{"id":14907,"date":"2022-03-08T17:29:44","date_gmt":"2022-03-08T09:29:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/?p=14907"},"modified":"2025-01-14T01:11:59","modified_gmt":"2025-01-13T17:11:59","slug":"heartsong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visakanv.com\/blog\/heartsong\/","title":{"rendered":"do whatever makes your heart sing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” \u2013 Howard Thurman<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A very common question I get from my friends in all sorts of contexts is “What should I do? What should I write? What should I talk about? What do you want to hear?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And an answer I find myself giving a lot of the time is, “whatever makes your heart sing, man!” Whatever makes you feel alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some people might find this to be somewhat evasive and glib, but I think it’s the most important thing. Steve Jobs and Wozniak used to do pranks for fun, and it led to them making blue boxes to ‘phreak’ telephone infrastructure, and Jobs went on to say that, without blue boxes, there would be no Apple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Richard Feynman was goofing off piddling with spinning plates, following his curiosity, and that’s how he ended up doing the “pointless” research that led to him winning the Nobel Prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People in general tend to worry too much about what “the market” wants, or what other people want. But most people<\/a> aren’t very good at articulating what they want. So the magic happens when you articulate what you<\/em> want. In a world where people are taught to falsify their preferences, deny their desires, “conceal, don’t feel”, expressing your heart’s deepest desires is a tremendous gift. Your roaring self-acceptance gives everyone else permission to do the same. It is tremendous, it is radical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do what makes your heart sing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

(2024dec24) “Heartsong” feels like a proto-book, or a collection of posts beyond this one, so I made a category\/list. Posts in this category include<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. focus on what you want to see more of<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. articulating a vision<\/a> \u2013 these are 3 youtube videos, need transcribing<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. you are already monarch<\/a> \u2014 leads into (1)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. you can’t think your way out of a courage deficit<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. do you know what you want?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. learn to laugh at yourself<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. how to be more optimistic<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. earn self-respect<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  9. the library ethos<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  10. the heat death of the universe means legacy is ultimately futile<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    there’s more, but I feel like I ought to switch to examining the “Knowable<\/a>” category for now… <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u2014 2. do not leave your longings unattended \u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n

    do not leave your longings unattended https:\/\/t.co\/vDIhwnazSS<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/cqo40rvsNw<\/a><\/p>— Visakan Veerasamy (@visakanv) November 13, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote>