painting is the same as

sculpting, is the same as

poetry, is the same as

knitting, is the same as

music, is the same as

cooking, is the same as

a golf swing, is the same as

a basketball shot, is the same as

making love, is the same as

writing comedy, is the same as

creating a strategy, is the same as

tactical execution, is the same as

chemistry, is the same as

orating, is the same as

theatrical productions, is the same as

singing, is the same as

…

you see the pattern here? everything in the world is exactly the same. there’s a japanese concept — jo-ha-kyu — which “roughly translated to ‘beginning, break, rapid’, it essentially means that all actions or efforts should begin slowly, speed up, and then end swiftly.” this is how art is performed. you cannot flick your wrist with a sense of timidity when painting. move with intent! sculpting; hammer your chisel with intent! no half swings! poetry; choose your words with intent! a golf swing; focus on the ball and swing with intent! everything in the list above, and more, is about setting standard, having a breakout moment, and closing with some sort of finale. you see this pattern repeated in many of life’s pleasurable moments, artistic, competitive, strategic, and more!

this is why are educational programs are so important btw. at a high level, they’re teaching students to create things with intent. don’t just make something to make something. anyone can do that, and frankly too many are. there’s a lot of useless shit out there. creating things with intent leads to better design, which is nice because people like pretty things :), but also, it leads to more intentional consumption.

is consumption behavior downstream from product design? that’s the implication I seem to be making here. something I will continue thinking about.

if you take anything from this, it should be that life is a series of beginnings, break outs, and conclusions. things slowly shift and build up tension, the pressure releases, and the valve is closed again. being able to identify this cycle and develop a literacy for it will make your life lowkey easy as hell fr ong no cap.