🐥The Paradox of Now #20

A Holiday Sandwich

Hi people!

I’ve just come back from a week in Spain playing pickleball, eating three plates of food for breakfast every morning (including onion rings and chicken nuggets) and doing all the good tourist stuff in-between.

It’s cool going away with people that you usually don’t go away with.

It means you get to experience and do things you may not usually do.

For me that was:

• Holding a crab

• Going to a bullring

• Trying out a new hairstyle

Always be willing to try new things people.

Now let me give you a taste of what's coming:

🐥 A modern-day Superman, no cape needed
🐥 A sound worse than nails on a chalkboard
🐥 20 friends, one game of hide-and-seek

🥚Eggstra News🥚

Your weekly dose of some fascinating and fun finds:

🏊Ross Edgley – Swam for 56 hours non-stop. Built like a boulder and powered by Stoicism.

🐒The Chimp Paradox – Written by Ronnie O’Sullivan’s psychologist. That’s all you need to know.

🍔Burger Tacos – Exactly what it sounds like. And yes they’re peng.

The Paradox of Now

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The Worst Sound in the World

Prelude: I wrote this piece a few weeks ago as I knew I was going away. I was helping future me. Thanks Scott.

What I did not know was that on my flight home on Wednesday I would read a chapter called ‘You can’t care about everything - On staying sane when the world’s a mess in Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman.

It pretty much says the same thing me (but 1000x better obviously).

Reading those similar ideas in that moment made me feel something that I can’t quite describe.

But I knew that it must mean something.

Maybe it means that I am beginning to trust my own truths, the people who I surround myself with, and the lens in which I look through into this world.

This is not tunnel vision. This is not group think.

I see these ideas from a plethora of sources as you will now see in the upcoming section.

So, what do you think is the worst sound in the world?

Polystyrene? Chalkboard? A baby’s cry?

For me, it’s the theme tune to Good Morning Britain.

Harrowing.

A Pavlovian trigger for two strangers arguing about whether male police officers should be allowed to wear high heels.

Or whether scented candles should be renamed because someone didn’t grow up with access to ‘fresh linen.’

Mainstream media and news are objectively absurd.

Loud. Divisive. Shallow.

And still, people tune in daily, as if they are a Party member of the totalitarian state in George Orwell’s 1984.

From one famous George to the next. Take a look at the George Mack piece I’ve included. It’s great satire because it’s not even satire.

It’s exactly how the news behaves.

Let’s be honest. You've heard people at work say things like:

And I’ll hold my hands up. I don’t have a clue what’s going on.

Zero. Nil. Nada.

But will me reposting a graphic on Instagram change anything?

Will watching the news make me more informed, or just more depressed?

This isn't a political take.

It’s not about one conflict or the next.

It’s about what we do with our attention and choices, and how caring about everything means caring about nothing.

If your instinct is to argue with this, let me flip it:

And no, changing your profile picture to a country’s flag doesn’t count.

If you’ve truly taken action, I applaud you.

But if not, maybe it's time to consider that outrage without action is theatre.

And if this question makes you uncomfortable, that might be a mirror worth looking into. We’re rarely offended by things that hold no truth.

Feeling helpless doesn’t make you a bad person. But staying stuck in that helplessness? That’s a choice.

You don’t need to save the world.

And no one is asking you to do so.

But that’s why we can start by aiming so small we can’t miss.

It’s not just a tagline. It’s actionable. It’s within your grasp.

Do what you can with what you have, where you are.

Carry someone’s shopping when it looks heavy.

Message a friend who you know is struggling.

Wash the dishes because your partner’s had a long day.

These aren’t world-saving acts. But they matter.

And when enough of us do them, they ripple out.

It’s not like in primary school where you need a permission slip to go to the toilet.

You don’t need a planned out strategy like when you were playing Balloons Tower Defence.

You just need to show up in the ways you can.

Over time, the shape of your small corner begins to shift.

The boundary posts expand. Your influence grows.

And maybe, just maybe, it stretches further than you imagined. Maybe even as far as those places on the news.

Don’t waste your energy on the constant drone of the news. It’s just a generational habit that has been hard to kick, from when there was nothing better to watch or do.

This is not me saying it is wrong for people to feel distressed or empathetic towards what is going on, even when there is no personal connection.

Some level of concern is admirable.

But we are in a society where we have access to everything and therefore a society that should care about everything.

An attention economy where news stories have to be compelling otherwise we won’t read or listen to them.

Therefore the lines become blurred and it becomes increasingly more difficult to determine what is legitimately serious and noteworthy in the news anymore.

Wisdom and Limitations

There are many definitions that could be used for wisdom, but for this instance, I like this one:

In this context, it is breaking the habit of filling the brain with useless information.

We are what we eat. And we are what we consume. So pay attention to what you feed you mind.

Not with a breaking news story of a stabbing in Shropshire.

Is that nutritious?

Is that filling?

Or is this like feeding ducks white bread?

Instead, listen to thinkers who bring insight.

Read writing that opens something in you.

Reflect. Share. Add your own flavour.

Embrace your limitations.

This newsletter is my attempt. A messy mix of ideas, distilled into something that might help someone.

Something created with intention, effort, and hopefully, impact.

This is me trying to improve my small corner of the world.

And this is a final takeaway and late edition to this newsletter. I leave you with a quote that neatly summarises what I have written in one sentence… Maybe I should have just not bothered then!

Start small. Start now.

What’s an act so simple, so manageable, that you could do it today?

Do that.

That’s the work.

Embrace your limitations.

🐥 Haiku’s Haiku 🐥

We went on a little adventure to The Sugarloaf Winery in Abergavenny a few weeks ago and Haiku said he wanted a photo to show off his new red neckerchief.

I couldn’t say no to a face like that could I?

We were in a giddy mood and skipped through the vineyard like no one was watching.

Welcoming staff, amazing wine, tasty sharing platters and beautiful views.

Highly recommend.

🌴 Palm Tree Euphoria 🌴

Marbella Hide and Seek

Still the most diplomatic moment in our friendship group’s history.

Picture it: 20 of us, age 21-ish, crammed into a villa in Marbella. Sun. Chaos. Alcohol.

Baptisms in the pool.

Internal initiations like “Salsa Club” and “Cuzzi Club” were born.

The friend who booked it? Instantly dubbed The Zookeeper.

He spent the entire week trying to control the mayhem, praying we wouldn’t lose the deposit.

By the final day, the villa was not in a good way.

Cleaning was non-negotiable, but who does what? No one wanted kitchen duty.

Tensions high. Spirits low. Hangovers everywhere.

Then… genius struck.

The Zookeeper became the seeker.

The rest of us scattered. The earlier you were found, the worse the job you got.

Top five? Kitchen duty.

Last found? Putting deckchairs back around the pool. A five-minute job.

Cue lads hiding in bins. Under decking. Emotional pacts made. Bladders tested.

Was it extreme? Sure.

Was it fair? Absolutely.

Did we get the deposit back? You bet.

Gamification.

It works in business, life… and post-holiday clean-ups.

See you next week Dashing Ducks! 🐥

P.S. if this felt like a five-minute deckchair job for your brain, pass it on to a fellow duckling who’d appreciate the strategy.

Word of beak is how we help improve our small corner of the world.

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