The Stars That Were Already There is a cozy psychology essay about awe, presence, and what researchers call the small self, narrated for listening. Four friends drive out of the city to watch a meteor shower, arrive too early for the peak, and never make it back for the good part. What they find instead becomes the actual subject of the essay. Draws on Piff et al.'s 2015 research on awe and prosocial behavior, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Topics covered: awe psychology, the small self, meteor showers, presence, mindfulness, night sky, friendship. Listen or read the full essay at syedquests.substack.com.

References

• Piff, P. K., Dietze, P., Feinberg, M., Stancato, D. M., & Keltner, D. (2015). Awe, the small self, and prosocial behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 108(6), 883–899. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000018
• Bergland, C. (2018, September 29). Wow! One key unlocks the amazing power of awe. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-athletes-way/201809/wow-one-key-unlocks-the-amazing-power-of-awe

It started with a Reddit thread. Someone was asking how to start a podcast, and I found myself typing out advice I've given a dozen times: it's not about the mic, it's about you, and there's no shortcut around sounding bad for a while. But writing that reply made me realize I'd been avoiding my own version of episode one — stalling on my own project over a logo, a color scheme, a vague sense that it wasn't "ready" yet.

This episode covers:

• Why the fear of a bad first attempt keeps people from starting anything creative
• The research on growth mindset and creative motivation — and why it matters more than talent
• Survivorship bias in "overnight success" stories
• The literal trick I used to get unstuck: tilting my screen down so I couldn't see or second-guess what I was writing
• Why perfectionism about the "frame" (branding, aesthetics, setup) is often just a more sophisticated way of avoiding the actual work

If you're sitting on an unstarted project, an unrecorded episode one, or an unfinished first draft, this one's for you.

Source:

• Han, H., & Park, D. (2025). Unlocking creative potential: The role of creative mindset on creativity.Thinking Skills and Creativity, 58, 101953. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101953

My brother sent a photo of a watch he bought me — and it sent me straight to a drawer where my late grandfather's watch had been sitting, unwound, for years. Turns out, this is a textbook case of "possible selves" — the psychological gap between who we are and who we're afraid we haven't earned the right to become. This episode is about inheritance, imposter syndrome, and why the feeling of being "ready" never actually comes first.

What have you been waiting to feel ready for?