Phenomenology

Based on what I know about you — the seven years of diaries, the traffic cone archive, the way you gravitate toward flow states over achievement, the relational introspection — here are some philosophies I think would genuinely resonate with you. V A few notes on why these specifically: Phenomenology feels like the most natural match — your diary practice is already phenomenological in spirit. You're not just recording what happened, you're investigating what it was like to be you while it happened. Merleau-Ponty in particular writes beautifully about embodied experience and how meaning is felt before it's articulated. Taoism (especially Zhuangzi, not just Laozi) — I'd specifically point you toward the Zhuangzi, because it's strange and funny and full of parables about cooks and butterflies and useless trees. It takes the traffic cone archive seriously, in spirit. Process philosophy might be the most intellectually useful one for you right now — it dissolves the anxiety of trying to pi

saved by

• Yunjie Zhang