Dear Johnann,
It has been almost one year since the last time I wrote you last April. I apologized that I didn’t get to keep my promise to know you better by the time of your birthday (I even forgot to say happy birthday). I didn’t read more of your works like I said I would, either. To my defense, I should tell you that we now have countless options of books to read. So while I skipped yours, I read many others’. That should merit a good excuse, right?
Also it has been almost two years since the first day I followed your advice. By that count Following-Goethe should have amounted into 591 entries, but it’s 105 instead. I have mixed feelings about the discontinuity. On one hand, I feel like I’m failing my promise; on the other, I feel like I’m still keeping the advice in mind, only that I’m doing that on different --various (I’m happy to say)-- projects.
Among other things, I most want to tell you that I wish to thank you. By the end of the letter, you see on what and why. I don’t know how to thank people like you, but I’m guessing filling you in with some updates will do justice. In fact, in this present of time, the word “update” is by itself a kind of the future thing for you. So here are some ‘status update’ of your future --our present.
In case you’re interested to know, I used Wolfram Alpha to count the total number of days since Day One of Following Goethe to today. I just asked away, and Voila! By the way, I was just saying that to tell you some of the cool stuff we have now to access data, information and knowledge. I hope you don’t find me --us-- arithmetically lazy).
Speaking about knowledge, I absolutely think that you would find the present time the most exciting moment of human history so far. We have been globally and equally enabled to not only access them, but to also participate in creating them. Unlike your time, when genius is an exceptional characteristic and those who are considered as one are eternally praised (such as you are), now creative --if not genius-- is the trait of the norms. And more and more people are creating things in groups instead of in solitude. Even the lines between professionals and amateurs have blurred. Discoveries and inventions emerge literally on a daily basis (possibly every second, literally, too). Soon, our later youngs will be the likes of you. You will have many peers, I suppose. That’s one more reason you’ll like the present. Do you believe in reincarnation?
You might find shocking, however, that bad things happen ever a lot nowadays. I really don’t know much about these things, but I suspect that it’s the exposure of them that have escalated, instead of the real proportion (we do have the access of being highly informed after all). It is said that exposure of self-deficiencies is a promising start to self-improvement; and with us coming up with smaller number of collective identities, who knows. Projects on such efforts are abundant now, some waged by individuals, some by companies (even for profit ones --and you’ll find some distrustful comments about this, though). All are driven by the rising consciousness of collectivity, I’m happy to say. All are --at least to me-- heart-melting (and mind you, I don’t use that term a lot and I’m embarrassing myself here). All in all, I think it’s a good moment in history to expect for the better.
I told you I would come to you about something later. So here is ‘later’. At the time I’m writing this letter, I’m on a part of a book at which the author recommends a habit of writing some sort of gratitude notes. It is supposed to be just short notes, but --thanks to you-- I can’t write short :-) The notes should go to people close to us (family, friends, etc), but as citizen of the net, I feel ridiculously close to just about everyone I want to (We can feel like that now. You’ll love it. Two people invented Twitter with which we can follow everyone second-to-second. We can even follow the leading of anyone we admire. And --maybe-- they’ll follow us, too. It happens. In fact, I think many --I mean, really really many, people will follow you. Now there’s an idea: make a Twitter account for you! Some status updates you will post, I bet!).
That feeling of crazy connectedness means I can write to just about everyone. The author I was telling you about came up with gratitude insight around the month of August: the month of your birthday (happy coincidence, right?) For that reason, I’m addressing my first thank-you note to you.
Anyway, I’m glad I stumbled upon your advice. And you are absolutely right about taking notice (Thank you!). We’ll talk more soon.
Sincerely,
adih.
PS:
* more about Goethe’s advice I follow
* more about the first letter to Goethe.
.
It has been almost one year since the last time I wrote you last April. I apologized that I didn’t get to keep my promise to know you better by the time of your birthday (I even forgot to say happy birthday). I didn’t read more of your works like I said I would, either. To my defense, I should tell you that we now have countless options of books to read. So while I skipped yours, I read many others’. That should merit a good excuse, right?
Also it has been almost two years since the first day I followed your advice. By that count Following-Goethe should have amounted into 591 entries, but it’s 105 instead. I have mixed feelings about the discontinuity. On one hand, I feel like I’m failing my promise; on the other, I feel like I’m still keeping the advice in mind, only that I’m doing that on different --various (I’m happy to say)-- projects.
Among other things, I most want to tell you that I wish to thank you. By the end of the letter, you see on what and why. I don’t know how to thank people like you, but I’m guessing filling you in with some updates will do justice. In fact, in this present of time, the word “update” is by itself a kind of the future thing for you. So here are some ‘status update’ of your future --our present.
In case you’re interested to know, I used Wolfram Alpha to count the total number of days since Day One of Following Goethe to today. I just asked away, and Voila! By the way, I was just saying that to tell you some of the cool stuff we have now to access data, information and knowledge. I hope you don’t find me --us-- arithmetically lazy).
Speaking about knowledge, I absolutely think that you would find the present time the most exciting moment of human history so far. We have been globally and equally enabled to not only access them, but to also participate in creating them. Unlike your time, when genius is an exceptional characteristic and those who are considered as one are eternally praised (such as you are), now creative --if not genius-- is the trait of the norms. And more and more people are creating things in groups instead of in solitude. Even the lines between professionals and amateurs have blurred. Discoveries and inventions emerge literally on a daily basis (possibly every second, literally, too). Soon, our later youngs will be the likes of you. You will have many peers, I suppose. That’s one more reason you’ll like the present. Do you believe in reincarnation?You might find shocking, however, that bad things happen ever a lot nowadays. I really don’t know much about these things, but I suspect that it’s the exposure of them that have escalated, instead of the real proportion (we do have the access of being highly informed after all). It is said that exposure of self-deficiencies is a promising start to self-improvement; and with us coming up with smaller number of collective identities, who knows. Projects on such efforts are abundant now, some waged by individuals, some by companies (even for profit ones --and you’ll find some distrustful comments about this, though). All are driven by the rising consciousness of collectivity, I’m happy to say. All are --at least to me-- heart-melting (and mind you, I don’t use that term a lot and I’m embarrassing myself here). All in all, I think it’s a good moment in history to expect for the better.
I told you I would come to you about something later. So here is ‘later’. At the time I’m writing this letter, I’m on a part of a book at which the author recommends a habit of writing some sort of gratitude notes. It is supposed to be just short notes, but --thanks to you-- I can’t write short :-) The notes should go to people close to us (family, friends, etc), but as citizen of the net, I feel ridiculously close to just about everyone I want to (We can feel like that now. You’ll love it. Two people invented Twitter with which we can follow everyone second-to-second. We can even follow the leading of anyone we admire. And --maybe-- they’ll follow us, too. It happens. In fact, I think many --I mean, really really many, people will follow you. Now there’s an idea: make a Twitter account for you! Some status updates you will post, I bet!).
That feeling of crazy connectedness means I can write to just about everyone. The author I was telling you about came up with gratitude insight around the month of August: the month of your birthday (happy coincidence, right?) For that reason, I’m addressing my first thank-you note to you.
Anyway, I’m glad I stumbled upon your advice. And you are absolutely right about taking notice (Thank you!). We’ll talk more soon.
Sincerely,
adih.
PS:
* more about Goethe’s advice I follow
* more about the first letter to Goethe.
.
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