Not sarcastically. Not impatiently. Just as a promise to yourself that you’ll stay in the room with the mystery for five more minutes.
Next time you’re stuck — on a decision, a sentence, a conversation — try saying out loud: I go figure. igo figure
Put down your phone. Ignore the timer. Make one small, imperfect move. Not sarcastically
No dice. No luck. No take-backs.
A figure is a number or a shape. But to figure is to slowly, clumsily, patiently make sense of something. We’ve turned figuring into “solve for X.” Go reminded me that real figuring looks more like: place stone, lose stone, pause, breathe, place again. Your turn You don’t have to play Go to borrow this. Next time you’re stuck — on a decision,
You can attack every stone your opponent places and still lose. Sometimes the winning move is to leave them alone and build your own quiet corner. I think about this now in meetings, in relationships, in creative work.
That’s it.