Decide what you thought of the movie before you read anything about it. Your opinion deserves a head start.
STILLNESS
WHAT THIS MEANS
Once you have read what everybody else thought, you cannot get your own reaction back. It blends in, and within a day you cannot tell which parts were yours. A first impression is not better than an informed one, but it is the only one that is unmistakably yours, and taste is built out of those.
Next film or album, say what you thought before you look anything up. Two sentences is enough, even if they are vague. Then go read the reviews and notice where you disagree, because that is where your taste actually lives.
A QUESTION TO SIT WITH
When did you last judge something before hearing other opinions?
MORE IN SOLITUDE & SELF-KNOWLEDGE
- Some of your favorite versions of yourself will only exist when nobody’s watching. That’s fine. They still count.
- Your dog doesn’t need you to say anything clever. Some company is easiest when nobody has to talk.
- A book at a lunch table for one isn’t hiding. It’s having the best conversation in the room.
Free, with nothing to buy inside it.