Prologue

Over the years, I’ve worked harder and harder to find meaning in life. But the more I've looked, the more I’ve wondered if I was going about my search the wrong way.

I've been looking for meaning through experience, but I think now that I've always had it backwards. Life will never be defined by extravagant experience, but about finding extravagance in common experience. So for 2009, I'm going to focus less on living large, and focus more on living well. Each month I'll start a new month-long project (like trying to run 3 miles faster than George Bush), to find uncommon results from common experience. Each project will involve daily activity, so every day of 2009 you can check my progress on the monthly projects and see what I discover.

None of these projects will cost much—in fact, I think most will be free. So if you're looking for a year uncommonly rich, you can join me. There's no membership required, just participate and comment if you want. Either way, get ready for a year I hope is unlike any other.

Epilogue

I stumbled across the finish line, but I manage to complete 8 of the month-long projects successfully. Blogging is now over at Wonderfam!

It's February, and February was a …

A Month of Accomplishment (about)

~ or ~

Forcing myself to finish something (about)

03
01

Smart start

Written by Nathan on March 1, 2009 at 11:58 pm from A Month of Wisdom.

It was thousands of years ago that Solomon earned the title of “world’s wisest man” and despite the time passed, it’s obvious that wisdom ages well. One chapter in, and I’m struck already how he seems to tap into the sort of thinking that should have staved off wars, financial crises, greed and despair. I suspect that my brain will quickly gain too much weight for my neck to support, and I’ll be forced to buy some awkward big brain neck-support brace. In the meantime, I’ll soldier on.

Here’s what I wrote today (click on either to enlarge):

I’m taking passages I find especially relevant or key and writing them larger – today I pulled out:

Start with God—the first step in learning is bowing down to God;
only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning.

…and:

When you grab all you can get, that’s what happens:
the more you get, the less you are.

I also meant to call out:

A manual for living,
for learning what’s right and just and fair;

…but I wasn’t paying enough attention and wrote before realizing how remarkable a line that it. To distinguish a manual by what’s right, just and fair rather than by what will bring a man success. What a grand distinction.

(2) Comments

2 Responses to “Smart start”

Big Guns says:

March 2, 2009 at 4:14 pm

“…the more you get, the less you are.” or “mo money, mo problems.”
Nathan Clark says:

March 4, 2009 at 8:28 am

Hahahaha