Seinfeld...the show about nothing...
And yet it relates to everything.
Isn’t it fascinating how Seinfeld, the “show about nothing” seems to relate to everything? It’s common to hear someone say, “That sounds like that one Seinfeld episode…”
It’s such a relatable and memorable show. The themes, the one-liners, the characters, and the favorite scenes are seared into my memory and come out in my occasional thoughts. Seinfeld was masterful in that way, it was so simple, and yet it was so profound.
But why is that? I think the magic has something to do with a delicate dance between something both general and specific. In this example, Seinfeld introduces content that is general enough to connect to a specifically relatable theme anywhere, and content specific enough to connect to a generally relatable theme anywhere. In other words, a good idea has to connect something, and once it does it has to make one think beyond that thing.
Like the randomness of that show, I’m interested in many things in life. My attempt to start writing about these interests is intentionally designed to help sift through the ideas and see if there is a theme or topic I want to specialize in a bit more. Hopefully, I can tap into some of that Seinfeld connection magic, and some of the ideas I share stick.
There are deeper themes and deeper topics that I’m interested in. There is a search for deeper truth that is foundational to who I am. But I’m drawn to so many different things that to start writing finally means my updates will be all over the place. That randomness will be my place of comfort for the time being. Instead of writing a newsletter about something, this will be a newsletter about nothing…but like Seinfeld so often does, I hope this newsletter will provide the reader with another reference to link to, to spark other thoughtful connections. We’ll see…
For now, chalk this effort up as an attempt to live out a great saying, “Get going, then get good.” It’s time to get going as the writer, thinker, and connecter I hope to be.
Here’s to LEARNING IN PUBLIC…
AP