Stop thinking about your potential
You are not The Project
What follows is a transcript of an interview with The Moon conducted November 5, 2025.
ISA: Moon, I feel like there is a big disconnect between who I think I can be in this world and who I fear deep down I actually am—someone wimpy and afraid and lazy. It fills me with shame.
MOON: Imagination is an easy muscle to flex. Imaginary you does not have a body that is easily tired or frigthened. Imaginary you does not have to do daily calculus--What do I need? What do other people need? What is mine to hold? What is best left to others? How will I create a future? To what extent should I even bother? The person you think you are is not real, and let me guess--this imaginary person has unlimited time, energy, and courage. And you unfortunatley do not. And this makes you think you are not living up to your potential.
ISA: Yes.
MOON: Stop thinking so much about your potential. You humans lately are quite boring in this obsession. Look for the potential around you--things that need care and fixing and are probably obvious and close at hand and complex enough and too numerous to count. The needs are many and right in front of you. Reserve your imagination and creativity for this kind of potential, not for daydreaming about who you could be or crafting elaborate plans to become that person. Fixating on yourself turns you into a project. You will not travel far and the footprints you leave will be small. You are not The Project, but you will feel your place in The Project over time. The Project is flowing through generations and lifetimes, and does not require anyone’s perfection to unlock their part in it. You will change naturally once you step into its river and respond to what it reveals to you. The shame you feel will diminish when you turn away from the ideal your mind has conjured, and instead, turn to face the ecosystem of needs and hungers and dangers and joys that are in front of you.
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