Open Thread: Castles in the Sky in Your Life
Castles in the Sky #37
I'm Charlie Becker, a writer, teacher, and bookseller. Every Friday, I publish Castles in the Sky, a newsletter about overcoming intellectual loneliness and combating existential boredom.
One of my favorite types of posts on Substack is an Open Thread, where a writer poses a question to the audience and encourages them to respond via email and the comment section. Today marks my first attempt at hosting one, and I'm eager to hear your thoughts and start a discussion.
About nine months ago, I introduced the mission for this blog, paraphrased here:
“Castles in the Sky” is a metaphor for the ideas so powerful that they change the way we see the world. They are both visceral and immediate, but also dreamy and grandiose. Seeing castles in the sky does not have to be an idea or a lesson–it is not something entirely intellectual. It is more sensual. It teaches you something, but transcends memorization or association: it is often something from nothing.
What are some of the Castles in the Sky in your life?
If you’re not sure, here are some questions to help you come up with ideas:
What's been making you curious recently?
What is a story or idea that has changed how you see the world?
What are some sticky ideas you can’t stop thinking about?
What are you obsessed with lately? (This is my favorite question.)
Feel free to jot down an idea or the name of a person, book, essay, story, movie, or podcast. Write as much or as little as you want then like and comment on what other people write. Just make sure to include something about why it captures your attention. I’ll start it off with three quick ideas:
There was a movement in the USSR called Cosmism which was a syncretic philosophy advocating it was humanity’s destiny to live forever and colonize space. I’m interested in it for parallels with our current tech scene.
I joined TikTok and have gotten really into short video creators who play a cast of recurring characters. My favorites so far specialize in unlikeable characters: Jack Ryan and Delaney Rowe. I feel like this is real art, but too short and ephemeral to get the recognition it deserves. What would it look like to have an awards show, or critics, or “best of compilation” dedicated to these types of creators?
Nietzsche had an idea called the eternal return which (sort of) said we were supposed to live the same lives over and over for eternity. It’s been interesting to explore as a thought experiment to measure my choices against.
The idea that captivates my imagination is this: why do people make art? There are so many different answers to that question; some of them contradictory. It's fascinating to me to see why people create things—and also what they do with them afterwards, or what culture does with them. A related question is "why does the culture save some art, and forget other art?"
James Clear recently asked his followers what beliefs they've adopted that have made their lives easier. Here are two I shared in response:
1. Think like a designer and reframe problems as opportunities.
Said another way: find the good in every situation.
(Inspired by one of my top life-changing books: Designing Your Life: How To Build A Well-Lived, Joyful Life)
2. The “cracks” in life are what let the light in. So embrace pain, challenges, and imperfections as opportunities to learn and grow. That’s how we become the people we’re meant to be.
(Inspired by Leonard Cohen’s quote which I wrote about here: https://alexandraallen.substack.com/p/theres-a-crack-in-everything-thats?r=nb7od&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post & Brianna Wiest’s words in her book The Truth About Everything).