expressed earnestly<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Most People<\/a> \u2013 the problem with pandering to generalizations<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. it’s just math<\/a> \u2013 improbable doesn’t mean impossible, it can even mean ~guaranteed<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. the world is big<\/a> \u2013 there’s more variance than you think<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. greatness is deviance<\/a> \u2013 you can’t be great and normal, that’s a contradiction in terms<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. pave the desire paths<\/a> \u2013 an organic approach to developing a body of work<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  9. word magic<\/a> \u2013 language is more powerful than you think<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  10. copes<\/a> \u2013 how we get stuck<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  11. things are knowable<\/a> \u2013 on figuring things out<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  12. heartsong<\/a> \u2013 on coming alive<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    \u2731 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If you don’t care so much about my suggestions and just want to go by what’s popular, here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Most shared: <\/strong>Communities<\/a>, Solve for distribution<\/a>, Letter to a young songwriter<\/a>, Being smart vs Being kind<\/a>, The library ethos<\/a>, relationships<\/a>, one must imagine Sisyphus LOL-ing<\/a>, how to ask for help<\/a>, Most People<\/a>, good reply game<\/a>, unlearning coercion<\/a>, pay it forward<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Most visited:<\/strong> relationships<\/a>, The library ethos<\/a>, do 100 things<\/a>, Communities<\/a>, good reply game<\/a>, Most People<\/a>, my influences<\/a>, make friends<\/a>, solve problems<\/a>, how to ask for help<\/a>, my talking points<\/a>, seek excellent peers<\/a>, constructive ADHD<\/a>, how to de-escalate tense situations<\/a>, do whatever makes your heart sing<\/a>, \u2018Mean Girls\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u2731<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    changelog:<\/strong> (this is for my own reference)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2026jul20: did a huge cut, moved the big ball of mud over to a google docs<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2025dec16: some minor edits for readability<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2025jan15: just funny\u2013 I found a wordvomit from jan2013 (0033<\/a>) where I talked about wanting to redo my blog, and how even then I had been wanting to do it for a very long time. Well, we’re doing it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2025jan14: i’ve made so much progress in the past few days, particularly with the anchor posts of heartsong, desire paths, wordmagic, knowable, copes, dominoes. looking forward to improving the reader experience of each, and basically paving the desire paths. i no longer feel embarrassed by the state of things here, though there’s still a long way to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2023May02: Wow, I’m so glad that I did this. It’s going to save me so much time as I continue to piece things together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2023Jan18: This blog has been weighing on me somewhat. In part, it feels like a historical record, and that’s… good? But it also feels clunky and tedious. The sitemap is too complicated. I think it’s time I did a fresh “research review” of the posts that I reference and revisit most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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