Notes

Currently reading Joan Westenberg’s “How to Make People Give a Damn” and thinking about how authenticity will only continue to grow in value in the years to come.

Earnestness is radioactive. People sense it through the screen. If you’re saying something because you believe it, people may not agree, but they will listen longer. If you’re saying something because you think it will work, they may like it, but they won’t love it. There is a difference between engagement and emotional investment. One gets clicks. The other gets belief.

This is why a weird, typo-ridden essay on Medium about quitting law school to raise goats can outlast a perfectly edited corporate blog. Because someone meant it. The audience, whether they admit it or not, is starved for sincerity.

There is a reason why the Stoics are back in fashion, why Viktor Frankl sells more copies today than in 1980, and why YouTube is flooded with young men reading Marcus Aurelius to synth music.

People are seeking meaning.

It reminds me of a quote by Harold Kushner in When All You’ve Ever Wanted Isn’t Enough: The Search for a Life That Matters:

“Our souls are not hungry for fame, comfort, wealth, or power […] Our souls are hungry for meaning.”