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I’ve been using Bear to build my second brain. I am also a long time user of Day One. After a while, I feel that Bear and Day One seems to be trying to do the same thing in a different way. I started to explore the possibility of moving everything into The One.
Before Bear came along, i was using Evernote as my dumping ground. But for more important stuff that I need to synthesize and reflect, I’ve actually gravitated towards Day One. Then Bear came and showed me a different way of doing things. A more flexible way, so much so that I moved everything from Evernote to Bear. I’m curating a lot more on Bear, even changing the taxonomy used within Bear rather regularly. I believe as I mature towards knowledge organization, this will continue to happen for a while. Then I was reminded by this book why I’m doing this:
Learning, thinking and writing should not be about accumulating knowledge, but about becoming a different person with a different way of thinking. This is done by questioning one’s own thinking routines in the light of new experiences and facts.
Because of this, I started writing more, much more. I’ve even purchased a habit app to track this new habit I want to cultivate. I’ve even used writing as part of my thinking process to decide whether or not I should use Day One or Bear as my knowledge depository. My conclusion? Use both.
I need a safe place I can do my brain dump regardless of how I feel. I’ve been using Day One for so long and it has many memories. If i found a memorable photo, I log it there. If I’m sad, it’s there. If I’m happy, it’s also there. There is no filter to my thoughts in Day One.
However, I find I need more curation if any thinking needs to be referred to in some future date. This is where Bear comes in. I put published thoughts in it. I put summary of thoughts in it. It seems like it’s more of a library for myself, with proper referencing. The library will only be as good as the librarian, i.e. me.
I’d like to see myself mature to be a better librarian of my brain. For now, I will separate the need for brain fart in Day One, and the need to be a librarian in Bear. Only time will tell how good this is but I am already seeing benefits of writing and curating more often already. It helps me see my own thoughts more often, building the weak connections into stronger connections.
If this helps you too, let me know.
