10 out of 10: Our Inner Child, Creative Advice, and A Motto To Live By

Here are 10 finds that I thought might trigger your curiosity:

• A wonderful quote I’ve come across this month:

“What makes life worth living? No child asks itself that question. To children life is self-evident. Life goes without saying: whether it is good or bad makes no difference. This is because children don’t see the world, don’t observe the world, don’t contemplate the world, but are so deeply immersed in the world that they don’t distinguish between it and their own selves.”

Source: ​Autumn (Seasons Quartet) by Karl Ove Knausgaard

• I love to visit theaters when I’m in a foreign country. When the lights dim, the velvet curtains rise, and the reels of celluloid start to flicker, this dark, immersive environment appears allowing movie lovers to escape their daily lives, even if it’s just for one hour only. Parisians, Londoners, or Amsterdammers all bring their popcorn but have their energy, their own way to express themselves to the same exact movie in front of them. The movie I recently watched by the name Poor Things, does just that and it’s one of the greatest movies I’ve watched this year. This best picture nomination is funny, absurdistic, and risk-taking: it’s both shocking and exciting. Go watch it if you haven’t yet.

• The message of my latest book recommendation is quite clear: Write about your sorrows, your wishes, your fleeting observations, your belief in anything beautiful. Describe all that with fervent, quiet, and humble sincerity. To express yourself, use things in your surroundings, the scenes of your dreams, and the subjects of your memory. Letters to a young poet is the ultimate bundle of advice every creative needs. Read my latest thoughts in my book review.

• Walking your talk in a world full of chaos. I recently answered this interesting question from a reader: “Is there a motto or principle I live by?”.

• My latest edition of The Decoded: Memorable Words.

• Gathered here are insights about passion, from a thinker who has contemplated the art science of making your life’s calling a living. So how, exactly, do we find and then live our passion? Y-Combinator founder Paul Graham wrote a longform article about it in 2006, called How to Do What You Love. It’s absolutely brilliant.

• An ongoing list of hand-picked book recommendations for 2024.

Thanks for reading. 10 out of 10 is a handwritten, personal gift from me to you. Seek out more valuable ideas by signing up to my email newsletter. Get your monthly dose of wisdom you can read in 5 minutes.

Lisanne

“Self” for the exhibition “See them look!” Stadsmuseum Woerden, The Netherlands, 2017, acrylic on linen, 50 x 50 cm, by Neel Korteweg.