Pandemic Diary
This piece first appeared in my newsletter. Subscribe here to keep up with my writing.
Hi friends,
I hope you’re all doing well.
This week I stumbled on Paul Theroux’s piece on working in Uganda during the 1966 Buganda Crisis. A time of political turmoil and upheaval. He kept a journal and compared that crisis to the one we’re currently in. He said:
In times of crisis we should all be diarists and documentarians.
This piece has inspired my next project. Perhaps a simple timeline of events, or maybe a pandemic diary similar to Samuel Pepys’ during the Great Plague of London. I still have to decide.
This pandemic is changing the world as we know it. It’s unlike anything we have ever seen. Everyone has been affected in some way. What will the world look like after? What will change? How will this affect future generations?
I’ve wondered what it was like being a young adult during tumultuous times such as WWII, the Vietnam War, or the Great Plague. I want to keep a testament of this pandemic from my own perspective.
How will history write this chapter?
Will we forget the disappointing response of many countries in the west?
Will we forget those victims that died in the hospital alone? Family and friends are not able to be with them in their final moments.
Will we forget the heroes on the front lines? The healthcare workers, nurses, doctors, grocery store workers, police and many more.
This is our chance to record history for ourselves.
Stuff I Enjoyed this Week
Letter to my Younger Self
Ray Allen (The Players Tribune) | Letter (12min)
Ray Allen’s a 2x NBA Champion, 10x NBA All-Star, and one of the best shooters in NBA history. Reading this letter allowed me to see the full picture and explains a lot of his personality on the court. Turns out we are more similar than I thought. I very much relate to his story of not fitting in, being alone, and being misunderstood especially growing up.
Here’s my favorite excerpt from the piece:
How do I sum up nearly two decades in the NBA? What do you really need to know? What’s truly important?
You’ll get to play against your heroes: Michael Jordan and Clyde Drexler.
You’ll play alongside Hall of Famers: Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade.
Sometimes you’ll be afraid.
Sometimes you’ll think you’re out of your league.
But you’ll keep showing up every day, putting in the work.
You’ll put up more than 26,000 shots in your career. Almost six out of 10 won’t even go in. I told you this game was a sonofabitch.
Don’t worry, though. A successful man is built of 1,000 failures. Or in your case, 14,000 misses.
What I Value
Emily Yau | Blog
Asking ourselves what I value? And what’s most important to me? Is the most crucial question to ask ourselves, it’s an exercise in self-awareness. This question guides our major decisions from career decisions, life partners, and who become part of your inner circle.
Emily’s a good friend of mine and reading this piece was an endearing way of getting to know her better. To any friends of mine, I’d love to hear what you value!
I penned a version of this on my about page. This reminds me, I’m long overdue for a rewrite.
A Sleep Experiment…
Alexey Guzey | Experiment
Starting on April 3rd, Alexey will sleep for 4 hours a day for 2 weeks and test the effects through cognition tests and writing the SAT. Likely a response to the piece he wrote last year that went viral about the scientific and factual errors in Matthew Walker’s book, Why We Sleep. I’ll be keeping an eye on this experiment.
How I got rich on the other hand
Derek Sivers | Blog (1min)
Derek Sivers is an author, musician, and entrepreneur who sold his first company, CD Baby. He made a lot of money from that sale, but that’s not what made him rich.
World 2.0
Tyler Cowen (Marginal Revolution) | Table
There are decades where nothing happens, and weeks where decades happen
This table from Tyler Cowen gives us a sense of the second-order effects of covid-19 and what changes we can expect in the new world.
World 2.0 credits to Marginal Revolution