Arbitrary Stupid Goal

This summer, prompted by a recommendation from Austin Kleon, I read Arbritrary Stupid Goal by Tamara Shopsin.

The book opens with a story her father used to tell about the Wolfawitzes. Once, the Wolfawitzes had a European vacation planned, which fell through, so they arbitrarily decided to visit all the places with ‘wolf’ somehow connected to their place name. Wolfpoint, Wolfville, Wolf Lake, etc. Turned out to be the best vacation ever.

The moral, her father concluded, was that an arbitrary stupid goal was as good as any other kind of goal.

This concept captures perfectly an element of my own life philosophy that I never had the language for.

Thanks for the phrase/language Shopsins!

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