Where I Drifted This Week

Chaos & Clarity — Issue #1

I didn’t plan to launch anything. I just needed to stop drifting.

But then life did what it usually does: it got loud, fast, and blurry.
And somewhere in the middle of it, I drifted.

Not a dramatic drift.
Not a “sell everything and move to the woods” drift.
Just the subtle kind — the kind that sneaks in through:

• too many tabs

• too many notifications

• too many people needing something

• and not enough oxygen between tasks

The kind of drift you only notice when your brain goes,
“Why am I doing this instead of the thing I actually need to be doing?”

Classic me.

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The Moment It Hit Me

At one point this week, I realized I wasn’t making decisions — I was reacting.
Ping → respond.
Email → fix.
Problem → solve.
New problem → solve again.
Kid question → half-answer.
Slack message → oh look, another thing I didn’t plan for.

It wasn’t burnout.
It wasn’t crisis.
It was just… drift.

This creeping sense of being pulled off-heading by a thousand tiny forces I didn’t register until the end of the day, when my head finally said, “Enough.”

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So I Made One Small Correction

Not a life overhaul.
Not a new system.
Not a 27-step “optimize your life” routine.

I closed every single window on my screen except the one thing that actually mattered.

That’s it.
Ten seconds.
One correction.

And I swear my nervous system exhaled like it had been holding its breath since Monday.

It didn’t fix everything.
But it fixed enough for the day.

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This Is Why I’m Writing

I’m not writing because I have it all figured out.
I’m writing because I don’t — and because the space between chaos and clarity is where my actual life happens.

Some weeks I’m laser-focused.
Other weeks I’m basically a human browser with 72 tabs open, 14 of which are frozen, and one playing music I can’t locate.

If you get it, you get it.

This newsletter is where I’ll capture:

• where I drifted

• what I corrected

• what actually helped

• and what clarity looked like on the other side

One human trying to slow down long enough to notice the course corrections that actually matter.

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This Week’s Clarity

Clarity doesn’t show up with trumpets.
It doesn’t arrive fully formed.
It doesn’t require a retreat, a perfect routine, or a new app (though I’m not above trying all of those).

Most of the time, clarity is just the moment you stop, breathe, and ask:

“What’s the smallest correction I can make right now?”

That’s what I’m chasing.
That’s what I’m practicing.
And that’s what Chaos & Clarity will be — a snapshot of the little adjustments that keep the bigger picture sane.

Thanks for reading the first one.
Let’s drift a little less this week.

— Jack

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If this resonated and you want to follow along as I keep figuring this out in real time, you can subscribe to Chaos & Clarity here:

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