FOCI 2024

Years seem to have personal themes. 

2020-2021 were years full of collaborating, experimenting, and putting authentic artifacts online as memetic beacons to find “the others.”

2022 was a year of slowing down, and privately doing “inner work,” which involved numerous hours meeting my unwhole spots, making salient the parts that spurred on many of my cringe moments from the previous years. 

2023 marked a year of chipping away my foolishness toward greater clarity on philosophical, goal-oriented, and relational prioritization. 

What theme will 2024 have? Like previous years, my initial assumption might differ from what unfolds. However, I am aware that possessing clarity is one thing, and possessing the agency to act upon that clarity is another.

I was given a second chance in 2020. It was my great reset, involving a "year of saying yes," opening me to many new people and perspectives. This year will be the "year of saying no," closing down the unlimited option space that freedom teases with, exercising agency toward manifesting tangible things.

I finally created a personal website, minimal as usual, listing my foci for 2024:

Besides fertility-maxxing, I’ll be writing, selling coffee, and engaging in my philosophy practice. I’ll elaborate on each. 

WORDS

I quite enjoyed writing last year, posting 78 entries on this Substack. I will put more muscle into this newsletter for 2024, returning to an editorial schedule of three entries per week. While it takes discipline, the constraint of needing to post on specific days is an amazing creative forcing function, improving both my writing and advancing my thinking.  

A principle that helps me press send: "ship even if it is shit."

Clyde Rathbone

, my friend and former boss at Letter who is now on the writer partnerships team at Substack, told me most successful Substackers are not too precious about creating the perfect entry. This mindset is indeed the best to have for a place like Substack. I am not writing here to create a masterpiece or hit a home run in the attention economy; I am here to become less foolish.

I treat writing as a spiritual practice. Like the Stoic practice of "Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν" (aka journalling), I try to write to myself, regardless if it is a personal self-inquiry or a "theory sketch." The throughline of each type of entry is the ethos of "becoming wise in public." I believe that if a post resonates with me, it will resonate with my others, which is related to another personal writing principle: "Write the essay you'd read if someone else had already written it." 

With these principles, this Substack has been slowly growing since I started writing publicly in 2020:

Apparently, some writers experience an inflection point where their growth significantly accelerates. While that could occur, and I welcome growth and enjoy seeing it, I'm not setting it as an objective, as I am not writing to grow for growth's sake. Additionally, I will consider adding more ongoing events for paid subscribers that will complement Collective Journalling. While I am "community" shy these days, developing and nurturing communities of practice is something I am good at and find rewarding when done less foolishly. 

COFFEE

Integral to my writing is drinking coffee. I love drinking coffee and writing in coffee shops. I have wanted to open a philosophical coffee shop for years. Before the COVID pandemic, I was hosting many in-person events in Toronto, and wanted to have a physical home for them. I was thinking of calling this cafe The Stoa.

Instead, COVID happened, then the lockdowns and The Stoa emerged as a 3.5-year online event space featuring the who's who of public intellectuals, para-academic philosophers, and galaxy brains influencing our collective consciousness. The Stoa was a great ride, but I closed down shop in June last year. I do not think Camille and I will use The Stoa name for the cafe.

I also do not think we'll open one in Toronto. I feel the "COVID moment" dispirited Toronto, and conducting recent in-person events here hasn't evoked the same aliveness for me as the pre-pandemic or online events at The Stoa did. Moreover, Camille and I have felt compelled to leave the city and are contemplating a move to a smaller town somewhere in Ontario or even the eastern coast of Canada.

We like the idea of taking over a small town by opening a cafe that is a trojan horse to the sacred. Churches are no longer the spiritual center of many small towns we have visited; coffee shops are. The philosophy of a town's coffee shop is the town's primary philosophical and spiritual influence. Unfortunately, most coffee shops in these towns have this awful mixture of woke virtue signaling and cottage kitsch. There is an opening for something genuinely new to emerge.

As Camille and I contemplate where our future will be, navigate the exorbitant housing prices in Ontario, and evaluate the feasibility of a coffee shop venture, we've decided to embark on a gradual journey into the coffee industry by introducing our coffee bean. Officially coming soon, we will be releasing a delicious medium roast coffee of Ethiopian & Guatemalan origin called The Stoic Smile.

A very tasty Stoic Zaddy.

We'll have 100 on sale soon, offering a few giveaway prizes for readers of this newsletter. I will not depend on this Substack for selling these beans but instead intend to utilize it to work through the challenges of running a business and tap into the collective wisdom of my less foolish followers, leaning into the "building in public" ethos.

When we look into the value proposition of The Stoic Smile, we sense something more than a tasty coffee bean with a badass cover and name. Something about it being a "coffee ritual" associated with a journaling practice feels quite intriguing.

PRACTICE 

Beyond writing and staying caffeinated, I am returning to my philosophy practice in 2024. I have engaged in philosophical discussions with others over the past three years, typically spanning 3-4 month intervals. This year, I am compelled to commit to a more extended duration, fostering inquiry-based relationships of virtue throughout the year.

I do struggle to find a label for myself, as I am "identity" shy these days. I am not a coach or therapist, even though my practice incorporates elements of both modalities. While I like the title "philosophical guide," the most accurate title with collective momentum behind it is "philosophical counsellor." I do believe the practical philosophy movement will become mainstream soon, as foreshadowed by the recent When Philosophers Become Therapists article from The New Yorker.

I believe this partly because success and health, typically the guiding values in coaching and therapy, are not always the most essential values. Instead, wisdom holds greater importance in guiding inquiries today within our individual and collective transitions. Theoretical philosophy, which dominates academic departments, is still critical, as people will be questioning their worldview more than ever. However, practical philosophy will be paramount since it honors the theoretical and can also navigate between values like success and health when needed.

Having begun easing back into my practice in December, I've already observed a virtuous symbiotic connection between my writing and practice. I get a lot of ideas for writing during my inquiries, and my writing, in turn, becomes authentic advertising pieces to attract people to my practice. Typically, these are people with whom I enjoy engaging in inquiries as they resonate with my words. I feel nourished by my recent inquiries and excited to inquire with many of my readers for 2024.

I also have a hunch that a spin-off scene with Less Foolish vibes within the practical philosophy movement is developing. I am biased, of course, but the Less Foolish version of practical philosophy feels more interesting and wholesome, incorporating a transperspectival lens, meta-crisis literacy, and cultural (and culture war) sensitivities, as well as a jazzy vernacular that consists of phrases like "existential knots" (x-knots), "minimum viable philosophy," and "wisdom commons."

***

Of course, things may change, as the wildness of the "daemon" is never far away, always tempting me with new ideas. However, certain years necessitate saying "no," even to the most compelling creative impulses. Words, coffee, practice - good foci to commence 2024 with.

We had a lovely 3-hour writing session on Saturday, processing 2023 and preparing for 2024. If you missed it, below the paywall is the master document that includes instructions for writing exercises with following themes: yearly review, minimum viable philosophy, virtues, vibes, and ventures. If you’d like a space to do these exercises or start a regular journaling/writing practice for 2024, consider joining us at Collective Journalling.

What is Collective Journalling? This communal practice happens via Zoom and is 90 mins, with check-ins in the chat at the beginning and an opportunity to connect with fellow journalers in breakout rooms at the end. You do not have to stay the whole time. If you are in an antisocial mood, you do not have to interact with anyone, yet you can still enjoy the coffee shop-esque communal vibe. The session concludes with an optional sharing of a passage in the chat. Most of the time is spent in silence together, individually inquiring about what matters most. A lovely group of people has formed around this practice. The practice occurs on weekdays @ 8 AM ET. RSVP link is behind the paywall.