When did you know you'd found The One?
A request for stories
Hello friends!
This is a brief newsletter this week, I’ll send something longer and more polished next week. But in the meantime, I have a request for you!
Would you be willing to send me a voice recording of you answering this question? Here it is:
During your housing search, when did you know that you’d found the right house?
If you have the time and inclination, please give me a phone call and leave a voicemail (if you have my number!) or just turn on the voice recorder and talk into your phone. You could send a voice memo or one of those voice recordings in iMessage. Feel free to email your file to me (willison dot wes at gmail dot com). Doesn’t need to be long! A sentence or two is great. A story with a beginning, middle, and end is even better! If you have a longer story to tell, please don’t go over 5 minutes.
I’d love to use your real voices in a coming podcast episode, but if you’d like to share your story anonymously or without your actual voice being on the podcast, just let me know.
Some dynamics to add to your answer:
What did it feel like to finally decide on a home? Was it a relief? Was it actually pretty stressful? Do you feel at peace with the decision or does it haunt you?
What were the factors you were considering consciously? What ultimately was the most important factor? Which factors do you think subconsciously most affected your decision?
In the title of this newsletter I use the phrase “The One.” Is that accurate to how you feel about your house? Is the concept of a “One” perfect house helpful or unhelpful to you?
What do you wish had been different in the process of choosing your home? What are you thankful for from that process that you wish could be a part of everyone’s home search?
I hope it’s clear that I’m not at all interested in the house itself. I want to hear the story of you and your decision! Even or especially if it was a confusing or complex process with an ambiguous result.
What Wes is into this week
I recently went bouldering outside at Haycock Mountain in Pennsylvania.1 If you’re not familiar with rock climbing, there are a few fascinating things about climbing outside vs. climbing indoors. First, the grading outside is WAY harder than indoor grades! Trying the “easiest” grade (V0) outside is about 2 grades harder than indoors — equivalent to a V2 indoors or so. I have no idea why this is. But it’s humbling! It feels kinda like a Spinal Tap problem (“why don’t you just make 10 louder/why don’t you just call an outdoor V0 a V2?”). The second and more interesting thing I’ve been reflecting on is just how old these rocks are, and how uncaring they are about humans’ ability to climb them. When I walk into an indoor climbing gym, I can get on any specific climbing problem and know that a fellow human put some intention into how the movements are supposed to fit together. A trail has been designed, so to speak. There’s no such logic when climbing outdoors. Instead, you’re following the trailblazing of other humans who have tried to fit themselves onto these rocks. The rocks themselves are what they are, on their own terms, and will continue to be what they are long after I am (or even all of us humans are) gone. Humbling in a different way.
My favorite summer recipe has been this Spicy Thai Pork Tenderloin Salad from NYT Cooking. I won’t say it’s an easy recipe, but I also wouldn’t say it’s difficult. Kinda in the middle. I’m a huge fan of grilling in the summer (getting the heat out of the house) and a huge fan of the NYT Cooking app year round. But this salad is absolutely delicious, and I make it as often as I can manage. The one problem with it is it’s hard to store leftovers — they get soggy.
I finished season 4 of The Wire this week, and have been mulling it over. Truly a high water mark of American art this century. I wrote a few months ago about places as characters in stories, and realized that Baltimore functions similarly in The Wire. But more than just a place generically, the show is specifically interested in distinct systems as characters — the drug trade, the police department, the Baltimore political apparatus, the public school system, the built environment of West Baltimore (all the “vacants” and alleys), etc. Lots to reflect on. Please send any wise insight or reflection that you’ve encountered!
Thanks for reading!
Wes
“Bouldering” means climbing a relatively short distance without any ropes or harnesses. You put pads on the ground to land on when you inevitably fail. Bouldering problems are often more intense and difficult than the longer roped climbing routes.