Thirty kilometers in a day...

I wanted noodles this afternoon, so I wandered around looking for a place. I really liked only two options, Shibajia and Xunxiangxiang. I leaned toward the latter, but the other restaurant ranked highly in the district. After some hesitation, I chose the one I had wanted all along: Xunxiangxiang.

Later, sitting in a café, I did not want to think too hard, so I idly scrolled on my phone. A few ideas surfaced. Talking them through with AI clarified what I really wanted: whatever I am working on, I want to build a system that helps me organize and make steady progress on a task that takes a lot of time and effort.

That thought has come up often this week. It has deepened how I understand and use both self-study and making things.

I tend to act on feeling rather than discipline or a plan, so many things do not happen as intended. Tonight, for example, I needed to catch the subway. Yet I stood there with everyone else, oddly calm, riding the escalator down slowly. Just as I reached the platform, the doors closed…

Sometimes that spontaneity is useful; it leaves room for flexibility and surprise. But it depends on the situation. The key is knowing when and how much of it to allow…