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Have you ever thought about how a pearl is born? A grain of sand gets inside the shell. A foreign body. An irritant. Pain. And to protect itself from this pain, to isolate this splinter, the mollusk begins to cover it layer by layer with nacre. Year after year. It doesn't try to create a masterpiece. It simply tries to soothe the pain. And as a result of this long, agonizing, unconscious process, something beautiful is born.

Have you ever thought about how a pearl is born? A grain of sand gets inside the shell. A foreign body. An irritant. Pain. And to protect itself from this pain, to isolate this splinter, the mollusk begins to cover it layer by layer with nacre. Year after year. It doesn't try to create a masterpiece. It simply tries to soothe the pain. And as a result of this long, agonizing, unconscious process, something beautiful is born.

Single Player

Before her, my life was a single-player game polished to a blinding sheen. I knew my map by heart: the gray subway line, the humming office open space, the three familiar bars that rotated menus every Friday. My skill tree had long been leveled to absurdity: “Sarcasm” at level 100, “Art of the impassive face” at expert, “Ability to tell good...

A person who has eaten only sweets their whole life doesn't know that sweet is sweet. They have nothing to compare it to.

A person who has eaten only sweets their whole life doesn't know that sweet is sweet. They have nothing to compare it to.

When you see the structure of interests, you understand: nothing in this world is personal. No one wishes you harm. Everyone is simply pursuing their goals, tracing their vectors through space. And if you see this, you're no longer a bowling pin getting knocked down. You're a player who sees the whole board.

When you see the structure of interests, you understand: nothing in this world is personal. No one wishes you harm. Everyone is simply pursuing their goals, tracing their vectors through space. And if you see this, you're no longer a bowling pin getting knocked down. You're a player who sees the whole board.