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- #94: Desire is a liar.
#94: Desire is a liar.
Shem Opolot
October 25, 2024
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Otherwise, grab a seat 🪑.
Happy Friday 🎉 Jane Street, a prominent trading firm in the U.S., boasts of internships (yes, internships) that pay an annualized base salary of $250,000, which is more than you, the UK Prime Minister, your uncle who asked for your CV that one time, and the Secretary-General of NATO earn. For many—who don’t have to apply for visas—it may be more lucrative to aspire to a Jane Street internship instead of pretty much any other job. If you want to risk it all, brush up on your puzzle skills.
LIFE.
Desire is a liar.
“Can you see my screen?”
Do you know how long I’ve waited to say those words in a billable context?
“Can you hear me now?”
Sweet, sweet words, those.
I signed a contract for a new consulting gig last Friday, and I remember the joy I felt when I did. It lasted all of one minute. Right after, rudderless striving slid across the desk and unseated that joy.
“I should’ve charged a higher consulting rate.”
“It’s only for 14 weeks.”
We love desire more than attainment. But we don’t love desire alone. We love the duality it presents. The having and not having.
This is a hard cycle to break out of—the constant striving.
“When I get a job, I’ll be good.” Until the morning you start your job and you’re hitting snooze.
“When I get a master's, I’ll be good.”
Until your thesis almost breaks you, and the job market turns around and shows you its hairy bum.
“When I get married and have kids, I’ll be happy.”
Until…yeah, I’m not touching that one, sorry.
Perhaps everything has to align at once? The job, the degree, the money, the kids, the good marriage, the good health… notice how long this list is getting?
Exactly.
Religion balances this duality well because most of its promises are on the other side of life, so you’ll strive forever. And if you get the salvation you’ve invested years of repression into, only you will know if you’ll finally be satisfied. There’s only the small uncertain matter of posthumous consciousness to contend with.
The ‘happiness’ you reach for in the distance is a mirage. It’s an abstraction of something familiar. Something you’ve seen before. A hearty laugh with friends. The giggles of a child. A kiss from someone you really want(ed) to kiss. The first bite of a really good meal. The first time the person you love(d) said they love(d) you.
Longing for happiness in the future is a bit like exhaling into your cupped hands to see if your breath smells. You can never quite tell, so you should just get a breath mint.
Grab happiness now instead of dreaming of grabbing it tomorrow.
THINGS.
A tweet.
Charles is on a world tour, and it’s going as well as expected.
"King Charles shouldn't be blamed for things his ancestors did."
The Irish response when the King visited Ireland in 1911.
— Solo Monk (@JJKALE2)
3:30 AM • Oct 21, 2024
A picture.
WORK.
Create FAQs, study guides, onboarding guides
Gif by mylescox on Giphy
Here are a few things you can use Google’s NotebookLM for:
Creating FAQs
Creating Study guides
Creating onboarding guides
Synthesizing multiple sources and creating an audio summary to listen to on the go
Give it a try. It’s incredible.
FUN.
The Friday Fix Playlist
Shem’s picks
✅ Learn to read music for free.
✅ The truth about how Rihanna’s SOS was written.
✅ Need a therapist? Chat with this drunk psychotherapist chatbot.
✅ How fast can you type? Compete with random peeps.
✅ Enter your favorite authors and genres, and this site will spit out recommendations.
Have a great weekend,
— Shem
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