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My Body Is a Broken Temple

2016-08-30 · letter vlog · John · 3:24 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Personal life (also: Books & writing, Projects) · mode: Personal essay · tags: self promotion

Having broken a rib celebrating his 39th birthday, John reflects that treating his body as the mind's adversary was a flawed idea because there is no line between body and mind, and announces he is clearing his schedule to finish a new book, with only three public appearances in ten months.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Greeting: a two-part video, like the ninth rib on his right side

00:00:05 — Part one: John broke a rib celebrating his 39th birthday

  • ★★★ John says he broke his rib celebrating his 39th birthday last week (August 2016); sitting, standing, laughing and breathing are now painful. — 00:00:06
  • ★ John says it is a particularly inconvenient time for a broken rib, partly for reasons that will become clear in a couple of weeks. — 00:00:23

00:00:29 — Midlife reflection: mistreating his body when young, the body as the mind's adversary, no line between body and mind

  • ★★ John says the rib coincided with a midlife reflection: he has long been middle-aged, since double his age is a respectable lifespan, but only recently began to feel it. (playful) — 00:00:29
  • ★★ John says until recently he felt better than 10 or 20 years ago, largely because when younger he treated his body terribly, smoking and refusing to exercise. — 00:00:46
  • ★★ John recalls that at boarding school, at about 16, he ate only nacho cheese Doritos and drank only Mountain Dew for eight days straight. (playful, hedged) — 00:00:58
  • ★★★ John says he once saw his body as a burden required for consciousness, separate from and even opposite to the mind, an adversary to be placated. — 00:01:13
  • ★★★ John calls that view seductive but flawed, because there is no distinct line between body and mind. — 00:01:38
  • ★★ John says that after he began treating his body better, quitting smoking in 2002 and running a mile in 2005, he got better at reading and writing. — 00:01:44
  • ★★ John says treating his body less terribly in his 30s let him feel young for a decade, but now he is old and can't inhale without pain. (playful) — 00:01:56
  • ★ John offers as the only moral that your body is a temple: don't fill it with Doritos, nor with beer on your 39th birthday, or you will hurt yourself. (playful, hedged) — 00:02:08

00:02:17 — Part two: five years since TFIOS without a new book; clearing his schedule to finish a draft

  • ★★ John says in the almost five years since The Fault in Our Stars, Crash Course, The Art Assignment, Alice and some movies happened, but he has not published a new book. — 00:02:20 · The Fault in Our Stars, Crash Course, The Art Assignment, Alice Green
  • ★★★ John has decided to clear his schedule for several months to finish a draft of his new story, so over about ten months he will make only three public appearances. (hedged) — 00:02:34

00:02:45 — Three public appearances: NerdCon: Stories, NerdCon: Nerdfighteria and a Cleveland speech; sign-off

  • ★★ John will be at NerdCon: Stories in Minneapolis on October 14-15, speaking on panels, recording a live podcast and talking about mental illness and creativity. — 00:02:45 · Dear Hank and John, mental disorder
  • ★★ John will be at NerdCon: Nerdfighteria in Boston on February 25-26, 2017, which excites him. — 00:02:55
  • ★★ John will give a speech in Cleveland on May 3, 2017, on a topic he doesn't know yet because it seems very far away. (playful) — 00:03:01
  • ★★ John points to ticket info in the description, apologizes for not traveling more because he wants to finish the draft, and hopes to see many viewers in Minneapolis, Boston or Cleveland. (hedged) — 00:03:08 · doobly-doo

Humor (significant)

  • John opens his two-part video about his broken rib — 00:00:00

    “Today's video is like the ninth rib on my right side.”

  • Eight days of only Doritos and Mountain Dew at boarding school — 00:01:07

    “It was like a demented exploration of how poorly one can treat one's body before developing scurvy.”

  • After a decade of feeling young, John's rib breaks — 00:02:04

    “I am old and can no longer inhale without pain”

  • The moral of his rib story: your body is a temple, don't fill it with Doritos — 00:02:13

    “do not fill it with beer on your 39th birthday, or else you will hurt yourself.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: John's novel in progress (2016) · mind-body dualism

Also: People: Alice Green

Projects: Crash Course · Dear Hank and John · NerdCon: Nerdfighteria · NerdCon: Stories · The Art Assignment

Works: The Fault in Our Stars

Terms: DFTBA (“DFTNYBR”) · doobly-doo

Concepts: mental disorder · Middle age

Places: Boston · Cleveland · Minneapolis

Products: Doritos · Mountain Dew

Also centred on John's novel in progress (2016): Failing to Follow Up The Fault in Our Stars

Also centred on mind-body dualism: Free Will Fetish · 1,100 Days: A Mental and Physical Health Update

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