Newsletter #185 - Faith No More’s “Midlife Crisis” and the Observers Paradox

The real midlife crisis isn’t buying a Porsche - it’s realizing you’ve spent more than half your life creating work about your life instead of just living it. I’ve come to the unfortunate realization that I can’t experience anything anymore without thinking about how I’ll document it. The sunset isn’t beautiful - it’s “video content.” The conversation with my neighbor isn’t just pleasant - it’s “newsletter material.” Even my chickens laying eggs becomes “the best breakfast sandwich in the world.”

While I haven’t spent half my life documenting my own life, I do feel this inclination at a very cellular level. It’s hard for me to look at something (especially a landscape) and simply appreciate it in its (and my own) time and place. I always think “how would this look as a 36x24?”

Does this happen with other professions/hobbies? Or is it just related to photography? (I gotta think painters have this affliction, too).