Consciousness, Storytelling, and Repos
Introducing Macrowhisper and a few updates, keeping a repository for Keyboard Maestro macros, task management philosophy, insights for writers, and deep stuff about consciousness and meaning of life
Hey guys, here’s some stuff that stood out from my previous week:
On Personal Growth
Last week I read this decade-old article that really got me thinking about things like consciousness, truth, and what makes life meaningful. It wasn’t an easy read—and in some parts, I didn’t agree with the author at all—but I still thought it was pretty good. There’s so much information everywhere these days, but not many people actually stop to think deeply or question things for themselves. This article pushed me to look past the obvious and reflect a bit more.
Here’s a direct quote that has been in my mind:
Nothing clears fog like a deathbed, which is why it’s then that people can always see with more clarity what they should have done differently—I wish I had spent less time working; I wish I had communicated with my wife more; I wish I had traveled more; etc. The goal of personal growth should be to gain that deathbed clarity while your life is still happening so you can actually do something about it.
And another quote that offers insight about why we should continue to question things.
Certainty is primitive, leads to “us versus them” tribalism, and starts wars. We should be united in our uncertainty, not divided over fabricated certainty.
On Writing
Last week I listened to an episode of the How I Write podcast with Richard Powers, and there were several ideas that stood out. He talked about how character drives drama and how the heart of storytelling often lies in those choices we make as writers—shaping characters, deciding when to add tension, and using language with intention. The episode was packed with lots of great tips on writing (specifically creative writing), from developing characters to creating a sense of suspense that keeps readers engaged.
Something that I found super interesting was his illustration about how, when we write, we’re a lot like large language models—always predicting what comes next, setting up expectations for the reader, and sometimes choosing to interrupt those patterns. I just thought this was a brilliant metaphor. If you know how LLM’s work, it’s about guessing the next word (well, next token), but when writing we get to choose when to go with what’s expected and when to break the pattern. This isn’t just a tip for writers, actually; it’s a reminder for anyone creative. You can argue that nothing is truly original anymore, but still, surprising things can happen when we break away from the formulas.
On Superwhisper
A few months ago, together with the Alfred workflow I shared some Keyboard Maestro macros for Superwhisper. Unfortunately they broke after the app update that changed the behavior in which recordings were saved. I’ve still had a working solution just for myself all this time, but people kept asking me for an update on this. I know that native automation support is coming in the future, but with Superwhisper’s Windows version coming out, and with pending fixes for the iOS version, I just have no idea when will that be. So I finally decided to spend some time trying to put something together that others could easily use.
In the middle of March, while exploring LeaderKey and improving my Karabiner setup, I used BTT to create a webview overlay, to help me remember some of my keyboard mappings. To make it all work I had to come up with a way to monitor a Karabiner’s config file and trigger a keyboard maestro macro. I was close to getting Hazel to make it work, but Claude 3.7 recommended a free utility called FSWatch and indeed, it worked perfectly.
After posting the video on LeaderKey and Karabiner, I thought I could use FSWatch to make the Superwhisper KM macros work. Setting everything up and writing the documentation took several intense days. I entered that state of creative obsession in which even sleeping at night was hard because my head was flowing with ideas and possible solutions to a ton of bugs I met along the way. Anyhow, I finished it all and published it within the week.
I still had to fix a couple of small bugs after sharing “Macrowhisper”—right now we’re on version 1.0.2.
I was planning on keeping news about updates only on the newsletter and YT channel, but I don't feel good about pushing people to sign up here just for that, so instead I've started a Github repo. I'm not sure if at some point I can come up with an auto-update mechanism for this, but updates should at least be easier to track over there. I'm not planning any major new features, by the way; this whole macro group is meant more as a starting point for anyone who wants to build or customize automations for Superwhisper. If you run into any bugs or issues, just let me know.
By the way, I still have some more macros that I use with Superwhisper. I don’t plan to incorporate this into Macrowhisper, but if I have time to put them together in a user-friendly format I may share them in some other way in the future. Currently most of them run some Python scripts that AI (through Superwhisper) wrote for me. Here’s a screenshot if you want some ideas.
On Keyboard Maestro
By the way, just a few days ago, I discovered this Keyboard Maestro macro group that allows you to keep a repository of all your Keyboard Maestro macros. I already have the auto-backup of Keyboard Maestro enabled, and there’s many useful export options within KM itself, but I think this is great as a quick way of having version control. If you use Keyboard Maestro and need something like this, you may want to check it out. Even though it’s a few years old, I didn’t encounter any issues setting it up or using it. Oh, and you can also use it to import some of my own Keyboard Maestro macros.
On Task Management
I’ve been using Craft for a few weeks now. Setting up a system has been challenging with my limited free time, but the app continues to impress. It’s what I used to create the docs for Macrowhisper. I’m working on moving my task management from Things 3 to Craft. Craft isn’t as robust for this, but my needs are minimal—just a handful of very time-consuming things on my plate.
Thinking about the switch, I revisited this article about task management in Things 3. It helped me a lot when I started with the app and stands out for its practical take on GTD concepts. Even as I am considering moving away from Things, the insights remain super useful.
On Conversions
I usually handle file conversions with macOS’s built-in utility and Dropover. For video and image conversions, I rely on either FFMPEG or Clop. Last week, though, I discovered a new web app that supports a ton of file types and does all the conversions locally. It probably won’t be my go-to, but I’ve bookmarked it because it seems super useful for those rare cases when I need to convert something my usual tools can’t handle.
On Cinema
The Actor (2025). A bit of a thriller, a bit of a drama, and a bit of surrealism. Synopsis: Paul Cole finds himself stranded in a mysterious small town with no memory of who he is or how he got here. As bits and pieces of his past slowly emerge, he attempts to find his way home, but time is slippery, appearances can’t be trusted, and it’s unclear which of his identities is real.
The Assessment (2025). A futuristic kind of film that still feels like it’s trying to explore some questions that we can all relate to, even at the present time. I thought it was a very good portrayal of some aspects of the human condition and how we behave, how we think, how we express love, or how we understand love. Super interesting. Synopsis: In a climate change-ravaged world, a utopian society optimizes life, including parenthood assessments. A successful couple faces scrutiny by an evaluator over seven days to determine their fitness for childbearing.
Adolescence (2025). A bit of a heavy TV show, but so good in every aspect. Quite a masterpiece, actually. Synopsis: When a 13-year-old is accused of the murder of a classmate, his family, therapist and the detective in charge are all left asking: what really happened?
Handling the Undead (2024). I was hesitant about this one because of the mixed reviews, but I loved this approach to a zombie film. It felt very meditative and quiet. I loved the overall atmosphere and simple storytelling. Synopsis: On a hot summer day in Oslo, the dead mysteriously awaken, and three families are thrown into chaos when their deceased loved ones come back to them. Who are they, and what do they want?
If you liked this you may also enjoy some content I have up on my YT Channel! I don’t hang around social media a lot, but when I do I’m on IG or Twitter. You can also check out some of my online classes, listen to my music, or in case you haven’t already, subscribe to my weekly newsletter. Thank you for reading!