Exciting news, the Playticity Newsletter is back. If you’re interested in seeing what I’m up to, my creative process, how to become more curious, or want to live a more playful life, you’re in the right place.
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Let’s get curious!
Hey Players,
Welcome to Playticity Newsletter #8. Its been a while since you’ve seen my words on a page like this. But I’m excited to say that I’m back!
After spending the past few months getting my life in order and honing my message, I am ready to return to the Newsletter game. This week I want to tell you what I’ve been up to and an interesting juxtaposition I came across — fancy word I know.
1.
I have a new podcast coming out this Thursday with Greg Habstritt on Entrepreneurship. Greg was a guest on Playticity Podcast Episode 4, where we talked about the therapeutic potential for psychedelics to heal trauma and improve mental health. But Greg’s deep greater passion is in starting businesses. He has done so since a young age, and has built up multiple million dollar ventures over his career. This was one of my favorite podcasts so far and if you have had an inkling to start a business of your own, you’ll get a ton of valuable information here.
2.
This past week, my curiosity took me to an interesting place. I moved into my very own apartment last Sunday (February 27), this was something I wanted for a long time, the freedom, the responsibility, it was a big day for me. My family helped me move, and once the last of them left and closed the door, I was left in utter silence. Its like life told me in that instant — “well, this is what you wanted.”
From there I knew that the vast majority of how my life turned out was now on me. My friends and family would still be there, but by and large, success and failure lied with me and me alone.
Shortly after this moment. I decided to call up a friend. We chatted about the conflicts occurring in Ukraine, why it was occurring, and the potential implications.
This was the juxtaposition. For me, a new apartment and being on my own meant freedom and opportunity was suddenly as plentiful as ever. But then in another part of the world, those same freedoms and opportunities were being stripped away from thousands.
I didn’t know whether to feel guilty, or grateful, to be sad, or feel compassion. I didn’t want to limit my feelings of freedom, but I also didn’t want to be ignorant to the pain of others. It was a very ambiguous situation.
In my write-up for Playticity Podcast Episode 12 with Gillian Robertson, I came away with this thesis:
“If nothing else, this situation with Russia and Ukraine has taught me how fleeting our freedoms and safeties really are, and that it could be stripped from us at a moments notice.
So rather than feel guilt, feel gratitude. Step into your freedom, and enjoy it while you can.”
I hope this isn’t an ignorant perspective. But ultimately we are only human, and as much as we wish we could, we can’t hold the pain of the world fully on our own backs.
3.
With that said, there’s a book by Paul Bloom called Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion. I haven’t read the book, but from what I can gather, his controversial argument is that feeling the pain of others all the time actually doesn’t help solve problems. Take a therapist, you don’t want them to feel your pain, suffering, anxieties, and stress every time you meet. You want them to have distance from the situation so they can provide a nuanced and objective view. Similarly with a doctor, you need them to be in control and rational if you are given an unfavorable diagnosis. Compassion allows us to help without getting caught in the same web of emotion that empathy can trap us in.
If a child is throwing a fit, a good parent doesn’t throw a fit with them, they take a measured approach and try to solve the problem. I think there is a line with this though. A huge part of being human is feeling the pain of others so that we can understand them. If we don’t tread carefully, becoming overly rational can easily slip into cold-heartedness. So as with everything except how much pizza you should eat (never enough), its all about balance.
Anyway, that’s all I have this week. Thanks for reading and I’ll see all you players on Thursday.
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