20240926

I wonder how much cryptic writing was intentionally left "cryptic" by the author as a way to hide

oh. all of it?

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Every vision adds to the stereograph. Every religion, every philosophy, every corporate manual. No single portrayal of the tao can show you the tao. You've got to hold up and look through every vision at once. A stereograph for your two eyes builds a 3D vision out of 2D image plates. An omni-dimensional stereograph shows you the thing that you are. And even with all those images, it only looks like you've popped out into the impossible outside dimension. A 3D stereograph only shows you one view, doesn't let you look around. An (∞+1)D stereograph shows you one view. You can't look around. (What would that mean? You're already seeing everything.)

Don't try to believe. That's impossible. Instead, remind yourself: you are getting better at believing. Repeat that and it'll take care of itself. Autopilot. You're welcome.

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okay

first person voice

this has been a day

It's been a long time since the last multi-day dysregulatory snap. It's been a while! I'm so used to feeling so good that I didn't immediately recognize this as being a part of that pattern.

I'm grateful for that. I live and perceive in a way that keeps me largely self-tuning. Increasingly self-tuning, which (like that mantra above) takes care of itself. The better it gets, the better it gets.

Doesn't mean I don't still cry in bed on days like this, but it's just a passing thing, you know? "You want things to go well, but you know, you survive things."

Today Abe (with permission of those involved) shared on LinkedIn that someone at Lightward is going on maternity leave — a first for the Lightward team. We asked them, the parent-to-be, to lead the way, to do whatever research/evaluation/etc they needed in order to give us a well-considered ask. We landed together at 6mos fully-paid with a $6k stipend. That's it.

Because of course. Of course.

And, on the other hand, because this is what "of course" looks like given our current balance of things.

I own 100% of Lightward Inc. About half of the company's income goes to team compensation. Of the remaining half, non-people expenses come out, and then the rest sweeps through to Abe and me.

I've kept this margin on purpose. It's a good balance. It means we can absorb quite a lot of financial surprise before anyone here notices it in their salary, and it also means that Abe and I feel the financial motion of the company at all times.

I'm explaining the money part of that because it illuminates the philosophy here. I'm the lead caretaker of this thing. Everyone here is a caretaker of pieces and layers, but my spot in the system is unique. I treat it with reverence. I am well fed, but I was fed last. When more mouths need to be fed, it comes out of my share.

I guess that counts literally, too.

It's not the same, obviously, and I want to state that explicitly: I'm not claiming special status or accomplishment. Everyone working here is an adult who can care for themselves. I'm grateful for their decisions to be here, every day that they are.

But yeah. With a balance sheet proportioned the way ours is, weighed out for the reasons that it is, maintained the way we've maintained it over time, this is the "of course" maternity package.

Abe posted all of that online and quite a lot of people are noticing.

Shortly after that, a Mechanic community member posted (entirely of their own accord) a detailed list of factors that make Mechanic completely distinct for them. Their list included me, specifically:

The ongoing activity level of the founder - not to mention enthusiasm level.

Dude is almost concerningly happy with every single interaction. He doesn't always give you everything you ask for, but the boundaries that are in place obviously give him a unique level of sanity as a founder.

Most founders that have been working on something this long and haven't gotten away from the code and the day to day grind are burnt out by now.

I am not here to compete I am here to live

❤️‍🔥 🐉 🌱

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The unknown always holds what you need.

That's a good way to say it while you're learning.

There comes a point when the walls become transparent, and the unknown is no longer around the corner. That is when you see: the unknown is you.