The most fruitful and natural exercise for our minds is, in my opinion, conversation. ~Michel de Montaigne
The irony of writing lies in the fact that you can feel stuck even when there’s always plenty to write about. Not long ago, I felt creatively drained and stuck, but now, I feel like I can’t even find the time to pour out my thoughts.
Could it be a post-World Cup creative emergence? We’ll see in the coming days.
Anyway, a few days back, I woke up feeling a bit unwell. I must have caught a mild cold because I’ve been dressing lightly over the past few weeks, enjoying what has been the hottest summer of my life in Ireland. Forgetting that this is a country where the temperature can change in a flash.
Feeling lazy, I decided to rest in bed and ended up falling down the rabbit hole of mindless scrolling!
At one point, I snapped out of it and switched back to a productive mode, choosing to read a story or two on Medium. That’s when I came across a reply to my last story that inspired this one.
My once dull brain immediately sparked to life. I got up and headed straight to the park for a walk, jotting down ideas for this piece.
This is one of the often overlooked derivatives of writing: you can be instantly transported into a conversation taking place in Tokyo while lying in bed in Amawbia.
A wise man I follow on Twitter once tweeted;
Your most valuable assets have little to do with money:
1. A circle of close friends with whom you can regularly have stimulating conversations.
2. A loving family that has your back no matter what.
3. A robust body with no health issues and a confident mind with no anxiety.
You see that number 1? It can foster a deeper sense of belonging and boost your emotional well-being, trust me. There are times I live out the rest of my day smiling after a heartfelt convo with a friend.
If you check the etymology of “conversation,” you’ll find that its Latin root, conversari, means “to live, dwell, or keep company with,” literally “to turn about with” (con- + vertere).
Writing may well be the most powerful tool to attract like minds across geographic and cultural divides.
When you put your thoughts, stories, and reflections into words, you send out subtle signals that resonate with those who have similar interests, values, or passions. You also build an invisible bridge inviting others to cross over and possibly share intimate access to perspectives wildly different from yours.
Ultimately, by shaping ideas into form, writing fosters communities of mutual understanding (like the cmonionline writing community) and opens unexpected doors to cultures and connections we might never have encountered otherwise.
When I react to a story, I rarely hold back in my response. I suspect it’s the same with you.
Why should we?
If the author is openly sharing their thoughts, then I believe I should respond generously. It can feel like having a meaningful chat with a close friend. Do you stifle your thoughts when talking to your buddy? Hardly ever, I’d say!
So, who knows? Your dialogue or commentary on a story might offer solutions or even serve as inspiration for a story like this one.
Again, it’s all out there, in black and white, ready to benefit someone else.
Now, consider this line: “What tends to get lost when you’re ‘throwing applications here and there’ is how much time is spent on postings that were never a real match to begin with — this is a kind of self-sabotage disguised as effort.” I started using Simple Apply just to reduce that scattershot cold-applying phase so I could focus more energy on the renegotiating stage you mentioned, which is where the real work happens.
I won’t lie, I did waste loads of time on academic hiring sites for openings that didn’t really match my profile till I read about job match on Indeed. There are more tools available now than ever to help us with tasks.
When I finally realised this and began using ReadyApply with Indeed, it drastically cut down wasted time on applications and yielded more interview invitations. Any applicant struggling as I did could come across that reply and voila! Problem solved.
Naturally, I’ve followed Daisy back in line with Patrick Collison’s counsel that you should make friends over the internet with people who excel at things you’re interested in, as the internet is one of the biggest advantages of this generation.
Hopefully, we’ll have more meaningful conversations in the future.
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Thanks for reading.
