For what it's worth, Ryan Holiday has never done much for me (if anything, he actually put me off Stoicism for a while) but your articles have made a genuine difference in my life. I'm just one person, but I'm a grateful one!
Incredible feat to get sober! Much more valuable than a book deal. You always inspire. I first read your post about deleting your second brain and it kept me from wasting years of my life going down that path. You are influencing people with your platform for the better. I always get a good baseline of reality from your reads. Thanks for your contribution to humanity!
Joan, your writing is fantastic and so intelligent (probably meaning that you are too). Happy to read that you have made the intellectual circle to conclude that it is all a con.. keep writing, keep having fun projects. I only regret that I am no longer in a position to work with you.. cheers
Thank you Joan. I'm from Argentina and I'm not so good at English, but I always read you and it feels like a hug, like listening to a friend.
I only write in my diary, and sometimes I write about your insights. I really think you have a gift for writing, and reading you has helped me in my darkest times.
You probably aren't so famous, but that's not important. I love people who can write like musicians, conveying their feelings through words. When you write: "But at 1am, alone in a hotel in Berlin, next to Ryan Holiday’s bibliography, none of it counted worth a dime." This is an incredible image of loneliness and desperation. I can feel it. But you shouldn't compare yourself to anyone. I understand what you are saying because you are human like me. You should be happy because you are sober.
We're each on their own street (with no GPS) and the only way comparison is helping is when it faces you with your past self. Shout out to both of you (past and present) taking care of future you. What an accomplishment! 🤗
Joan. I have saved and printed SO MANY of your essays and thoughts and am constantly sharing them with friends and family. It's gotten to where I am digging a printed something out of my bag and I get that raised eyebrow, or slight pursing of lips. "Did you hate the last one?" I say and they respond by holding out their hand for another chapter of JA Westenberg Speaks Directly to Your Life. As far as my own writing goes, I keep on because you tell me to. Sobriety is huge.
Your work has been instrumental in my relooking at my whole professional setup (as I have mentioned to you over emails which you've been gracious enough to respond to).
Your thinking is knife to butter - and I hope nothing but prosperity and good health to you.
Thank you for the essay - comparisn is a fucking hack
First off, good on you for putting down the drink and staying with it. Those of us that understand, understand you.
My last drink was Memorial Day in 2012.
We understand that those years pressed under the scourge of the bottle are in some ways lost years, and you eloquently put into words the same feeling I have had in comparison with my peers in my own career in building wonderful products. Thank you.
Our journeys simply start at a different place, so benchmark accordingly if you feel the compulsion.
What those who have never overcome the struggle will not have the benefit of, which we do, is overcoming the struggle. There is a conscientiousness, and a determination, and a before/after that others (and sometimes we ourselves) cannot understand and must embrace. Perhaps even appreciate.
If you must compare, make a fair comparison; better to leave that behind, as we did the struggle, and just do the things that make us incomparable.
Comparison is silly precisely because we can’t be compared. Each of us is different in many ways. The way we go about our days, what it takes to go about our days, who we have to go about our days with - all of this is incomparable. Congrats on getting sober, and congrats on the platform you have built. And congrats on the awareness.
I asked one AI tool the etymology of the word "compare". Pardon the use of the expediency for the answer. How does it "compare"?
The word **compare** comes from the Latin **comparare**, meaning **“to pair, match, liken, bring together, or make equal.”**
It is built from two parts:
**com-** = “with, together”
**par** = “equal, even, alike, a peer”
So, at its root, **to compare** means:
> **to place things together as equals or peers in order to see their likeness or difference.**
That is interesting because the word does **not** originally mean to rank, judge, or compete. It means something closer to **placing side by side**.
Over time, “compare” came to mean examining two or more things in relation to each other: how they are alike, how they differ, and what can be learned by holding them together.
A deeper way to hear the word might be:
> **Compare means to bring into relationship.**
Not necessarily to decide which is better, but to see more clearly by holding one thing beside another.
Lmao, comparing your video essays to Ryan Holiday's work. His work might be fine for some people, not me. Most of your video essays live me with something to think about. I tweak my life perspective a little bit after watching your videos. I sincerely wait for them.
I've read a ton of your articles and I've never heard of Ryan Holiday. To your audience, he's the one with all the catching up to do :)
For what it's worth, Ryan Holiday has never done much for me (if anything, he actually put me off Stoicism for a while) but your articles have made a genuine difference in my life. I'm just one person, but I'm a grateful one!
Same
Yup, same
Same!
Incredible feat to get sober! Much more valuable than a book deal. You always inspire. I first read your post about deleting your second brain and it kept me from wasting years of my life going down that path. You are influencing people with your platform for the better. I always get a good baseline of reality from your reads. Thanks for your contribution to humanity!
Thank you Brian!
Joan, your writing is fantastic and so intelligent (probably meaning that you are too). Happy to read that you have made the intellectual circle to conclude that it is all a con.. keep writing, keep having fun projects. I only regret that I am no longer in a position to work with you.. cheers
Mind sharing the link Brian? Couldn't find it through the archive
Thank you Joan. I'm from Argentina and I'm not so good at English, but I always read you and it feels like a hug, like listening to a friend.
I only write in my diary, and sometimes I write about your insights. I really think you have a gift for writing, and reading you has helped me in my darkest times.
Again, thank you
I appreciate you. Thank you.
I really needed to read this at this very moment. I hit rock bottom and you just help bounce back up and brush myself off.
Not that I'm comparing, but Holiday is boring as fuck, compared to what you put out. Here's to a sober life!
You probably aren't so famous, but that's not important. I love people who can write like musicians, conveying their feelings through words. When you write: "But at 1am, alone in a hotel in Berlin, next to Ryan Holiday’s bibliography, none of it counted worth a dime." This is an incredible image of loneliness and desperation. I can feel it. But you shouldn't compare yourself to anyone. I understand what you are saying because you are human like me. You should be happy because you are sober.
We're each on their own street (with no GPS) and the only way comparison is helping is when it faces you with your past self. Shout out to both of you (past and present) taking care of future you. What an accomplishment! 🤗
Joan. I have saved and printed SO MANY of your essays and thoughts and am constantly sharing them with friends and family. It's gotten to where I am digging a printed something out of my bag and I get that raised eyebrow, or slight pursing of lips. "Did you hate the last one?" I say and they respond by holding out their hand for another chapter of JA Westenberg Speaks Directly to Your Life. As far as my own writing goes, I keep on because you tell me to. Sobriety is huge.
Your work has been instrumental in my relooking at my whole professional setup (as I have mentioned to you over emails which you've been gracious enough to respond to).
Your thinking is knife to butter - and I hope nothing but prosperity and good health to you.
Thank you for the essay - comparisn is a fucking hack
First off, good on you for putting down the drink and staying with it. Those of us that understand, understand you.
My last drink was Memorial Day in 2012.
We understand that those years pressed under the scourge of the bottle are in some ways lost years, and you eloquently put into words the same feeling I have had in comparison with my peers in my own career in building wonderful products. Thank you.
Our journeys simply start at a different place, so benchmark accordingly if you feel the compulsion.
What those who have never overcome the struggle will not have the benefit of, which we do, is overcoming the struggle. There is a conscientiousness, and a determination, and a before/after that others (and sometimes we ourselves) cannot understand and must embrace. Perhaps even appreciate.
If you must compare, make a fair comparison; better to leave that behind, as we did the struggle, and just do the things that make us incomparable.
Comparison is silly precisely because we can’t be compared. Each of us is different in many ways. The way we go about our days, what it takes to go about our days, who we have to go about our days with - all of this is incomparable. Congrats on getting sober, and congrats on the platform you have built. And congrats on the awareness.
I asked one AI tool the etymology of the word "compare". Pardon the use of the expediency for the answer. How does it "compare"?
The word **compare** comes from the Latin **comparare**, meaning **“to pair, match, liken, bring together, or make equal.”**
It is built from two parts:
**com-** = “with, together”
**par** = “equal, even, alike, a peer”
So, at its root, **to compare** means:
> **to place things together as equals or peers in order to see their likeness or difference.**
That is interesting because the word does **not** originally mean to rank, judge, or compete. It means something closer to **placing side by side**.
Over time, “compare” came to mean examining two or more things in relation to each other: how they are alike, how they differ, and what can be learned by holding them together.
A deeper way to hear the word might be:
> **Compare means to bring into relationship.**
Not necessarily to decide which is better, but to see more clearly by holding one thing beside another.
Keep going!
sober > published
Lmao, comparing your video essays to Ryan Holiday's work. His work might be fine for some people, not me. Most of your video essays live me with something to think about. I tweak my life perspective a little bit after watching your videos. I sincerely wait for them.