Im wunderschönen Monat Mai

Pt 1 - Effective Altruism, Syllojisms, and the beauty of a writing practice.

In college, I begrudgingly took a class called “Enjoyment of Music”, and it turned out to be one of my favorite classes ever. It was one of my GenEd requirements, a good chunk of which I completed in high school, and as a former band captain for a nationally recognized marching band, I was certain I didn’t need to be told how to “enjoy music”. I was in a hurry to graduate. I never expected that I’d take anything away from this class, but it changed my life. My prior music knowledge allowed me to ace the class easily, but I sat in that lecture hall with tears streaming down my face. I knew the technical stuff, but I had forgotten how to enjoy music. Now, every time I hear this song, I’m reminded to slow the fuck down, forget about accomplishment, and remember how to sit in the pure enjoyment of things:

I know, this newsletter is supposed to be my monthly rabbit hole… it is. Just bear with me. This month, I’ve realized that the past year, I’ve been forced to take an “Enjoyment of Life” class - and again it’s been life-changing in ways the little girl always in a rush never would have understood until she was forced to slow down. This newsletter is another assignment in my class: reflect on your month.

This month I’ve done a lot (like every month), but here are the 3 major things I focused on this month:

1. Effective Altruism: Questioning the idea of Doing Good Better?

2. Digging deeper into the pleasure and pain of Syllojism Season 1

3. Finding beauty in my writing practice

Here, I want to do more than dump my search history. I’ll do that, too (in part 2), but I want to share how much fun I’m having and go deeper into the things I’ve learned. If you’re so inclined, you can read about these things and support me as a paid subscriber.