Bad At Things
November 26, 2025
3-Item Status
Current Location: Milwaukee, WI
Reading: Plagues Upon the Earth by Kyle Harper
Listening: Touching Yourself by The Japanese House
If you have a moment, reply with your own 3-Item Status.
Quick Notes
New Work:
This week’s Let’s Know Things is about Thorium Reactors
This week’s Brain Lenses essay is about Headaches & the pod is on Shared Psychotic Disorder
This week’s Writing & Such is about Writerly Ambience
Bad At Things
When I go too long without experiencing the gut-punch of failure, I know I’m doing something wrong.
Feeling like I’m good at things feels good. It’s nice to ease into a flow state, produce work I’m proud of, and know at the end of each day that I did something worthwhile—made productive use of my time on this planet.
Unfortunately, that wonderful, comfortable, fulfilling state also suggests that I’m not challenging myself. I’m just doing more of the things I’m already good at. And while that’s not inherently bad, it does hint that I’m not putting myself in the position to learn as frequently as I would prefer.
Not all new skills or bodies of knowledge will leave us stumbling and fumbling, feeling like we’re all thumbs and incapable of performing basic functions. At times we’ll pick up a new sport or hobby or profession or field of inquiry, and it’ll click; these are rare, but feel-good moments.
Most of the time, though, for most of us, pursuing something truly novel means a lot of colt-like wobbling, cloud-brained confusion, and repeated attempts to do or understand things that we’re simply not yet capable of doing or understanding.
Any kind of learning is valuable, but the sort that requires we set aside our egos and allow ourselves to fail, and fail, and fail, until someday we fail a little less (or fail better) is particularly precious. That’s partly because it tends to be rarer—our brains don’t like this sort of education because it’s energetically expensive and riddled with unknowns, so we’re prone to avoiding it—and partly because it trains us not just to attempt difficult things, but to perceptually reframe such things so that we’re less likely to avoid them in the future.
These are not purposelessly taxing undertakings, they’re opportunities to hone parts of ourselves that are currently untested and untrained.
These aren’t scary, impregnable aspects of life, they’re just mountains we haven’t attempted yet—but which we could, and can, and maybe should, because what an adventure that would be.
I’m bad at a lot of things, and pretty good (in far fewer cases very good) at just as many or more. I try to fill my life with a bit of both, because all the things I’m good at—the things that really fill my life with joy, that fulfill me, that allow me to create and appreciate and more fully experience awe—are things I was once bad at. If I hadn’t faced down my hesitancy and kept putting one foot in front of the other (despite my plodding pace and the difficult moments when I wanted to quit due to confusion, embarrassment, and exhaustion), I wouldn’t have these good-at things in my life. I wouldn’t be where I am and who I am.
More efforts, more challenges and toil, means more options, more opportunities to flourish and grow, and more chances to develop aspects of myself (and the surfaces through which I interface with others and the world) that will be even more fulfilling.
I think that’s really wonderful and fun to think about, especially in those moments when something in my brain says, “Quit! Quit now! You suck at this! You’re embarrassing yourself!”
If you enjoyed this essay, consider supporting my work by becoming a paid subscriber, buying me a coffee, or grabbing one of my books.
Interesting Links
If you want more links to interesting things, consider subscribing to Aspiring Generalist.
What Else
Oh man, there’ve been lots of end of the year chores and plans (and bills) to wade through these past few weeks.
Haven’t even had the chance to consider that it’ll be 2026 soon (what!?), but I’m looking forward to that moment of realization. The culmination of a calendar year usually, eventually brings some valuable realizations to the surface for me, and I’ve got a trip to Seattle planned for Christmas that I suspect will help trigger that, “Oh yeah, new year” mindset (which is sometimes tricky to achieve, lacking a change of scenery and routine).
I’m still enjoying the cold weather we’ve been having hereabouts—mostly 30-50 degrees F, no dangerous snow/ice situations yet, and beautiful foliage all over the place. How’ve things been in your neck of the woods?
Say Hello
New here? Hit reply and tell me something about yourself!
You can also fill me in on something interesting you’re working on or something random you’re learning about.
I respond to every message I receive and would love to hear from you :)
Prefer stamps and paper? Send a letter, postcard, or some other physical communication to: Colin Wright, PO Box 11442, Milwaukee, WI 53211, USA
Or hit me up via other methods: Instagram, Threads, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or art gallery prescription.
First revealed in spy photos, a Bronze Age city emerges from the steppe.