Apart from the fact that I am a central feature of this post, it is a well-written, rationally constructed approach to the need for maps and the scale on which they need to be built. I have no explanation for my "obsessive insanity" except to say that I find the practice of working on the maps presented here both relaxing and personally fulfilling. There is an undeniable sense of satisfaction in looking at something that is, in fact, a step-by-step easily managed process, yet produces beauty. For this is what I, in my insanity, see when I look at my own maps. Beauty.
Joel, you're an excellent writer. Quite comparable to anyone. You should be writing. You'd be foolish not to continue doing it.
I normally don't care for praise. Most of the time it's irrelevant and only serves to harbour a para-social kind of ego inflation. Most of the people that like to dish it out have unqualified opinions. Praise is therefore usually just a nicety.
However, when it comes from a superior in the craft you are pursuing, that is when it has real value and should be taken seriously. And in this case, I do.
Thank you for your kind words, and thank you for the comprehensive ideas you have been providing, for free no less, all these years.
I feel the same way about praise. I've been praised since I was a kid, by people who cared very little for my well-being, who saw me as something for them to direct and take under their wing, etc.
But I bitch and moan all the time that people won't properly comment on my work, so it's right and proper that when I see something noteworthy, I should call it out. And so I have.
I also wanted to clear one thing - the word obsession is most definitely a projection.
I AM obsessive. To the point it is unhealthy and counter-productive sometimes. To the point where people have to practically physically pull me away from what I am doing in order to get my attention.
This is not a gloat. It is, and can be, a serious problem. It has hurt relationships. It has caused problems.
So from that perspective it was in poor taste to conflate your own process with "obsession" simply because the depth in which you approach things is something I can relate too. Comprehensiveness does not equate to obsession. In my case, they are not often mutually exclusive. I am generally miserable when I am not engaged in these pursuits, and therefore they have an addictive quality.
Apart from the fact that I am a central feature of this post, it is a well-written, rationally constructed approach to the need for maps and the scale on which they need to be built. I have no explanation for my "obsessive insanity" except to say that I find the practice of working on the maps presented here both relaxing and personally fulfilling. There is an undeniable sense of satisfaction in looking at something that is, in fact, a step-by-step easily managed process, yet produces beauty. For this is what I, in my insanity, see when I look at my own maps. Beauty.
Joel, you're an excellent writer. Quite comparable to anyone. You should be writing. You'd be foolish not to continue doing it.
I normally don't care for praise. Most of the time it's irrelevant and only serves to harbour a para-social kind of ego inflation. Most of the people that like to dish it out have unqualified opinions. Praise is therefore usually just a nicety.
However, when it comes from a superior in the craft you are pursuing, that is when it has real value and should be taken seriously. And in this case, I do.
Thank you for your kind words, and thank you for the comprehensive ideas you have been providing, for free no less, all these years.
I feel the same way about praise. I've been praised since I was a kid, by people who cared very little for my well-being, who saw me as something for them to direct and take under their wing, etc.
But I bitch and moan all the time that people won't properly comment on my work, so it's right and proper that when I see something noteworthy, I should call it out. And so I have.
I also wanted to clear one thing - the word obsession is most definitely a projection.
I AM obsessive. To the point it is unhealthy and counter-productive sometimes. To the point where people have to practically physically pull me away from what I am doing in order to get my attention.
This is not a gloat. It is, and can be, a serious problem. It has hurt relationships. It has caused problems.
So from that perspective it was in poor taste to conflate your own process with "obsession" simply because the depth in which you approach things is something I can relate too. Comprehensiveness does not equate to obsession. In my case, they are not often mutually exclusive. I am generally miserable when I am not engaged in these pursuits, and therefore they have an addictive quality.