Steve aspired to create utilitarian things that also brought joy; it was his way of making the world a better place. That was part of why Pixar made him so proud—because he felt the world was better for the films we made. He used to say regularly that as brilliant as Apple products were, eventually they all ended up in landfills. Pixar movies, on the other hand, would live forever.
This is one of my all time favorite things to bring up starting with, “Oh have you ever heard what Steve Jobs said about iPhones and like Toy Story…?” Then I proceed to further botch the story.
Anyway, lately I’ve been entering another “I’m going to try reading more fiction” phase. Or I guess not just reading, but also getting a little bit back into TV (catching up on Black Mirror) and watching a movie here and there. I’ve even been playing the Switch more frequently. (Overcooked with my girlfriend, Hollow Knight alone.)
Sometimes I’ll double up with Hollow Knight (on mute) and an audiobook or podcast. Which is something I used to do earlier this year when I was grinding through Dark Souls III. And I really mean the grinding-through parts. I didn’t want to miss the ambience and all that when the game is progressing. But when I was just set on fighting the same Lothric Knights over and over for a couple hours, it was time to throw an audiobook on.
Oh yeah, the point of this is that fiction is good for you. Stories are a big part of being human and all that.
I get wary of how often I see advice along the lines of “stop watching TV”, “stop playing video games”, “stop reading fiction”. Wary that (1) it’s becoming more and more common but really that kind of sentiment has always been around so it’s really that I’m wary that (2) I’m reading too much of the same kinds of non-fiction.
My plan to get out of this echo chamber is to get absorbed into other stories. I think it’s working. Don’t skip out on experiencing some of the best storytelling going on today so that you can write your 5th blog post this week. Keep it at 4 posts. Close the laptop and get lost in a story.