How To Make Sense of this Crazy World We Live In

Dec 20

Hello! I hope you are well. I just wanted to let you know that I just released a new class on storytelling. This was done in collaboration with my good friend Johnny Harris (fellow content creator and great friend). If this is sounding a little like déjà vu, it might be because we joined forces to create a guide on language learning 1 year ago.

That went extremely well. It was super well-received, so we decided to do the same thing, just this time, we’re answering the question we receive the most often: how do we tell our stories?

It’s a 4.5 hour breakdown of everything that we know about storytelling.

If you’re interested, you can check it out here.

Also here’s a 25% discount code to the class as a ‘thank you’ for being subscribed to this newsletter: NDNEWSLETTER

This newsletter is dedicated to stories. This is because I believe stories are what help all of us make sense of the world and of ourselves.

Do you want to know what my professional North Star is? Become a better storyteller. It’s the only way I could have ever lasted this long making & sharing things on social media.

The world can feel like an overwhelming and confusing place. But it doesn’t always have to be. So here are 4 ideas/bits of inspiration on storytelling, our greatest tool for decoding life:

I. "If you get close to what you love, who you are is revealed to you and it expands." That’s a piece of advice from actor Ethan Hawke in this amazing video. Other pieces of advice he offers are: “Play the fool.” & “It’s not up to us whether what we do is any good.”

ps. I love the 'Before' Trilogy.

II. Oftentimes, the best stories let you figure out the message for yourself. Here’s a lovely example.

III. It’s really hard to wrap our brains around big numbers. And there’s a term for that: Scope Neglect/Scope Insensitivity. I finally have a term for a phenomenon that I’ve been talking about for so long. And it made me realize something.

The problem: I feel overwhelmed a lot by the world we live in because I wasn’t evolved for it. A lot of modern life is made up of gigantic numbers that our ancestors never encountered. (billions of people vs. a tribe of 75 people let’s say).

This is really bad if we wanna try to fix some of the global crises that we’re facing like world hunger or climate change.

The solution: stories. Storytelling is how people buy into things. Stories trigger the imagination. You & I struggle to imagine or understand what a billion dollars looks like… unless a story is told about it.

IV. “Don’t Try.” Those two words are written on Charles Bukowski’s headstone and describe his philosophy on life and art. If you’re spending your time trying something, you’re not doing it.

I like this idea a lot. What you need, you already have. What if creating was just setting free all of those things within you?