keeping warm by the fire
RWL #431
Greetings from The University of New Hampshire! TLW is out with The Girls, so I am sitting by the stove, thinking Big Thoughts to send your way. We had a nice snow last night that left about 4-5 inches of powder on the driveway - and everywhere else - but mostly I had to deal with the driveway. It’s feeling like a real winter this year, not like the last few that have been unusually warm and not produced much snow.
Internship hunting season is well underway. As of today I have 7/25 students placed. I am starting to think I may actually hit my goal of having them all placed by Spring Break this year. I am waiting on a couple of our partners to get back to me who usually take several students, so I think I’ll be over half way in the next week or so. I have several new, exciting locations this year that see the value of recruiting students for their pipeline, so I am looking forward to seeing who matches with them.
It’s been a busy week so far, so I’m getting this out to you late. I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the new year. As usual, willing good for all of you!
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Read
What: WSJ, Why You Should Be Wary of the Unlimited Vacation Perk
Why: My daughter, who works for a large defense contractor, was talking about firms (not hers) who nominally offer unlimited PTO, and how she had heard that it’s an illusory benefit. Since then, I have seen several articles critiquing the issue. Netflix famously has fired people who take advantage of “unlimited” PTO or, similarly, their “up to a year” of parental leave. It’s a bait and switch. You mark yourself for termination if you actually take leave. There is some nefariousness to it, as well - if you don’t have earned PTO (remember, you don’t have to earn it, you can just sign out), then they don’t have to pay it out if you leave. More in the article.
I’m normally not an anti-business person, but this is an ugly, dishonest policy that makes me look over at Bernie and think, I could wear those mittens.
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What: Billy Collins, Passengers
https://www.ronnowpoetry.com/contents/collins/Passengers.html
Why: Billy Collins is the former poet laureate of the United States. He is perfect for the role because he is the poet for people who hate poetry. He has a dry sense of humor that is perfect for a cold, New Hampshire evening by the fire. I’ve recently started re-reading one of his collections. This one made me LOL. If you haven’t read a poem in a while, try this one.
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Watch
What: Emily Esfahani Smith, There's more to life than being happy (12 min)
Why: I really enjoyed Smith’s book, The Power of Meaning. I’ve written about the book recently. But here is a 12 minute summary of the book. If you like this video, I suggest you read the book. Her four pillars are:
Belonging
Purpose
Transcendance (flow)
Story Telling
As I said before, three of these four pillars match up to my 3Cs of meaning.
Belonging = Connection
Purpose = Contribution
Transcendance = Competence
Story telling I don’t see as a pillar, but as a process to get to each of the pillars.
She makes a reference to how gangs can meet the pillars of meaning - sound familiar? Like The Very Happy Gangster?
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Listen
What: Honestly with Bari Weiss, What We Can Learn from the Ancient Stoics (57 min)
Why: Ryan Holiday has done more to popularize Stoic philosophy in the 21st century than… well, anyone else. Holiday himself is mostly a popularizer, much like me, not an actual philosopher. But, hey, we all have to have something to do, and you could do worse. This is a nice pod where he talks about what 2,500 year old philosophers have to offer us. I was reading the Stoics when Holiday was in diapers, and I had already bought in, but see if he can’t get you to buy in, too. I just wish I could live more like them. Holiday may have me, there.