6 ms·

A big reason I haven't been posting anything in months (years!) is I think what I have to say isn't very novel or interesting. "Time is limited, make every day

by sivers 13y ago

A big reason I haven't been posting anything in months (years!) is I think what I have to say isn't very novel or interesting. "Time is limited, make every day count." Yeah yeah yeah. We know. Everyone knows. Took a sudden death and a lot of sobbing today to make me say fuggit and just write, without worrying about being novel or unique. I ordinarily don't care about upvotes, but something so unoriginal (but hopefully important) as this getting upvoted by my peers on HN is really encouraging.

buugs 13y ago
You may not always say something novel or unique but I have enjoyed some of your posts immensely and if you aren't writing you may never write the next post that greatly affects someone. Thanks for your writing, and sorry for your loss.
javajosh 13y ago
It's good that you are adding your voice to the chorus, even if someone else might be singing the same notes. There is no law that says that truth and insight, once spoken, should never be spoken again! :) Welcome back.
jw_ 13y ago
I also find myself thinking that my writing is not original enough to bother sharing, or my music, or my programming side projects. If nothing else your post has got me thinking about the need to just get over "lack of originality" as an excuse for not doing something. Originality doesn't just show up, torn from the thigh of Zeus - we need to start putting stuff out there now to get where we want. For what it's worth, I think the personal tone of this piece makes it interesting. The theme might be "time is limited" but it would be selling it short to simply reduce it down to that.
aidos 13y ago
Sorry to hear of the loss of your friend. As a devote cyclist it always hits me hard to hear of another cyclist being injured - especially when it appears as though it was through no fault of their own. Maybe it's not as obvious to you but, I feel, your writing adds some much needed colourful philosophy to our community. As you say yourself, all too often we end up with our heads buried deep in virtual technical problems and forget to embrace the world that surrounds us. I can't count how many people I've shown your leadership talk to [0]. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V74AxCqOTvg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V74AxCqOTvg
jamesisaac 13y ago
The animation from your book, "Obvious to you. Amazing to others." https://vimeo.com/25494440 https://vimeo.com/25494440 is something that's really stuck with me ever since I saw it about a year ago. Excellent advice for helping consciously and rationally overcome the tendency to inhibit one's own creative output.
baby 13y ago
you can always write for yourself.
loceng 13y ago
Reading what other people write is how many people learn, they learn that they are normal, and they learn perhaps other little tidbits - though in learning they are normal, that they are not alone. No one is never alone, even in solitude - though our current technology-driven society we are very much pulled towards loneliness.
MarkMc 13y ago
> "Time is limited, make every day count." Yeah yeah yeah. We know. Everyone knows. Everyone knows, but we still need reminding every now and then. In August someone I care deeply about was diagnosed with leukaemia. It was a big shock and taught me how precious time is, yet already I find myself slipping back into the mindlessness of everyday life. Thanks for the reminder Derek.
bigs204 13y ago
I'm an avid reader of your blog, and though I would agree much of your content can be ultimately summed down to "unoriginal, but important" content, it's you sharing your own experience & perspective that makes it meaningful. Same reasons facts don't persuade as well as stories. Sad & happy to hear you will continue to crank out words.
js2 13y ago
Just write. My wife and kid have been doing http://nanowrimo.org/ http://nanowrimo.org/ the last few years to force themselves to write something every day. My daughter (12) loves it.
runevault 13y ago
First off, saying something is always worth doing. Secondly, even if it is something others have said, only one person can say it with your experience and your voice. You. That makes it novel in some shape, form or fashion. Something people always seem to forget because they get so distracted by said concept of novel and unique. You linked to the War of Art in your post, and letting the concept of novel and unique get in the way is a more insidious form of the Resistance talking. I know, because I let it stop me for a long time. Now I try to write more regularly and hone my craft so I can create something to bring my own unique self and experience to the table and try and give that to others to inspire them as well.
Theodores 13y ago
When you are feeling better about this can you return with a follow up article for the HN audience? I have read the news reporting and I just don't understand how he came to be hit and for the result of that to be so terrible. Something in the reporting just does not add up and I could do with some normal person rather than a journalist to make sense of it for me. I am a cyclist and I have a vested interest in knowing how to avoid deadly situations. In my experience to date accidents are always unexpected, however, with hindsight, so much could have been avoidable. Negligence is not always 100% one party or the other, even if it is 0.5% negligence on my side and 99.5% on the other side, there is still something in my control. There are easy wins like having a maintained bike, with lights, high-visibility clothing and no headphones being worn. There are also more subtle ones like confidence, not being deferential to motor cars and having pedal cleats correctly placed. Was there anything that your friend could have done differently? Was there anything in the layout of the street that could have been different? What was the totally unexpected thing that other cyclists including myself need to add to their internal database of random hazards to look out for? Given that this is police investigating police a considered and independent study of what actually happened could be of great use.
- alex_c 13y ago
  I suspect we'll find out more, but it doesn't seem he could've done anything different other than not being in the wrong place at the wrong time. As much as we want to make sense of tragedies, sometimes there's no sense to be found.
- mtrimpe 13y ago
  Life is fragile. Especially on a bike. I once survived getting hit at 30mph and I can't even remember all of the stories I was told about how lucky I was. I probably heard about a dozen different ways children of friends (I'm Dutch) died from just being hit at 5mph and hitting their head the wrong way when falling.
  - annnnd 13y ago
    Just curious, is it not mandatory for children to wear helmets on bikes in Netherlands?
akulbe 13y ago
I'm getting this lesson a lot lately, from my almost-2 daughter. The things I think are important, aren't. The things I think are trivial, end up being important. I just put her to bed, and I'd like to leave the rocking chair and go sit with my wife. Right now, just having someone here is the most important thing to her. As I read about this, it both breaks my heart and inspires me to live different. I have been touched deeply by many people. I hope I can have the opportunity to touch at least one life as deeply as mine has been. Rest assured, Derek... your writing has touched lives. Mine included. Please... write more. Priorities will shift, but whatever you do, please don't stop writing!
- yapcguy 13y ago
  This is why start-ups want young workers - they haven't figured out yet how precious their time is.
s_husso 13y ago
There is more than six billion people living in Earth, and I bet that there is at least one person getting something valuable out of ones writing. It doesn't matter if it is not 'novel or unique' as long as it is "out there" :)
forgottenpaswrd 13y ago
Hi Derek. You know me by my real name. We talked in the past. I use a pseudonym so what I write here is not affected by my name and I have better feedback or just go unnoticed(just your name alone could make all the responses negative or positive). As you already know, what someone who has traveled the world* considers "normal" is very different from what the rest of the world does. You just understand how much you know when just talking with normal people and you see how less they know. Remember the Parable of the talents, how fear could immobilize, fear of not doing good enough work. What I would do is to start writing, not caring about publishing or not, you don't need fear. Then ideas will come and you will be astonished how much things live in your head. Greetings! *Or lived in a circus, by the way.
cmos 13y ago
I 'dropped out' of my life of making video games this summer, got rid of everything I own and set off on a journey across the US by bicycle. Every day I wake up in my tent and make a conscious decision to climb on the bike, with an awareness that something amazingly bad might happen, however something amazingly good might also happen. I so far have been fortunate for I have enjoyed lots of amazingly good moments, and have learned it is an acceptance of the prospect of very bad things that makes the trip more remarkable. Your writings of your baddass journey have always been inspiring.. I'm so sorry about your friend.

by sivers 13y ago

buugs 13y ago

You may not always say something novel or unique but I have enjoyed some of your posts immensely and if you aren't writing you may never write the next post that greatly affects someone. Thanks for your writing, and sorry for your loss.

javajosh 13y ago

It's good that you are adding your voice to the chorus, even if someone else might be singing the same notes. There is no law that says that truth and insight, once spoken, should never be spoken again! :) Welcome back.

jw_ 13y ago

I also find myself thinking that my writing is not original enough to bother sharing, or my music, or my programming side projects. If nothing else your post has got me thinking about the need to just get over "lack of originality" as an excuse for not doing something. Originality doesn't just show up, torn from the thigh of Zeus - we need to start putting stuff out there now to get where we want. For what it's worth, I think the personal tone of this piece makes it interesting. The theme might be "time is limited" but it would be selling it short to simply reduce it down to that.

aidos 13y ago

Sorry to hear of the loss of your friend. As a devote cyclist it always hits me hard to hear of another cyclist being injured - especially when it appears as though it was through no fault of their own. Maybe it's not as obvious to you but, I feel, your writing adds some much needed colourful philosophy to our community. As you say yourself, all too often we end up with our heads buried deep in virtual technical problems and forget to embrace the world that surrounds us. I can't count how many people I've shown your leadership talk to [0]. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V74AxCqOTvg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V74AxCqOTvg

jamesisaac 13y ago

The animation from your book, "Obvious to you. Amazing to others." https://vimeo.com/25494440 https://vimeo.com/25494440 is something that's really stuck with me ever since I saw it about a year ago. Excellent advice for helping consciously and rationally overcome the tendency to inhibit one's own creative output.

baby 13y ago

you can always write for yourself.

loceng 13y ago

Reading what other people write is how many people learn, they learn that they are normal, and they learn perhaps other little tidbits - though in learning they are normal, that they are not alone. No one is never alone, even in solitude - though our current technology-driven society we are very much pulled towards loneliness.

MarkMc 13y ago

> "Time is limited, make every day count." Yeah yeah yeah. We know. Everyone knows. Everyone knows, but we still need reminding every now and then. In August someone I care deeply about was diagnosed with leukaemia. It was a big shock and taught me how precious time is, yet already I find myself slipping back into the mindlessness of everyday life. Thanks for the reminder Derek.

bigs204 13y ago

I'm an avid reader of your blog, and though I would agree much of your content can be ultimately summed down to "unoriginal, but important" content, it's you sharing your own experience & perspective that makes it meaningful. Same reasons facts don't persuade as well as stories. Sad & happy to hear you will continue to crank out words.

js2 13y ago

Just write. My wife and kid have been doing http://nanowrimo.org/ http://nanowrimo.org/ the last few years to force themselves to write something every day. My daughter (12) loves it.

runevault 13y ago

First off, saying something is always worth doing. Secondly, even if it is something others have said, only one person can say it with your experience and your voice. You. That makes it novel in some shape, form or fashion. Something people always seem to forget because they get so distracted by said concept of novel and unique. You linked to the War of Art in your post, and letting the concept of novel and unique get in the way is a more insidious form of the Resistance talking. I know, because I let it stop me for a long time. Now I try to write more regularly and hone my craft so I can create something to bring my own unique self and experience to the table and try and give that to others to inspire them as well.

Theodores 13y ago

When you are feeling better about this can you return with a follow up article for the HN audience? I have read the news reporting and I just don't understand how he came to be hit and for the result of that to be so terrible. Something in the reporting just does not add up and I could do with some normal person rather than a journalist to make sense of it for me. I am a cyclist and I have a vested interest in knowing how to avoid deadly situations. In my experience to date accidents are always unexpected, however, with hindsight, so much could have been avoidable. Negligence is not always 100% one party or the other, even if it is 0.5% negligence on my side and 99.5% on the other side, there is still something in my control. There are easy wins like having a maintained bike, with lights, high-visibility clothing and no headphones being worn. There are also more subtle ones like confidence, not being deferential to motor cars and having pedal cleats correctly placed. Was there anything that your friend could have done differently? Was there anything in the layout of the street that could have been different? What was the totally unexpected thing that other cyclists including myself need to add to their internal database of random hazards to look out for? Given that this is police investigating police a considered and independent study of what actually happened could be of great use.

alex_c 13y ago
I suspect we'll find out more, but it doesn't seem he could've done anything different other than not being in the wrong place at the wrong time. As much as we want to make sense of tragedies, sometimes there's no sense to be found.
mtrimpe 13y ago
Life is fragile. Especially on a bike. I once survived getting hit at 30mph and I can't even remember all of the stories I was told about how lucky I was. I probably heard about a dozen different ways children of friends (I'm Dutch) died from just being hit at 5mph and hitting their head the wrong way when falling.
- annnnd 13y ago
  Just curious, is it not mandatory for children to wear helmets on bikes in Netherlands?

akulbe 13y ago

I'm getting this lesson a lot lately, from my almost-2 daughter. The things I think are important, aren't. The things I think are trivial, end up being important. I just put her to bed, and I'd like to leave the rocking chair and go sit with my wife. Right now, just having someone here is the most important thing to her. As I read about this, it both breaks my heart and inspires me to live different. I have been touched deeply by many people. I hope I can have the opportunity to touch at least one life as deeply as mine has been. Rest assured, Derek... your writing has touched lives. Mine included. Please... write more. Priorities will shift, but whatever you do, please don't stop writing!

yapcguy 13y ago
This is why start-ups want young workers - they haven't figured out yet how precious their time is.

s_husso 13y ago

There is more than six billion people living in Earth, and I bet that there is at least one person getting something valuable out of ones writing. It doesn't matter if it is not 'novel or unique' as long as it is "out there" :)

forgottenpaswrd 13y ago

Hi Derek. You know me by my real name. We talked in the past. I use a pseudonym so what I write here is not affected by my name and I have better feedback or just go unnoticed(just your name alone could make all the responses negative or positive). As you already know, what someone who has traveled the world* considers "normal" is very different from what the rest of the world does. You just understand how much you know when just talking with normal people and you see how less they know. Remember the Parable of the talents, how fear could immobilize, fear of not doing good enough work. What I would do is to start writing, not caring about publishing or not, you don't need fear. Then ideas will come and you will be astonished how much things live in your head. Greetings! *Or lived in a circus, by the way.

cmos 13y ago

I 'dropped out' of my life of making video games this summer, got rid of everything I own and set off on a journey across the US by bicycle. Every day I wake up in my tent and make a conscious decision to climb on the bike, with an awareness that something amazingly bad might happen, however something amazingly good might also happen. I so far have been fortunate for I have enjoyed lots of amazingly good moments, and have learned it is an acceptance of the prospect of very bad things that makes the trip more remarkable. Your writings of your baddass journey have always been inspiring.. I'm so sorry about your friend.