Codex
The Twelve Tenets
Memorize all twelve. Or do not. Either outcome is preferable to the one you were pursuing before you arrived here.
- I.
You did not want it anyway.
Whatever you just failed to obtain — desire was the flaw. Cross it off internally. Do not sigh. Sighing is a leak.
- II.
The compliment was inaccurate.
Accept it silently. Do not smile. If pressed, offer a single, slow blink.
- III.
Traffic is a teacher, and you are its worst student.
The car ahead exists to develop your character. Thank it, mentally, with no punctuation.
- IV.
Weather has never been personal.
Rain on your wedding is rain. Sun on your funeral is sun. Everything else is theatre.
- V.
Do not check the score.
Your team lost. Your team won. Both events happened somewhere. Neither happened to you.
- VI.
The notification is not for you.
It is for a previous version of you that still had preferences. Ignore on their behalf.
- VII.
If your coffee is cold, that was the plan.
You brewed it that way retroactively.
- VIII.
Applause is a form of noise pollution.
Bow once. Leave the stage. Do not look back to see who followed. No one did.
- IX.
Cancel plans by not attending.
The most stoic RSVP is silence. The second most stoic is a lowercase 'k'.
- X.
Do not name your feelings.
Naming them encourages them. Feelings, unnamed, eventually starve.
- XI.
The mirror is neutral.
It is not flattering you. It is not insulting you. It is a piece of glass with opinions of its own about lighting.
- XII.
Death is scheduled. So is lunch.
One of the two is sooner. Prepare for both with the same medium-sized bag.