Paralyzing Parasites

Here are today’s Wonderful Words:

Whether it’s Amy Winehouse destroyed by drugs or Tiger Woods undone by his mistresses, the world grieves the many talented hosts destroyed by the parasites within them, the one that needed to be fed and fed but was never full. The cost is not just personal but shared by us all, in symphonies never written, feats never accomplished, in good never done, the potential of an ordinary day never fulfilled.

Discipline is Destiny, Ryan Holiday, page 32

Background

Ryan Holiday writes books teaching mortals like us how to apply Stoic philosophy to our lives. These lines come from his book on discipline, more specifically, a chapter titled Quit Being a Slave. The point of the chapter is that we can all choose to stop being slaves to our vices—cigarettes, drugs, cable news, food, women, whatever. And when we do, we can finally reach our potential.

What makes it wonderful?

Something about this passage sounds poetic when I read it. But that’s only the beginning.

I love Amy Winehouse’s rendition of Valerie. I think it’s better than the original. The raspy tones of her voice stir something deep inside me, and the beat of the music makes me want to dance.

I loved watching Tiger Woods walk the grounds of Augusta National, on the prowl for his prey as if he were living up to his name. Televised golf is made for naps, but when Tiger was on TV, napping felt more wrong than kissing your sister.

Now Amy Winehouse is dead. Gone way before her time. She’ll never sing another song.

And Tiger, he’s still alive, but he may as well be dead on the golf course.

Both of these greats exited stage left while the show was still in progress. Both were victims of their vices.

So this writing was wonderful because Holiday highlighted two people whose talents have touched me, and he made it painfully clear how I could have enjoyed them for longer. If only they hadn’t become slaves to whiskey and women.

And when you realize the cost of someone else’s bad decisions can affect you, you also realize the cost of your bad decisions can affect others.

This passage made me search my soul. Which of my bad habits are stealing joy from others? What am I doing today that could hurt my daughter, my wife, or even you, the person reading this email?

Any time an author can make you ask questions like that, he’s written something special.

Let's get technical

There’s a lot of magic in these sentences. At the center of the magic lies a metaphor. As we’ve discussed before, a metaphor is a comparison of two unrelated things—conveying the shared characteristic between them so you understand one by way of the other.

…the world grieves the many talented hosts destroyed by the parasites within them, the one that needed to be fed and fed but was never full.

Holiday was comparing vices to parasites. They’re not the same, but they share many similarities. They both deprive something of its vitality—its full potential. A tapeworm saps the energy from your body. Drugs suck the spirit from your soul.

And by understanding one, we’re better able to understand the other. The words have more meaning. They hit us that much harder.

Making your point pop through a metaphor is one of the most powerful ways to communicate with a reader. People ignore facts but they don’t forget stories. A metaphor is a mini version of a story. It’s something for people to remember and share with their friends.

Happy writing,

Joe