Comment by ChrisMarshallNY | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ChrisMarshallNY | Hacker News Reader

ChrisMarshallNY

Like many of these types of sweeping inferences, I suspect that the devil is in the details.

Namely, what, exactly, is being measured?

Everybody changes, as we age. I'm almost 60, and, as I look back on my yute (I live in New York, so I have to use the correct lingo), I am amazed at what an addlepated, compulsive, reactive, emotion-driven, knucklehead I was. When I think about what I considered "earth-shatteringly important ideals" back then, I wince. What a waste of energy.

It would be easy to say that I was "more creative" back then, because I had diarrhea of the mouth. You couldn't shut me up, and I was always spouting pseudo-intellectual claptrap. I guess, for some people, they would have considered me to be "a creative intellectual." I also spit out a lot of rather naive little projects and artworks; crowing at each one, as if it were The Mona Lisa.

I probably would have thought I was just a jerk.

These days, I get stuff done. That does mean a lot of compromises, and acceptance of limitations. I don't tilt at windmills, anymore. I hook generators to them.

A beautiful comment that resonated with my own personal, err, “diarrhea of the mouth”. Still a goof and a ‘yute, yet trying to stay slow, present and grateful for the stages of my life. Even the wince-worthy ones.

Favourited & thank you.

Man, have some sympathy for yourself. The reason you get stuff done now is that you suffered from an inability to put these speeches into practice but eventually you figured it out, sitting with your frustration paid off. Thanks to old you, now you get stuff done. Clearly he had good priorities.

Well, it's not really being "hard on myself." It's just a rather humorous reflection on me (and on others). One of the things that young folks do, is take themselves way too seriously. After we get some wrinkles and gray hair, we come to realize that a lot of life is paper tigers. There's plenty of stuff that needs to be taken quite seriously, but time allows us to apply a razor; cutting away the chaff.

Also, some of the best lessons I learned, were from ass-kickings.

"Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment."

--Attributed to Nasrudin, but I read it from Will Rogers

Everything has worked out, the way it needed to, in order to bring me to where I am now.

I have no regrets, but I do get a chuckle or two, from reflection.

I guess I reconize myself in you, although younger I am precisely at the turning point where walking feels less work than talking.. the talking was definitely not a waste though, it is the privilege of the young to feel passionate about things.

Same. It took a long time for me to get still enough to really do anything.

> ...get still enough...

Oh man, this is so important! I only recently learned the value of *being still enough*. And, I'm going through a phase of my life now (a couple of years shy of my mid-century mark) where I'm learning *how* to get to a good state of stillness in order to be more creatrive - and be more productive with that creativity.

Ditto about compulsive etc. It's easy to be creative when playing the obsessive insect down in the project-pit. But now I know better.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com