Marlow's Musings 4/13/25
Insights, adventures and fun stuff from this week.
Audio narration by David Marlow
"You need a story to displace a story. Metaphors and stories are far more potent (alas) than ideas; they are also easier to remember and more fun to read."
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
I’ve been telling myself a story this week. An old story, no longer real, and yet, like ghosts in the machine, the phantom thoughts come, creating undesirable effects.
When as a child you learn that success comes with consequences, it creates a pattern. Each achievement or moment in the spotlight is followed by someone else's crisis that requires your attention and emotional resources. Over time, this teaches you to anticipate disruption whenever good things happen.
You develop strategies. Maybe you downplay achievements, keeping good news to yourself. Perhaps you become hyper-vigilant, watching for signs of the coming storm. Most likely, you learn to reserve energy—emotional and physical—knowing you'll need it for the aftermath of any celebration. The crisis that always comes.
My new book launched a few weeks ago with unexpected success. Messages of congratulation arrive daily, sales numbers are encouraging, and there's genuine enthusiasm for the work. It should be a time of pure celebration.
Yet I found myself automatically setting aside energy, creating buffers in my schedule, and mentally preparing for disruptions that belong to my past, not my present.
I started looking for the bad news that was sure to come. The personal disaster of someone else’s making that would draw me in and that would fall on me to solve.
The body remembers long after reason, logic, and right thinking have taken their proper place. The old story is carved deep. To be removed it must be replaced by a new story. A more powerful story.
My oldest grandson has thick brown hair with a hint of red. A wry smile and a touch of naughty fun to go with a mind that is sharp and quick. I whisper to him through word and deed that he is worthy, deserving of every good thing…a miracle.
You can't look at a beautiful child like that and not think they deserve every good thing. There is another I know with that wry smile and a mind that is sharp and quick. He is no longer a boy and his hair, once brown and thick with those same red highlights is now white. And I whisper to him a new story. One where he is worthy and deserving of every good thing. And the phantoms get a little harder to hear.
Word of the Week
Aftergloom(n)
/aftər-ɡlo͞om/
1: the pang of loneliness you feel the day after an intensely social event, as the glow of voices and laughter fades into a somber quiet.1
In case you missed it…
This week’s Ikigai Thoughts for Today…
The first: Contradiction
Ikigai is expressing your essence and purpose in harmony with whatever you do.
This definition of Ikigai intentionally avoids the word balance. I’m not a fan of the concept of work/life balance, for example. Balance implies equality. Work equals your life outside of work and vice versa.
Instead, I offer you the idea of harmony—things working together in agreement and accord, like a concert.
The second: Perfect Moments
I paused to ponder something for this Ikigai Thought. It's a quote from Leonard Nimoy. You may remember him as Spock on Star Trek, but he was also a philosopher and a poet. He said…"A life is like a garden; perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory."
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This week’s Coffee Contemplation…Your Questions
Many people have reached out to ask questions about my book. Ikiquest+ subscribers always get the first info or latest updates so I decided to answer the questions from Ikiquest+ subscribers in a video.
Ikiquest+ subscribers can watch and listen to this in video narration or read the transcription.
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Comment of the Week:
I’m sharing this thought from Gabriel…
Before a book is read, it’s written. Before it’s written, it’s dreamed...
And dreams need supporters. Yesterday, I walked into Indigo (Bookstore) and
picked up “The Ikigai Way” by David Marlow
Not because I’ve heard it's good. Not because I needed a new book.
But because I believe in the message and the man behind it. The book itself is about living a life of purpose. But the act of buying it? That felt like a quiet way to say: “I see your purpose, and I back it.”
But what stood out most wasn't the book itself. It was the feeling of holding a piece of someone’s journey in my hands.
And many of you have joined the journey as well. Thank you! Imagine a million more people living their purpose and the impact that could have on the world.
Quote I’m Pondering
This thought is from Edwin Land, founder of Polaroid and inventor of instant photography.…
“Don't undertake a project unless it is manifestly important and nearly impossible.”2
Final Thoughts
The world is filled with mystery and miracles of which we have barely scratched the surface. You needn't go far as you’re witness to them every time you look in the mirror.
Quest Well.
Koenig, John. The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows (p. 144). (Function). Kindle Edition
Godin, Seth (Ed.). (2011). "End Malaria: Bold Innovation, Limitless Generosity, and the Opportunity to Save a Life." The Domino Project.
I'm a great believer in the therapeutic power of metaphors, for two essential reasons:
- They have the power to give another meaning to thought and the symbolic content associated with it.
- The mind opens up to communication, facilitating fluidity and empathy.
When these two factors are combined with a little humor, whenever convenient and desirable, then we have the perfect mix to make someone feel more willing to rethink and change their behavior.
Ah, now I have a word for it! Aftergloom 😅.