Finding self within the pages of a book

Greetings,

I get these moments where I am thinking about so many things, it is difficult to streamline those thoughts into something coherent. Plus, over the last few weeks, i have been going through my Twitter archive (I joined in 2008) looking for inspiration for blog topics, since I am, once again, trying to get back into writing for my site regularly. And then I end up with periods where spaces like my newsletter and podcast suffer. I am learning not to overly stress about this, most times.

Anyway, here are seven things I thought were worth sharing.

1. “We now live in a state of constant distraction caused by an addiction to useless information, and this distraction is so overpowering it even distracts us from the fact we're being distracted.”

   The Intellectual Obesity Crisis

2. In the last 5 years, I have spent time trying to work better, reading a bunch of books on distraction, productivity, time management, habits, etc. I just finished Cal Newport’s A World Without Email: Reimagining Work in an Age of Communication Overload and realised that I need to update the way I manage my tasks. I’ve now being experimenting with Trello having used a physical notebook for the last couple of years. Newport gives some great practical examples of using a card-based system for managing projects, tasks, etc.

3. Love this quote from Haruki Murakami:

   Ryan Holiday @RyanHoliday

   “If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.” - Murakami

4. When I was writing my book Listen To Your Footsteps, I read quite a few books on writing, my favourite being Anne Lamott’s Bird By Bird, Mary Karr’s The Art of Memoir, Ray Bradbury’s Zen in the Art of Writing and Stephen King’s On Writing. I just came across 18 of our Favourite Books on the Craft of Writing and have added them to my reading list.

5. One of my favourite authors is Neil Gaiman. I was first introduced to his writing with The Sandman comic book series. I just binge-watched the series on Netflix and it is so good. It helps that Gaiman was involved in the production.

6. I am collector of things. My Favorite Things: Taking Things Seriously puts this into perspective for me, or at least gives me a great excuse.

7. One of the things I collect are figurines. I am also a Pharoahe Monch fan and followed, on Instagram, his journey into the world of Marvel figurines during lockdown. He wrote a dope piece on this: ‘Plastic Crack’: Pharoahe Monch on the Addictive World of Marvel Figurines.

That’s it for today. If you enjoy receiving the Zebra Culture By Kojo Baffoe newsletter but are not subscribed, please do subscribe.

I would also appreciate it if you shared with a friend who might also like it.

I also welcome comments, thoughts, etc. A big thank you to those of you who have sent me messages.

And if you would like a copy of my book Listen To Your Footsteps, it is widely available online and in bookshops (primarily in South Africa but also on Barnes & Noble and Amazon) both in digital and physical form.

Easy

Kojo