Hello, Doppio readers! Today's installment is just a tad self-helpy. However, both of these pieces of writing have managed to lodge themselves inside my strong, tall walls of defense against such things, and maybe they'll land somewhere receptive for you, too.

A fascinating person I follow on multiple platforms, Simone Grace Seol, recently wrote and published a book called "Don't Do Your Best: A Guide to the Project of Being Alive." It's full of concise, sharp insight such as this passage, which has earned a place on my IRL anti-perfectionism bulletin board: "Just because you 'should have known better' because you've been there a million times before doesn't mean that you, in fact, did. And why should you have known better? What are you, God? Totally above your hormones and brain chemistry and the baggage of past years and past lives?" Strongly recommended for others looking for anti-perfectionism fodder. Find the book on Amazon here (not an affiliate link, of course).

My second recommendation comes from Leah Finnegan's column on The Outline. Her latest is about Heidegger, unfiltered identity, earnestness, and a snaggletoothed dog: "The consequences that came from what I thought was 'being myself' could be avoided simply by not being what I thought was 'being myself,' mostly because the former self was a huge asshole. Trying to be authentic did not reveal an immutable self so much as produce one — one I no longer cared to be." So good, and you can read the whole thing on The Outline.

Last time: Psychosis and fiction, plus "status as a service" and the business model of the near-future.

Onward,

Katelyn Reilly
COO, Steyer Content
(206) 409-2948