Real Life Does Not Indeed Fit The Narrative We're Sold
From Bari Weiss's The Free Press (new name for Common Sense)
I’m working on what is an important essay for me, one that I wanted to write sometime in 2020, soon after I realized the extent of the lies. I’ll be sharing that writing in the context of presenting another piece of work that took a long time to complete but will soon be available for public consumption.
In the meantime, thank you to Sane amiga, SMG, for sending me this piece from Bari Weiss's The Free Press (the new name for Common Sense) by Amanda Fortini.
SMG and I planned to go for a walk this week but instead had a leisurely lunch during which time we spoke about making assumptions, about thinking we know who someone is based on our limited experience of them, about being curious, about letting ourselves be surprised. Open attitudes leave us with space to be delighted whilst the converse tends to give the exact opposite feeling.
Anyway, here are some sentences I liked from the above article:
Life is always so much stranger than anything we could make up.Â
The more I paid attention to what was tangible, the phonier the narratives began to feel.
The antidote [to uninspired and formulaic narratives]? It’s a renewed focus on the real, the concrete, and the specific.
I’ve been getting specific with myself, honing in on what’s real and feels true.
Hopefully that doesn’t sound too abstract. Hopefully it will make sense if you apply the principles to yourself…