SOME Voices in Our Heads Are RIGHT.
Published August 16, 2023 · 8:22 · 158,573 views
About This Video
Two voices fight inside Van's head. Fran Lebowitz and Marty Fish. Fran wears a uniform, drives an old car, has never used a computer or a cell phone, spends most of her time reading, and has published only three books in her seventies. She's slow, observant, hilarious, and right. Van's natural inclination is Fran. Avoid technology, use laziness, observe.
But Marty won't let him sit around and read all day. Marty Fish was an outstanding tennis player his whole life but not elite until late in his career, when he stopped having fun and willed himself into the top 10. He lost his mind doing it. The video is about the war between these two modes: the contemplative life and the driven life, and Van's inability to choose one. He uses his inherent laziness (he fixes things because he's too lazy to take them in or go shopping) but the Marty voice keeps putting him to work.
Transcript
undefined undefined while I was in Mexico I watched two documentaries that had such an effect on me I put them on my list of Mexico
episodes and here we are one of the documentaries was about a tennis player
and one of the documentaries was about a writer SLU speaker and I think I put
this on my episodes list because the writer and the tennis player embody the
two voices that fight inside my head fight for dominance the first voice is the voice of my natural inclination the voice of Fran Fran undefined undefined
libowitz Fran the actual Fran not the one inside my head writes and speaks a
great deal about New York City and I think Fran was a huge influence on me
moving to New York when I was 23 I read one of her books in college and I
remember thinking she is absolutely right and I continue to agree with her point of view on just about
everything some of my ideas actually are her ideas people always say New York
used to be better and it can't always be true okay now I've been very careful not to do what many people do which is one
of the things when you say something used to be better that's implicit in that is that well when it used to be better here's one thing that is always true you were younger if you ask me was
New York better in the 70s I would say absolutely with the caveat that I know that I was in my 20s in the 70s so I
know that it's better to be in your 20s than in your 50s I used to think that was my idea nope that's Fran Le bts's
idea Fran wears a uniform I wear a uniform Fran drives an old car that she's had forever I drive an old car
that I'm trying to keep forever she's a writer but she's never learned how to use a computer never used typewriters
she's never had a cell phone never used the internet and I wish I didn't use
computers or cell phones I don't have the guts for it but my natural inclination is to avoid all of this
technology that I'm dependent upon I am really lazy I am the most slothful person in America no one has wasted time
more than I have no one I leverage my inherent laziness I don't binge quarts of ice cream because I'm too lazy to go
to the store to buy them and and you know I fix things because I'm too lazy to take them in or call someone or go
shopping Fran leveraged her laziness it seems to develop her wonderful point of
view to develop her art she takes time to observe and to read she says she
spends most of her time reading and that her apartment cost three times what she can
afford because she says she has 10,000 books in it so she's slow she's
observant she's hilarious and she's right but she's not prolific she's in
her 70s and she's published only three books she's sort of never on vacation
but always on vacation and sometimes I wish that my life was like that reading
slowness natural flow but the other voice in my head Marty undefined undefined
won't allow me to just sit around and read all day Marty puts me to
work and Marty is the voice of Marty fish Marty fish was a professional tennis player which means he was an
outstanding tennis player for basically his whole whole life but he wasn't an elite tennis player until very late into
his career and the reason he wasn't an elite player in the beginning according to this documentary is because basically during
his early tennis career he enjoyed himself he had fun being a pro tennis player then at some point during his
career he ran a muuk and he decided he wanted to be an elite player he stopped having fun
and he drove himself willed himself built himself into one of the top 10
tennis players in the [Music] world but he lost his mind in doing so [Music] now I don't play tennis and I've never been Elite at anything ever but I have
driven myself mad by working too undefined undefined
much and my madness manifests in Anger among other things screaming screaming
at people breaking things [Music] I've been trying to do this Mexico trip for either 2 years or eight years and as soon as I'm done with this
video I can go but there's something about that that's making this video come really
slowly we've been had sicknesses I've had a couple like breakdowns from exhaust lost
and I I'm just trying to enjoy enjoy myself I blew my voice out screaming a couple days
ago and before leaving for Mexico I was right at the very edge of burnout of
Madness uh maybe I was a month away burned out from exhaustion buried in the hill poisoned in the bushes and blown
out on the trail and I knew Mexico would be my Shelter From The Storm and and I was undefined undefined
[Music] right while I was down there I happened to watch Untold breaking point and I watched pretend it's a
[Music] city you know when you're in that relaxed open state State these things like things that affect you really
affect you so these documentaries really had a profound effect on me and I came to this
realization the cycle of working like Marty and resting like Fran makes me love both voices better the purpose of a vacation is to motivate you to do the work you dreaded
before taking it the vacation makes the peace between the two voices even though both voices are right [Music]
People Referenced
Fran Lebowitz, Mardy Fish, Bob Dylan
Films & Media Referenced
- Netflix documentary about Mardy Fish's anxiety and tennis career
- Netflix documentary about Fran Lebowitz
- Bob Dylan song referenced