One of the things I've been thinking about is how our mind’s eye filters the world for things we find interesting.
What I find interesting influences what I write about. It influences the kind of conversations I have. And the circles I belong. The projects I experiment with. And how you and I see the world.
One resistance I had experienced was not trusting enough that whatever my mind’s eye signaled as interesting was. In the past, I had tried backing up that intuition with research. I had tried finding some external resources - especially someone else - to back up what I thought was interesting.
Over time, I learned to trust my process. I have come to learn that if it catches my attention, it is worth checking out.
"If something interests you, it goes in—if not, it stays out. That’s a crude way to assess things, but it’s all you’ve got. Forget market research. Never market-research your writing. Write on subjects in which you have enough interest on your own to see you through all the stops, starts, hesitations, and other impediments along the way."1
Our main responsibility is to always improve the filters we've built so no noise goes through.
We can remodel what our mind considers interesting. When we do, we find more of those in the world.
John McPhee recommends in Draft №4.