Recently a reader (shoutout to my friend Steven) commented,
“Quick question. You keep saying that you’re starting a series on X (details, acting, etc.). But you rarely explicitly ever do.”
To address this and other concerns of my own, I’d like to give you guys a brief update and share w/you some of my “behind-the-scenes” thoughts on the blog:
1 MYRIAD CATEGORIES
I’m serially starting new categories to lay the framework for the future. I won’t always have time to write longer intro posts, but I have a HUGE backlog of posts I’ve jotted down notes for w/in the existing categories, and I should be able to knock them out pretty quickly. In general, starting new categories helps me orient my thinking, so I can filter my experiences relevantly, and for the long run. This thing’s not going away anytime soon.
2 SCREW THE CATEGORIES, I DON’T LIKE THEM ALL THAT MUCH ANYWAY
That being said, while categories have their uses, I’m increasingly feeling the limitations they impose. The fact is, everyone organizes information differently based on their own life experiences and preferences, and they make connections in their mind accordingly.
3 RENEGADE POSTS
With this in mind, expect to soon see a lot of “uncategorized” posts – material that will still be relevant, but that doesn’t necessarily fit tidily under labels. And when I say relevant, I don’t mean boring. There’s going to be a lot of stuff that may be “out there” (but still relevant), simply because I love free-form thinking and drawing from disparate sources for inspiration.
Who says you need to exclusively study depression/XYZ to best understand depression/XYZ? Hell, I’d say that’s a terrible way to go about it, and a terrible way to go through life. Realize that a lot of what I’m trying to do is to get you to think more creatively, to imagine. Break free from stale thinking!
4 SHORTER POSTS – SNAPSHOTS
Very soon you won’t have to slog through my verbosity to pick up insights. Partly because of emerging time constraints, and partly because I think it’s better, soon many future posts will just be snapshots of life as I live it, and I won’t be so despotic about framing those snapshots in a certain way.
The fact is, things are complex, and I’m no authority on anything.
“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”
-Oscar Wilde
So I’ll put down what I think is valuable raw material, filtered slightly through the lens of my (rapidly evolving) worldview. Then you can piece together the snapshots and draw your own conclusions. I hate dogma anyway.
5 READER RESPONSES
I owe two – I haven’t forgotten, just give me more time! Sorry!
6 READER (YOU GUYS!) INTERACTION
We’re working on it, give us a month (likely less) and it’ll be there.
7 OSCAR WILDE
I’ve chosen my first monologue for acting class from Oscar Wilde’s work. I’m utterly not suited to play Oscar Wilde, and all the authorities say it’s a bad move to choose like this, but I dig his stuff and think it’ll be a great experience for me as an actor, even if I mangle it horribly (it’s incredibly hard to find good monologues for Asians anyway). Plus, I think his forward-thinking ideas hold enormous potential for helping those who struggle with depression.
So, I’ll be immersing myself in Oscar Wilde this week, and you can pretty definitely expect to see that trickle into this blog.
And that’s what’s up for now, blog-wise.
-David
[nsn_quick_feedback]
Showing posts with label This Blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label This Blog. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
On This Blog – A new vision for the new year
In preparation for a few moves we’re going to make to massively publicize this blog (and our venture) to college students, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how I can best use this blog to help people.
To some extent, this brings me to the same dilemma many writers (not just bloggers) face – how to best strike the balance between writing for myself and writing for my audience? And who is my audience anyway?
Make no mistake, I write this blog partly for myself.
The fact is, nearly everything I’m “doing with my life” right now is high risk, and repeated “failure” is virtually guaranteed. Any returns that might come will come much later, way down the line, at least from the perspective of “achievement.”
Truthfully, I don’t really view it this way – I see the journey as the greatest reward.
But I won’t lie, I do care about “success” to some degree, and to the extent that “success” means helping people realize their potential, I care immensely. I’ve pretty much staked my life on it.
And I’m fine with all this. After all, I chose it. And in the long run, I think of myself as pretty much unemployable (in terms of holding a 9 to 5), and I like to at least pretend that I thrive and grow best under enormous do-or-die pressure.
But know that when I say that I write this blog partly for myself, I don’t just mean I write in a style that appeals to me. It goes way deeper than that.
This blog does nothing short of keep me sane, and it serves as an anchor for me in a highly unstable life. Seeing my words on the screen, and knowing that somebody gets something out of those words – that’s incredibly meaningful to me, and it’s about the only instant gratification that comes my way these days. For these reasons, I treat any comments I get from you readers as nothing short of soul food.
But at the same time, I make a very conscious effort to write with my readers in mind. When I tell a personal story, I try to draw out what I see to be important insights, and if I don’t outright say it, I try to place emphasis or hint at things to achieve the same effect.
Still, I recognize that so far, this blog has been pretty long-winded (among other things) and therefore may not be optimally effective in helping many of the people I most urgently want to help.
With this in mind, expect to see some pretty substantial changes to this blog in the coming month or so.
My team and I (shoutout to Hari and Colin for their invaluable role in envisioning the future of this blog) will be introducing several new features, both format-wise and content-wise:
Expect there to be more opportunity for you to directly contribute to it – for it to be much more interactive.
Expect that to some extent we’ll be “going commercial” and packaging the content in much more concise ways – ways that might make it more manageable for someone struggling with depression to use it.
Expect that there will be much more material directly relevant to someone struggling with depression.
Above all, we truly hope to offer real value to those who struggle with depression, but of course we hope that everyone who reads it will gain something from it.
For those of you who like the style and content of the blog as it is right now, have no fear! I’m not going anywhere with the long personal entries – they just might be moved to a separate section of the blog. Don’t drop out on me!
The fact is, even if you all abandoned me, I’d probably still keep writing those kinds of entries, if only because it’s a good habit for a writer to keep – it’s good practice.
Anyway, this was just a heads up – the truth is, even we don’t really know how this blog will evolve in the future.
So keep reading, and give me a shout every once in a while to let me know how I'm doing!
-David
[nsn_quick_feedback]
To some extent, this brings me to the same dilemma many writers (not just bloggers) face – how to best strike the balance between writing for myself and writing for my audience? And who is my audience anyway?
Make no mistake, I write this blog partly for myself.
The fact is, nearly everything I’m “doing with my life” right now is high risk, and repeated “failure” is virtually guaranteed. Any returns that might come will come much later, way down the line, at least from the perspective of “achievement.”
Truthfully, I don’t really view it this way – I see the journey as the greatest reward.
But I won’t lie, I do care about “success” to some degree, and to the extent that “success” means helping people realize their potential, I care immensely. I’ve pretty much staked my life on it.
And I’m fine with all this. After all, I chose it. And in the long run, I think of myself as pretty much unemployable (in terms of holding a 9 to 5), and I like to at least pretend that I thrive and grow best under enormous do-or-die pressure.
But know that when I say that I write this blog partly for myself, I don’t just mean I write in a style that appeals to me. It goes way deeper than that.
This blog does nothing short of keep me sane, and it serves as an anchor for me in a highly unstable life. Seeing my words on the screen, and knowing that somebody gets something out of those words – that’s incredibly meaningful to me, and it’s about the only instant gratification that comes my way these days. For these reasons, I treat any comments I get from you readers as nothing short of soul food.
But at the same time, I make a very conscious effort to write with my readers in mind. When I tell a personal story, I try to draw out what I see to be important insights, and if I don’t outright say it, I try to place emphasis or hint at things to achieve the same effect.
Still, I recognize that so far, this blog has been pretty long-winded (among other things) and therefore may not be optimally effective in helping many of the people I most urgently want to help.
With this in mind, expect to see some pretty substantial changes to this blog in the coming month or so.
My team and I (shoutout to Hari and Colin for their invaluable role in envisioning the future of this blog) will be introducing several new features, both format-wise and content-wise:
Expect there to be more opportunity for you to directly contribute to it – for it to be much more interactive.
Expect that to some extent we’ll be “going commercial” and packaging the content in much more concise ways – ways that might make it more manageable for someone struggling with depression to use it.
Expect that there will be much more material directly relevant to someone struggling with depression.
Above all, we truly hope to offer real value to those who struggle with depression, but of course we hope that everyone who reads it will gain something from it.
For those of you who like the style and content of the blog as it is right now, have no fear! I’m not going anywhere with the long personal entries – they just might be moved to a separate section of the blog. Don’t drop out on me!
The fact is, even if you all abandoned me, I’d probably still keep writing those kinds of entries, if only because it’s a good habit for a writer to keep – it’s good practice.
Anyway, this was just a heads up – the truth is, even we don’t really know how this blog will evolve in the future.
So keep reading, and give me a shout every once in a while to let me know how I'm doing!
-David
[nsn_quick_feedback]
Sunday, January 3, 2010
On This Blog – Depression Resources (Intro)
There are many good resources out there for those struggling with depression - guidebooks, memoirs, literature, etc. However, there doesn’t seem to be one place where someone could go to and find them all.
There’s no doubt about it, it’s a difficult task at hand – how to distill and package an immense amount of information into manageable form for the “average” sufferer of depression?
Still, I think it can and must be done better.
We need more creative people tackling this challenge of bringing available knowledge to the masses. And packaging this knowledge in memorable, and even entertaining ways.
I’m not sure how much time I’ll have to do this in the future (and I’m quite sure I’m not the most credible person to do this), but I promise to do my part whenever I can.
With that in mind, you will soon see my concise (and hopefully palatable and memorable, and most of all useful) reviews of “depression resources.”
And just so you know, I consider depression resources to be anything from memoirs to science textbooks to art to music to movies…and so on. I firmly believe more medical professionals involved in treating depression should be watching more movies and reading more literature and in general consuming more culture with the following frame of mind: What insights can I draw here that could help my patient/friend/family/etc overcome their depression? Hell, it might even be more useful than studying Orgo, or reading scientific papers.
Anything I stumble across that I think may be useful, I will (attempt to) recap in hip conversational form, and I’ll organize it all into the categories of this blog. Eventually, I hope to move them to an entirely separate section of the site, but that’s a task for another day…
Check back in soon for these personalized resources!
-David
[nsn_quick_feedback]
There’s no doubt about it, it’s a difficult task at hand – how to distill and package an immense amount of information into manageable form for the “average” sufferer of depression?
Still, I think it can and must be done better.
We need more creative people tackling this challenge of bringing available knowledge to the masses. And packaging this knowledge in memorable, and even entertaining ways.
I’m not sure how much time I’ll have to do this in the future (and I’m quite sure I’m not the most credible person to do this), but I promise to do my part whenever I can.
With that in mind, you will soon see my concise (and hopefully palatable and memorable, and most of all useful) reviews of “depression resources.”
And just so you know, I consider depression resources to be anything from memoirs to science textbooks to art to music to movies…and so on. I firmly believe more medical professionals involved in treating depression should be watching more movies and reading more literature and in general consuming more culture with the following frame of mind: What insights can I draw here that could help my patient/friend/family/etc overcome their depression? Hell, it might even be more useful than studying Orgo, or reading scientific papers.
Anything I stumble across that I think may be useful, I will (attempt to) recap in hip conversational form, and I’ll organize it all into the categories of this blog. Eventually, I hope to move them to an entirely separate section of the site, but that’s a task for another day…
Check back in soon for these personalized resources!
-David
[nsn_quick_feedback]
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
On This Blog - Shorter entries
So it’s come to my attention that my blog entries are rather mammoth in size, which in our attention-deficited age means turn-off.
With that in mind, I will try to shorten my posts, or at least mix it up between longer and shorter posts.
It’s hard because I’m a rather long-winded (though hopefully still lucid) thinker, and that translates directly on paper (screen)...
-David
[nsn_quick_feedback]
With that in mind, I will try to shorten my posts, or at least mix it up between longer and shorter posts.
It’s hard because I’m a rather long-winded (though hopefully still lucid) thinker, and that translates directly on paper (screen)...
-David
[nsn_quick_feedback]
Monday, November 30, 2009
On This Blog - Intro (Statement of Intent)
When you start a new venture, it’s always good to formulate in your mind what it is you’re trying to do.
Even better than formulating it in your mind is writing it down. Putting words on paper forces you to see whether or not you’ve thought things out to the extent that you think you did, and to the extent that you definitely need to have.
It forces you to be real with yourself.
This is not to say that things won’t change. In fact, they should change – if they don’t, you’re doing something wrong. Because no one is so brilliant they can conceive in their mind the perfect flawless plan.
Here’s a clip of what Randy Komisar has to say on business plans (check out his book, “The Monk and the Riddle,” and also “Getting to Plan B,” they’re great reads for everyone, not just entrepreneurs):
“Plans are too often a straightjacket for innovation. They are built on dreams and assumptions. Without more, they are likely to fail…”
That being said, it’s still necessary to have a Plan A. So here goes. This is how I now (at this moment in time) envision this blog, and here are the goals I have for it:
1 I will use it to establish myself as a major voice in the arena of youth (motivated) depression
2 It will force me to incrementally write portions of my book (more on that to come in a later post)
3 Soon (I know the content is heavily personal so far) it will provide resources for those who suffer from depression – all with my own personal twist, of course. For now, I’m thinking almost SparkNotes for available depression resources, but more entertaining.
4 I will use it as a platform to carry out brainstorming for my social venture
5 Perhaps my greatest hope for it: Through this blog, I will assemble a mastermind alliance of people – sufferers of depression, friends of those who suffer from depression, health professionals, entrepreneurs, innovative thinkers, etc – who together will solve the challenge of helping the motivated depressed defeat their depression and unleash their potential upon the world. (read Napolean Hill’s “Keys to Success” for an understanding of the term mastermind alliance)
6 And lastly, I will use it to chronicle my journey and enrich my life.
So there it is!
And now that I’ve formulated Plan A, I can metaphorically crumple up the plan, and with an elegant flick of my wrist (I'm an ultimate player), toss it out.
Any real entrepreneur knows that business is more about rolling up the sleeves and doing things than talking about them and planning to do them, right?
-David
[nsn_quick_feedback]
Even better than formulating it in your mind is writing it down. Putting words on paper forces you to see whether or not you’ve thought things out to the extent that you think you did, and to the extent that you definitely need to have.
It forces you to be real with yourself.
This is not to say that things won’t change. In fact, they should change – if they don’t, you’re doing something wrong. Because no one is so brilliant they can conceive in their mind the perfect flawless plan.
Here’s a clip of what Randy Komisar has to say on business plans (check out his book, “The Monk and the Riddle,” and also “Getting to Plan B,” they’re great reads for everyone, not just entrepreneurs):
“Plans are too often a straightjacket for innovation. They are built on dreams and assumptions. Without more, they are likely to fail…”
That being said, it’s still necessary to have a Plan A. So here goes. This is how I now (at this moment in time) envision this blog, and here are the goals I have for it:
1 I will use it to establish myself as a major voice in the arena of youth (motivated) depression
2 It will force me to incrementally write portions of my book (more on that to come in a later post)
3 Soon (I know the content is heavily personal so far) it will provide resources for those who suffer from depression – all with my own personal twist, of course. For now, I’m thinking almost SparkNotes for available depression resources, but more entertaining.
4 I will use it as a platform to carry out brainstorming for my social venture
5 Perhaps my greatest hope for it: Through this blog, I will assemble a mastermind alliance of people – sufferers of depression, friends of those who suffer from depression, health professionals, entrepreneurs, innovative thinkers, etc – who together will solve the challenge of helping the motivated depressed defeat their depression and unleash their potential upon the world. (read Napolean Hill’s “Keys to Success” for an understanding of the term mastermind alliance)
6 And lastly, I will use it to chronicle my journey and enrich my life.
So there it is!
And now that I’ve formulated Plan A, I can metaphorically crumple up the plan, and with an elegant flick of my wrist (I'm an ultimate player), toss it out.
Any real entrepreneur knows that business is more about rolling up the sleeves and doing things than talking about them and planning to do them, right?
-David
[nsn_quick_feedback]
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