The Axe For Chopping At The Frozen Seas Inside Us
A friend once wrote a letter to Franz Kafka to share that he was starting to feel happy. He thanked Kafka, who apparently recommended a few books. “Surely you don’t think that I am responsible for your happiness,” Kafka replied. His happiness was due to some self-revelations for which the books were responsible, Kafka wrote. “Books are the axe for chopping at the frozen seas inside us. That is my belief.” Axes with which we chop at the frozen seas inside—that’s the theme of this SIX at 6…
Find The Rest Of The Iceberg
John Mayer likes to say that he’s one-half student, one-half artist. That his artistic output is a function of studying his favorite artists. And that he studied not just his guitar heroes, but his guitar heroes’ heroes and their heroes too. “So I’m not a big advice guy,” he says, “but if anybody was asking for advice, my advice might sound a little un-fun, but it’s that: with everything you learn, learn the thing that is the building block for the thing you just learned. Trace back the things you like and learn the things that made the things you like…You know, this stuff doesn’t just appear. It comes from somewhere…If all you learn is [strums part of his song “Gravity”]— if that’s all you learn, you don’t have an understanding of the guitar. You have an understanding of “Gravity.” Whatever you learn is the tip of the iceberg. Dive underwater and find the rest of the iceberg.”
It’s Like A Divining Rod
Before he made movies, James Cameron was a truck driver. On the weekends, he would go to the University of Southern California library, where over time he uncovered his love for filmmaking. He eventually located and printed every thesis and dissertation that USC’s graduate students had written related to film technology. “And for the cost of Xeroxing, I got all these doctoral dissertations and built up these big binders on how everything was done,” Cameron said. So I literally gave myself a full graduate course on film technology for about $120. I didn’t have to enroll in school because it was all there in the library. I’d set it up to go in like I was on a tactical mission, find out what I needed to know, and take it all home.” When asked what was motivating him, Cameron said he was just following what excited him. “People seek out the information and knowledge they need,” he said. “It’s like a divining rod.”
And If It Doesn’t Excite You…It’s Not Yours
Shortly after Joseph Campbell graduated from college, in October 1929, the stock market crashed. Without any job prospects, he rented a cabin in Woodstock, New York for $20 a year and for the next five years, he read. He read the Egyptian mysteries, the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Arthurian romances, the American Indian myths, the Bible, the foundational texts of Buddhism and Hinduism. “[I] just read, and read, and read, and read, for five years,” Campbell said. And through this reading, “I found my discipline.” His discipline was comparative mythology, the study and synthesizing of the common themes, archetypes, and patterns found in the timeless myths and stories across cultures and throughout human history. He taught and wrote about how these timeless stories could chop at the frozen seas inside us, providing insight and access to the universal patterns, “the constant truths of history.” Like Cameron, Campbell refers to the reading of these constant truths as “a divining rod,” a way to find what you are uniquely attracted to and meant to do. “You’ve got to read,” Campbell said. “Find what excites you. And if it doesn’t excite you…It’s not yours.”
The Complex Dance Between Intelligence And Interest
Speaking of what excites you…The psychologist Angela Duckworth (best known for her research on grit) talks about “the complex dance between having intelligence and having interest.” The more she studies intelligence, she said, “the more I’m like, ‘I don’t even know what it is.’” People who have interest in a topic or subject learn better and remember more than those who have more natural ability but no interest. “This is why I always say,” she said, “I can be very dumb about things I don’t care about and I can be extremely smart about the things I do care about.” If you don’t care about it, it’s not yours. It’s not a sea inside you.
Take The Trip Inside
In a Q&A following a clinic John Mayer taught at the Berklee College of Music, a student said she was struggling to write songs that connected with people. “Well,” he said, “what connects with people is you connecting with yourself…If you don’t mind me asking, how old are you?” Eighteen. “Eighteen? I think the problem is that you probably haven’t made the trip inside, as I call it. Truly made the trip inside.” Make the trip inside. Chop at the frozen seas inside you.