Buridan's Offering

I have a confession. I am a donkey.

Today, I received an email. It was a newsletter from a creator providing motivation and instructional tips. I hesitated to read it but recalled my recent lifestyle update. No more backburners. I formally had the habit of setting things aside, resulting in unintentionally never seeing them again. Both Apple TV’s Watch Now and YouTube’s Watch Later were my greatest enemy.

I opened the email and was met with basic tips about how to finish projects. Yeah, yeah. Got it. As I halfheartedly read on, I noticed an oddly highlighted area: “Don’t Be A Donkey.”

I don’t like being called names, so I decided to search for a reason to be upset and unsubscribe. The following was a brief excerpt from an interview between two individuals. One is named Derek and the other, Tim Ferris. I apologize in advance for any offense from not knowing who Tim Ferris is if Tim is a person I should be aware of.

Without simply copying and pasting the excerpt, just know that Derek asked Tim what advice he would give to his 30-year-old self. Tim replied, “Don’t be a donkey.” He went on to explain the philosophical illustration of Buridan’s Ass.

For those like me new to the illustration, I will explain. There’s a donkey in the middle of a road. It is between water and hay. The donkey can’t decide if it wants to drink the water or eat the hay, so it dies of hunger and thirst on the road.

I immediately felt under attack. This was because as many of us can relate, I am trying to make it through these tough times. Trying to survive has been an ordeal for a lot of people, especially in the last few years. In an effort to gain more income, I decided to make use of my creativity. However, in my attempt to stay above water, I had gone overboard.

Since 2020, I have started a production company, agreed to recruitment at a video game development company, started my own coffee line, released multiple music projects of varying genres, became a streamer, created a wall art business and even just recently signed up as a proofreader on a freelancer website. This was all while putting on the back burner the one thing I actually wanted to do. Write.

So, my donkey days are over. My purpose suffered. All because I was trying to make money. And in doing so, I found myself lying on the road with neither financial gain nor advancement toward my writing objectives. I was only closer to understanding the message provided in this story.

I offer you the tale of Buridan’s donkey. Consider taking a moment to reflect. See if any of the endeavors you take part in feel right. Maybe even your time on Vocal is a distraction to wake up from. No judgment from me. And who knows? Maybe a time will come when these things become right. I hope you all get to try my coffee someday. But for now, I need to be writing.