Museletter the Sixty-second

Oh, I was so tempted to title this "The One-Minute Newsletter" —because, of course, it's the "sixty-second" in the series. Sixty second? Get it? ??

Say the Magic Words

Decades ago, I attended a meditation retreat where the leader suggested we try something kind of strange: He said, "look at each person you see here and think, 'I love you.' "

Well, I knew a few of the people in the group, but no one well enough to feel like I loved them. And, to be honest, there were some whom I didn't even like that much. Nevertheless, I gave it a go, and I was shocked by the result: Simply saying "I love you" — even just thinking the words — radically changed how I felt about the person.

Inevitably, if I repeated "I love you" in my head enough times, I would feel the transition occur: it was a weird softening in my body's viscera, alongside a sense of recognition — as though I were suddenly waking up and remembering this person was a member of my family or… and this was really strange… as though this person was another part of me.

I was stunned by how easily I could "hack" my mind, to change my perceptions and ideas through nothing but making clear statements to myself.

So to this day, I'll sometimes find myself with extra time at an airport or restaurant, and I'll see if it still works. I'll look at some annoying teenager across the room — or the scary-looking guy who just walked in, or that woman over there who, I can just tell, is someone who's opinions would make me gag — and I'll silently repeat "I love you" a few times until I begin to feel that sense of recognition. It changes everything: the teenager becomes like my own child; the guy becomes a long-lost friend; the woman becomes that part of me I'd rather not admit is there but is anyway.

It feels like some kind of magic incantation — one that transforms not others, but me.?

What We've Lost

We, as a people and culture, have lost so much in the shift to creating and publishing digitally:

• Authors/artists can't sign their work, applying an unique, personal touch to something that was either crafted or mass-produced.
• Historians will rarely be able to look back and see the drafts of a creation — what rough ideas led to the finished piece. (For example, you have no idea how many ways I've edited these musings over time.)
• While NFTs have tried to fill the need of owning something digital, I think we can all agree that they're a pale imitation of actually owning a thing: a book, a print, even a nicely painted stone.

I mean, hey, my entire career has been based on helping people create digitally. And there's no doubt the digital arena allows many astonishing abilities, beyond anything that can be done with analog techniques. But let's be clear that we may be losing as much as we're gaining on this path.

What other things are no longer possible with digital artwork? (Feel free to respond in the comments!)

Janus Words

Here's a category of language I find interesting: words and phrases that mean two completely opposite things, depending on their context and inflection. My favorite is the word "downhill" — for instance, if you say "it's all downhill from here" does that mean it's going to get progressively easier, or progressively worse? Both are correct, depending on how or when you say it. Isn't that weird?

These kinds of words are named contranyms — or sometimes called "Janus words." (Janus was a Roman god with two faces, each pointing in the opposite direction.) Here are some others to chew on:

• Trim (which means both to add decoration and to cut stuff off)
• Left (here vs gone — e.g. "how many Elvis impersonators are left?" vs "Elvis has left the building!")
• Fast (things move fast, until they're held fast)
• Resign (quit vs sign up again)
• Toss out (to suggest vs to throw away)

What other contranyms can you think of? Do you ever feel like you're the opposite of yourself — same person, different meaning?

Thank you!

I enjoy sharing my musings… and I enjoy hearing yours! Please share this newsletter with a friend,?follow me on LinkedIn, and send me feedback. You can always reach me at [email protected]