Seth’s The Practice: “4. Askida Ekmek”

A super short chapter, in which Godin re-contextualizes a common phrase: “on the hook”

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Chapter 4: Askida Ekmet

Notes

“Askida ekmek” refers to an old (going back to maybe the 13th century?) Turkish practice, in which a person pays for two loaves of bread (ekmek) but only takes one; the other is put on a hook for someone in need. The practice both helps the hungry person and builds community.

Creating art is “putting yourself on the hook”: generously sharing “insight and love and magic.” And it’s worth more the more widely it spreads.

Thoughts

This is typical Seth¹: find a fairly common phrase and recontextualize it, providing a different meaning.

Here, the phrase is “on the hook”—which generally carries a negative connotation related to debt or to being in a tough spot. But recontextualized, from the perspective of this traditional, Turkish practice, being on the hook becomes generous. (I’ve heard him do something similar with the term “hack,” and I see in the Table of Contents that he’ll bring that up in this book, too.)

Here he avoids the cliché pay it forward—perfectly serviceable, but (as is true of clichés) potentially dead.

It’s also interesting that it’s not the art that’s on the hook in his metaphor; it’s the artist putting herself on the hook.

I am reminded that this book is not simply about doing the work, but about shipping the work. That makes the shift in connotation—from being in trouble to nourishing and building community—much more significant.

Generosity as an antidote to fear.

This series is meant to capture my thoughts as I work through Seth Godin’s The Practice. It’s a book with over 200 (very short) chapters, which I hope to work through and, I further hope, to implement over time.

If you’re interested in more of Godin’s ideas, or my thoughts about them, you can check out this collection of posts. Note that if you’re more interested in the former, you should probably get Godin’s book and read it yourself; my notes will be both incomplete and idiosyncratic, and my thoughts will relate to my own experience.

But if my thoughts resonate with you, or if you think I’m just silly, I welcome your comments.

1. I’ve felt weird calling him “Godin” in previous posts—a leftover from academic conventions, I guess. But he refers to himself as Seth, and interviewers do the same; it’s another way that we feel connected to him. So I’m going to switch.