Published 2026-07-30
tag(s): #failures #link-post #random-thoughts
I was reading Reasonably Rocky on Nico's blog (highly recommend). This line hit close to home:
I can't emotionally afford this kind of comfort.
My wife says I can only allow myself to enjoy things if there's a degree of suffering or
sacrifice attached to them.
Once I heard Conan O'Brien share on his podcast a similar feeling, and he linked it to being
raised catholic. The thought stuck with me for a few days. So eventually I texted my sister to
relay the theory.
The ensuing conversation was cathartic, filled with memories of our upbringing. And more-recent-than-we-would-like examples of that attitude in both of us.
Neither of us is religious (I think. I know I am not). But the philosophical influence of
catholicism in our way of life is undeniable.
There are good things about this. Probably.
And this one idea, which is truly terrible.