That's the million-dollar question.

For most of us, I can answer: we stress.

We think about what we should be doing. We accept a few hours or a few days of inactivity (what we call "rest"), but very quickly, if the inaction persists, guilt takes over.

We then trigger "reactive" action: the kind whose sole motivation is to silence the guilt.

We act "for the sake of acting," to avoid being seen as a slacker, to dissolve anxiety through movement.

People often joke that "if they could, they would do nothing, always on vacation!" But that's not true. Most would be unable to face the anxiety created by this void and would be back at work within the week.  Not out of financial need: out of internal and social pressure.

Thus, we always skip the most important step: idleness. The real kind. The kind that allows for introspection.

Keep doing nothing. Embrace the anxiety and guilt that rise up. Look them in the eye. Then watch them disappear quietly. Followed by a gentle sensation of emptiness. Then, when you least expect it...

Action. The real kind. The kind that builds something.

--

Related:

• The 3 thoughts in your head (French video)
• What is reactivity and why it might not be good for you (archive)
• Under his Eye (archive)

Strangely enough, it's easier for me to make one video per day than one video per week.

In the first case, I get into a flow that makes the process easier and easier. Ideas flow freely, my workflow is well-oiled, my brain has internalized the deadline. Everything clicks.

Today, for instance, I'm almost five videos ahead. And I did it effortlessly.

Whereas with weekly videos... I forget. It becomes just another constraint on top of everything else. I never find the time.

I'd already noticed this counterintuitive link between time and productivity: sometimes, a more intense task is easier.

For example, when I'm procrastinating on work that bores me, I ask myself "could I get this done in fifteen minutes?" I'm not talking about some tiny task—no, I mean writing a report or editing a video, something that would normally take several days.

But my brain says "yes, let's do it in fifteen minutes!" and this unrealistic idea changes my relationship with the task. It suddenly seems more manageable, less daunting.

And easier to start. That's all that matters.

We picture a Buddhist monk sitting in lotus position in a quiet room with candles and running water.

In reality, you can meditate while walking through a construction site.

Meditation is simply bringing your attention to the present moment rather than to your thoughts.

Now, there's always something happening in the present. The sound of a car. The light from the sky. A breeze on your face. The sensation in your foot, in your torso, in your neck.

Like many people, I started meditating by focusing on my breathing.

We tell ourselves "easy"! But quickly, we realize we're bombarded with thoughts, ideas, anxieties. The game is to acknowledge their existence and greet them without letting ourselves be carried away.

And when a thought wins and we "wake up" after five minutes lost in our head, calmly return to breathing. This isn't a failure, quite the opposite.

It's this back-and-forth that builds presence, like a muscle we're working.

--

Related links:

• Thinking Is Not The Solution
• What meditation changed for me
• Presence and Action (archive)

Image

I think I'm going to quit film photography.

Or rather: I notice that I'm not doing film photography anymore.

It's always been in waves but I think I'm tired of having to send (or bring) my rolls to Négatifs+ and having to pay for each development.

I still love the look and I find "film effects" a bit silly in digital. But anyway. We'll see.

--

Related in the archives:

• Colorized Film
• Analogue is Back!

This is the second time this week that I've been playing God.

But if we listen to Alan Watts, we're all God.

So this week, I keep mistaking myself for you.

You can expose yourself to everyone and still keep hiding:

• Behind technique: look at this beautiful lighting, this lovely set! They're the stars, not me!
   
• Behind a character: it's not me, it's the role! Look at this pretty mask (that has nothing to do with me).
   
• Behind humor: I'm here to make people laugh, my opinions don't matter! (Ha ha ha!)
   
• Behind usefulness: I'm only here to bring you something, pretend I don't exist!
   
• Behind work: I was told to speak here, it wasn't my choice!

Which one do you use the most?

Since nothing truly important is intellectual, criticism (or advice) based on logic should all be ignored.

Yet this person seems to mean well, what they're saying makes sense, and from that angle, their words appear to be in your best interest.

Except that your problem, at its source, isn't rational.

Problems are the outward manifestation of inner blocks to which only you hold the key. The path to solving them reveals itself when you take full responsibility.

This doesn't mean you shouldn't listen to anyone. Simply : don't listen to criticism "because it's constructive."

Listen to criticism because it resonates.

--

Related links:

• Thinking Isn't the Solution
• Two Ways to Solve Problems
• Efficiency Doesn't Make You Happy (French Instagram)

If you're going to spend time on social media, you might as well try to learn something.

I know: there's a good chance that these contributions from various strangers and influencers might be misguided.

Despite that, my process remains the same: for years, whenever I come across an idea that resonates, interests me, or challenges me, I jot it down (in Obsidian). Then I compile the ideas by broad topics, which I categorize into sub-categories.

Finally, I try to summarize all of this into one or two sentences that capture the essence of the topic.

For those interested, I'm sharing the "Sales & Marketing" note below, complete with summary and sources.

I haven't discovered anything fundamentally new, but the fact that I've reassembled it myself from different sources makes me feel like I've understood it better.

Hope this helps:

That's the title of my next book. For now, I only have the cover but I think it's badass:

Image

Now I just need to write the book.

We work in one direction. We fail. We give up.

We tell ourselves "this wasn't meant for me, I'd be better off focusing on what I know how to do."

But some machines aren't resilient. A single missing part, wire, or gear, and nothing works. It won't even start, like a device with a blown fuse.

So it's possible to build 80, 90, or even 99% of a machine and, because of one oversight, get 0% of the result. Dead in the water, as if we'd done nothing (or done everything wrong).

It's true: the last few percent are often the hardest to achieve. And many systems aren't linear: they either work or they don't, regardless of how close you are to the result.

That's why there are far fewer "overnight" successes than we imagine. In reality, the creator has been working on it for a long time. They were about to give up. But at the last moment, they thought "what if I replaced this fuse?"

And the machine roared to life.

Three well-chosen words pack more punch than a page of fluff.

Who are you trying to reassure with all that text?

Simplify.

--

Related:

• The accumulation trap
• Build in Public (TikTok)

"A bug hotel is a device that aims to facilitate the survival of insects and arachnids, particularly in ecosystems where pollination and biodiversity are sought..."
– Wikipedia

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Guest reviews:

• "My room was full of bugs!" - 1/5
• "Terrible drafts everywhere." - 2/5
• "Couldn't find the bathroom." - 1/5
• "Very pleasant garden" - 4/5

You too can verify that climate warming isn't some big joke by looking near your home:

Image

A chart I produced as an exercise to learn how to use the Pandas library (for data processing) in Python (a programming language) from Météo-France's ten-day temperature data at Saint-Arnoult.

You can clearly see the quarter-degree per century increase that climatologists tell us about.

I had already posted it on social media, but I'm taking advantage of being able to publish longer notes to share the code below. If you want to check in your area too, here's how:

I'm trying to set up a system for longer notes with an introduction that displays here and the rest that displays separately. Does it work?

UPDATE: And now you can even add comments! Click on the post title and then you have a link to sign up or log in. Just like on real websites!

One note a day, okay, but what counts?

Do I have to post before midnight? Or before going to sleep? If I stay up all night without sleeping, does that still count as just one day?

Am I allowed to post just one word if it's really interesting? (Like "deconstruction" or "guacamole," with a thinking emoji to show it's deep?)

Can I repost a note I've already written? Do I have to write it the same day? Who's gonna check? And if I'm tired, can I invite "guest authors" to write in my place? Do I have to pay them?

Who decides all this stuff?

Oh shit, that's me.

Well then let's say... uh... we'll see.

Good night!

As promised, I'm looking at my video stats less.

But a good way to tell when a video is doing well is when I start getting nasty comments.

My latest little joke about heatwaves and climate has already earned me three insults. Which means the video has spread beyond my tight circle of thoughtful, well-behaved viewers to spill over into the crowds who watch Pascal Praud and Cyril Hanouna.

On social media, insults are a sign of success.

Yes, I'm ashamed.

We shot my web series Panic in Space after lockdown in 2021 and I'm still in post-production.

In my defense, all episodes are edited but there are lots of special effects (3D) and I'm doing it all alone. Now AI is giving me a hand but it's still extremely slow.

And the thirty or so actors who participated are waiting...

Here's The Grand Mime, created with Midjourney, who appears in episode 7:

Image

I think I'm going to announce the release soon for October – yes, this year. At least for the first 10 episodes. That way, it'll force me to move forward.

--

Related links:

• Panic in space
• The Grand Mime

When I redesign a website, like here, one of my first reflexes is to install Google Analytics to get a sense of traffic.

This time, I forgot.

It took the visitor count dropping to zero for me to realize it.

And you know what? I'm not going to install it. 

Sure, for a professional site, it might be important. But for a personal site... Do I really need public feedback to know what I want to talk about?

And I'm also making this solemn decision before you all: I'm going to stop checking the views and likes on my daily videos. It's hard because you actually can't access the account without seeing them – especially if I want to keep replying to comments. But I'll try.

To achieve what the Bhagavad Gita calls "fruitless work": doing the work without being attached to the fruit of the work.

Apparently, that's true freedom.

The mind seeks, finds, and solves problems.

That's its nature. It's all it knows how to do.

If you ever find yourself at the summit of the mountain you've always coveted; the view, light, and temperature are perfect; it's the accomplishment of a lifetime. Your mind will whisper "Great... now what?"

It will find the flaw in your success. Make you covet the next peak that will be better. Already, you feel the anxiety of lack, dissatisfaction, desire.

You can't blame it: that's its nature, I tell you! Analyze the situation, find the flaws, devise a plan... That's its job! That's why it exists!

Which makes it a terrible foundation for finding peace.

Don't get me wrong: thinking is a wonderful tool—one I'm using right now to write these lines. We put it to work to create, communicate, survive.

But if your goal is to be present and at peace: it's absolutely not the right tool.

Do you know how to set it down when you no longer need it?

--

Related:

• Two ways to solve problems

When I started writing a blog again, I never imagined it would turn into such a "personal development" thing.

It's a phase.

I write down as advice to the reader the things I tell myself.

I write them in my journal, I repeat them to myself in the morning, and as a last resort, I end up preaching them as if I actually followed them. It's the "Coué method" (French thing).

For those waiting for the sex, drugs & rock'n'roll phase: it's coming. I'm waiting for it as much as you are.

It needs this stage to materialize.