Originally published on 1 February 2021
I’m starting to see some semblance of “normal” in my life again.
Our new puppy—Phoebe—is finally able to warn us that she has to go you-know-what so I no longer have to hover over her all day.
She’s also been sleeping through the night. (Thank goodness!!)
Which means I’m slowly getting back to the way things were before we adopted a puppy, including spending some more time on this weekly letter.
I’ve been busy collecting the best learning tidbits and compiling them here for you to read and learn.
I’m also officially calling this The Learning Letter and designating it as such in the subject line each week.
My hope is that it’ll make for easier searching in your email the next time you’re like: I learned something interesting today, here let me find it…
So, without any further banter, let’s get learning.
Time to brag
Okay, I’m a bit of a proud dad this week.
My son began reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
It’s been a dream of mine to see my kids reading one of my favorite story franchises and to talk with them about it.
I just didn’t realize it would be this soon.
My son is only 5…
When I left my full-time job back in the summer of 2017, one of my goals was to spend quality time with my son.
Eventually, this goal morphed into a desire to give homeschooling a try, which is where we are today.
If you asked me how we specifically taught our son to read at an early age, I couldn’t tell you. It’s not like we had a designated plan.
We do, however, make books a prominent feature in our home. We never say “no” to reading a book to our kids. We make frequent trips to the library (well, we used to before the pandemic).
It was all very natural.
Which is exactly how I think learning should be.
Anyway, I hope you don’t mind this proud dad bragging a bit. It feels good when vision and patience pay off.
Meet David
I’ve been obsessed lately with the writings of David Perell.
Sometimes he writes mini-essays on his blog that make me think.
Other times he writes long essays on this blog that make me think.
Needless to say, he makes me think.
Here are some of my favorites I’ve read so far:
I think I gravitate a lot towards David’s writings because he goes deep on simple ideas.
Instead of writing just another self-help fluff piece (and I’ve written a few in my day) he picks something obvious and adds his own…sauce.
I like people who think deeply about things.
With social media pushing shorter and shallow thinking to the brim, people who look at the world and unpack it, layer by layer, are true gems.
Anyway, I didn’t want to keep David’s writings all to myself. I highly suggest you give them a read.
A quote
“Maturity is the ability to reject good alternatives in order to pursue even better ones.” —Ray Dalio
A song
Duck Shoot by Rupert Gregson-Williams
I’ve been listening to this song on repeat all week. It’s from Netflix’s The Crown and something about it makes me want to jump out of my seat.
It also makes for great writing music. I set it to loop and let the words flow…
A parting thought
Do you think humans still aspire for greatness?
I’m worried we don’t.
My parents saw humans walk on the moon. They saw the invention of the internet and the fall of the Berlin Wall.
As a kid, I thought the year 2000 would bring about flying cars.
That still hasn’t happened.
While cooking this week, I asked my Alexa to set a 15-minute Brussel sprout timer.
My Alexa responded by saying next time I could just ask for a Brussel sprout timer and she’ll remember it’s for 15 minutes.
I thought, Is this it? Is this as good as progress gets?
Maybe the old, crotchety man in me is finally setting in.
Either way, my hope is that we aren’t all too distracted to see the potential that still lies ahead.
Until next week,
Declan
P.S. – I totally forgot to share a post I had written at the end of last year called “The 20 Things That Made Life Better in 2020”. It’s a good ol’ fashioned listicle of things that helped me get through 2020. Give it a read if you’re looking for new ideas to try.
