Stuck in the Clouds: On Productivity, Meaning and How To Fly an Aircraft

Hello lovely readers and welcome back to my high-flying newsletter! The only newsletter that believes our need for meaning prevents us from finding it.

Following a 3-2-1 approach, it contains 3 thoughts from me (that you should ignore), 2 quotes from others (that you should read), and 1 joke that’s so bad, it’s good!

Let’s begin!

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3 Thoughts:

1) “The most meaningful moments in life have no words. When we attempt to attach meaning to those moments we lose it. Like prescribing some profundity to a spectacular sunset. When there are no words it’s best to keep it that way.” – click to tweet

2) “Productivity gets a bad rep nowadays. I believe the word is misunderstood. Increased productivity means an increased output for a given input. It doesn’t mean more work. It doesn’t mean you have to work harder. It means you get more bang for your buck. This is what you want to do to find that all elusive life balance: Have a system in place that allows you to maximise your most productive hours. Also set hard limits and have the discipline – yes discipline – to stop working outside of them.” – click to tweet

3) “There’s a lesson most pilot’s learn the hard way in training. The tendency to over control their aircraft, especially during severe turbulence. The desire to fight the turbulence – to counteract every single bump – makes the ride worse. Do that and you’re more likely, not less, to deviate from your desired track and level. The trick to flying is to let go. You must allow the aircraft to ride out the bumps and then gently bring the bird back to your desired track, level and speed. The same lesson applies to our mental state. The more you fight the turbulence the worse it gets.” – click to tweet

2 Quotes:

“Because children grow up, we think a child’s purpose is to grow up. But a child’s purpose is to be a child. Nature doesn’t disdain what lives only for a day. It pours the whole of itself into the each moment. We don’t value the lily less for not being made of flint and built to last. Life’s bounty is in its flow, later is too late. Where is the song when it’s been sung? The dance when it’s been danced? It’s only we humans who want to own the future, too. We persuade ourselves that the universe is modestly employed in unfolding our destination. We note the haphazard chaos of history by the day, by the hour, but there is something wrong with the picture. Where is the unity, the meaning, of nature’s highest creation? Surely those millions of little streams of accident and wilfulness have their correction in the vast underground river which, without a doubt, is carrying us to the place where we’re expected! But there is no such place, that’s why it’s called utopia. The death of a child has no more meaning than the death of armies, of nations. Was the child happy while he lived? That is a proper question, the only question. If we can’t arrange our own happiness, it’s a conceit beyond vulgarity to arrange the happiness of those who come after us.” 

― Tom Stoppard, The Coast of Utopia

“A critic is someone who enters the battlefield after the war is over and shoots the wounded.”

― Murray Kempton.

1 Joke: 

I was kidnapped by mimes once.

They did unspeakable things to me.

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You can find more of AP2’s writing here at: https://wiseandshinezine.com

You can also find him on Medium at: https://anxiouspilot2.medium.com

You can also email him directly at: anxiouspilot2@gmail.com

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