all posts tagged 'suffering'

Conan Oā€™Brien Doesnā€™t Matter


šŸ”— a linked post to nytimes.com » — originally shared here on

I'm a sucker for profiles on people like Conan O'Brien. The way his mind works is endlessly fascinating to me.

What intrigued me about this particular New York Times piece is his observations on agony:

Many comedians see a connection between misery and their ability to be funny, often citing humor as a survival mechanism. But after considerable therapy and reflection, Oā€™Brien has changed his mind. Heā€™s come to believe that not only are they not related at all, but so much stress didnā€™t help him be funnier. With new eyes, he has set about creating a new story. ā€œLooking back now, I think some of my best ideas came from just goofing around,ā€ he told me.

He points to possibly his most celebrated writing credit: the monorail episode of ā€œThe Simpsons,ā€ which many television critics agree is the greatest in the history of the show. He describes its origins in an Olympic Boulevard billboard for a monorail, leading him to write on a legal pad: ā€œSpringfield gets a monorail. Homer likes the idea. Marge not so sure. First act: ā€˜Music Man.ā€™ Second: Irwin Allen parody.ā€

He brought this pitch to the ā€œSimpsonsā€ office, writers liked it and started adding jokes. ā€œIt was like falling off a log,ā€ he said. No agonizing at all.

I have a ton of quotes on the main page of this site1, and one of them is from Eckhart Tolle: "Suffering is necessary until you realize it is unnecessary."

The more I agonize over my own life choices and what's next for me, the more I realize that I just need to let go. It's a constant push/pull; you have to be both unabashedly dogged in your pursuit of what you want, but you also need to be chill about it.


  1. Conan is in this rotation twice now, and one of those quotes came from this article, so thanks, Conan! 

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