Matthew's Blog
For “Personal Reasons”
I am not Mr. Manners, but there is one thing I know: when someone says, “For personal reasons, I don’t want to do this,” what they are really saying is “It’s none of your business why I don’t want to do this.” Robert Heinlein wrote a book called Friday, in which the...
The Ethics of Retweeting
I ran across a tweet the other day which raised an interesting point about retweeting. Paraphrasing, it suggested that we shouldn’t just consider the content of the retweet, but the why of our retweeting. Keeping in mind that a retweet is always a form of...
For Ikigai, What’s the Alternative to “Passion?”
As I have pointed out before (Why “Following Your Passion” is Overstated), I am not fond of the word passion as something noble to strive for, and it’s certainly not my favorite choice for the apex or driving force of pursuing one’s ikigai. But what are the...
My Three Top Books on The Craft of Writing
Here are three books I reread at least once every year: The Elements of Style, by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White.On Writing Well, by William Zinsser.Writing Tools, by Roy Peter Clark. Combined, they cover most of what I need to know to become a solid journeyman in...
Incorporating Traits
I have American and British citizenship; I have lived in both places. If I better incorporate the positive traits of these peoples—for example, the American optimism and the British stoicism—and discard the negative traits of these peoples—examples of which I won't...
Death and Duty
With the death of Queen Elizabeth II, there's been quite a lot of talk over the past week. (Note: Here I am using the word “talk” liberally, including the superficial talk of TV presenters and the more superficial talk on Twitter.) Some of the talk has been about the...
Tearing Things Down
Some people like to tear things down, and then start from scratch. For writers and other artists, that can sometimes be a good idea. It also can be a good idea for home renovators, as we often see on HGTV. But for these creative “tear-downs”, one person usually has...
On Goals That Scare You
Goals should scare you a little, but inspire you a lot. Going to medical school scared me a little, but it changed my life. Running a marathon for the first time—especially because it was my first road race ever—scared me a little, but the feeling of running those...
Thoughts About Identity
Here's one definition of identity: The quality or condition of being the same in substance, composition, nature, properties, or in particular qualities under consideration; absolute or essential sameness; oneness.Oxford English Dictionary However the way we more...