No magic pill

Drugs, tried them. Sex, had it plenty of times. Working hard towards a goal and finishing it, starting from zero and improving at a skill, buying things, making art, dancing, moving, travelling, meditating, earning more than you can spend in a day, done them all.

You might be searching for it. A lot of people are. Pharmaceutical companies definitely are. A way to hack biology. Make everything feel great.

If a magic pill existed, nature would’ve already found it. But even if it did, nature is smarter than that. Depending on your beliefs, you could replace nature with God, the universe, the energy of the cosmos, super intelligence or any other kind of higher power. They know we need a challenge.

The challenge exists because nature knew the benefits of taking risks for rewards. Rewards without risk, may play out in short-term but quickly lose their touch.

We’re natural searchers. In seek of the next challenge. Not a magic pill. Every time I’ve taken the magic pill route, I’ve ended up lost and confused.

The reward feels far greater once you’ve put skin in the game.

Sex and exercise feel good because they lead to the continuation of the species. Aside from those two, the best highs I get are from seeing someone else listen to themselves (because this brings me joy when I do it) and having the discipline to create. Making something which didn’t exist before. Telling a story. Seeing words fill up on a page.

No matter what you’re told, money doesn’t buy pleasure. Skill does.

You can go to the store to buy the latest model European sports car after seeing your friend drive by in one the other day. The pleasure will last a short while but it would not have existed had it not been for the skill of the engineer who designed and built the car.

Building a skill takes time, discipline, dedication. But it’s the most worthwhile adventure you’ll ever take. You can have all the inspiration you want but if you don’t have the technique to translate your inspiration into something real, the technique to connect clouds to the dirt, you’re stuck.

Having skill gives you an outlet to connect the person you are inside with the person you are outside.

That’s my magic pill. When I feel like I’ve bared a little bit of my soul. You don’t need to shoot up for it, you don’t need to go to the store for it, all you gotta do is sweat for it.