Description

Henrik Karlsson (Substack, X) is an independent writer focused on “writing a few good essays.” Two of them are among my most consistently recommended: on designing your life and finding your wife (or husband).

Henrik’s always written, but lived a winding path across software programming, music, poetry, biology, an art gallery, and other odd jobs. A few years ago, Henrik and Johanna picked up their life in Sweden to move to a small island farm in Denmark so they could homeschool their daughters. He now writes on Substack full-time and lives an unusual dual-life: one is remote and intimate; the other is connected and wide.

My favorite theme of his writing is self-cultivation: introspection and action, designing a life that fits you by experimenting, how to think and how to learn, embracing being wrong and seeing past your blindspots, and living in concert with past and future selves.

I also love his writing on relationships: how to find your life partner, why writing helps others see the inside of your head, how to use the internet as a serendipity machine for finding your people, teaching and parenting, and what its like to be around exceptional people who make your world bigger.

He also writes about education, self-organizing systems, AI, exceptional childhoods, and more. But I find the topic rarely matters—all of his writing expands me. What a gift. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did. May we all embrace the burden of freedom—freedom to iteratively unfold into a life we never could have imagined. If you enjoy the episode, please consider supporting Henrik’s writing, as he is fully reader-supported.

Timestamps

2:36: Self-Cultivation, Introspection, and Larry Gagosian
8:46: Writing to Think
16:05: Using Strong Opinions as an Opportunity to Learn (and Willingness to Look Stupid)
21:53: “Not That” vs. “Maybe this?”: Creativity and Formulating a Positive Possible Future
25:12: Self-Criticism and Kindness to Your Past Self and Ideas
28:44: Eclectic Interests (Poetry, Programming, Music) and a Winding Path to Becoming a Writer Pulling on the Threads of “Dead Ends”
33:10: Introspection, Agency and Being Sentenced to Freedom