…There are two kinds of quantities in the world. Stock is a static value: money in the bank or trees in the forest. Flow is a rate of change: fifteen dollars an hour or three thousand toothpicks a day. Easy. Too easy.
But I actually think stock and flow is a useful metaphor for media in the 21st century. Here’s what I mean:
Flow is the feed. It’s the posts and the tweets. It’s the stream of daily and sub-daily updates that reminds people you exist.
Stock is the durable stuff. It’s the content you produce that’s as interesting in two months (or two years) as it is today. It’s what people discover via search. It’s what spreads slowly but surely, building fans over time. …
“The so-called black sheep of the family are, in fact, hunters born of paths of liberation into the family tree.
The members of a tree who do not conform to the norms or traditions of the family system, those who since childhood have constantly sought to revolutionise beliefs, going against the paths marked by family traditions, those criticised, judged and even rejected, these are usually called to free the tree of repetitive stories that frustrate entire generations.
The black sheep, those who do not adapt, those who cry rebelliously, play a basic role within each family system, they repair, pick up and create new and unfold branches in the family tree.”
“When people talk, listen completely. Don’t be thinking what you’re going to say. Most people never listen. Nor do they observe. You should be able to go into a room and when you come out, know everything that you saw there and not only that. If that room gave you any feeling you should know exactly what it was that gave you that feeling. Try that for practice.”
– Ernest Hemingway
What an absolute gift to have Maria Popova speak at CreativeMornings/NYC yesterday. We had 500 people in attendance and 945 people tune in on livestream. What a gift!
“When you go out into the woods and you look at trees, you see all these different trees. And some of them are bent, and some of them are straight, and some of them are evergreens, and some of them are whatever. And you look at the tree and you allow it. You see why it is the way it is. You sort of understand that it didn’t get enough light, and so it turned that way. And you don’t get all emotional about it. You just allow it. You appreciate the tree. The minute you get near humans, you lose all that. And you are constantly saying, ‘You’re too this, or I’m too this.’ That judging mind comes in. And so I practice turning people into trees. Which means appreciating them just the way they are.”
– Ram Dass
“The body seems to feel beauty when exposed to it as it feels the campfire or sunshine, entering not by the eyes alone, but equally through all one’s flesh like radiant heat.”
– John Muir
My birthday and the new year coincide which always results in a reflection tornado. Here goes:
MY 2023 INTENTIONS:
– More firsts!
– Embrace softness.
– Be open to love.
– Believe in (my) magic.
– Dream bigger.
– Keep asking: “What if it was easy?”
– Listen to my inner whispers.
– More speaking up, setting boundaries, lovingly.
– Recognize openings and moments of ease.
– Pay attention to when I am happy. Repeat those moments and dial them up to 11!
– Notice when the universe is cheering me on.
– No assumptions. (Ask more questions.)
– Keep building things that make the world better in 100 years.
– Gently notice when I am not fully present. Redirect.
– When my body contracts and my heart wants to close, breathe, stay open, lean in with curiosity.
– Live with a sense of giving not taking: Regularly ask: Would I miss ____ if it was gone? What am I doing to help ____ exist and thrive?
– Don’t push the river. Don’t try to hold it back. Flow.
– Embrace and trust standing on collaborative shoulders.
– Seek out rooms filled with gentle strangers.
– Be brave. (Growth happens on the edge of discomfort.)
– Notice and celebrate what’s working.
– See beauty in everything.
– Never withhold love.
– Dance with the universe.
WHAT TO REMEMBER:
– Everything is alive.
– The universe is friendly.
– Time is an illusion.
– Energy is visible.
– Fear is absence of love.
– I am exactly where I need to be.
– We are put on earth to love.
– Clarity is your friend. Interpret mixed signals as a no.
– A belief is a thought you keep thinking. (You can change it.)
– Love, joy and peace are deep and pure states of being. (Notice them!)
– Another world is possible.
– We are here to transform, not win.
– It takes courage to be kind and have a positive outlook in life.
– Money is energy.
– Dreamers shift norm and possibility.
– My humanity is caught up with your humanity.
– Safety is the presence of connection.
– Vulnerability is a door to deeper connection.
– Everything is figureoutable.
– Love starts with me.
– Trust breeds magic.
– Our life is our way home.
Happy my (Jan 2) birthday to you. And happy 2023! Thank you for visiting this little internet garden of mine.
Bowie is a fascinating human. Thank you Steve for the recommending I let this movie-documentary-or-whatever-one-should-call-it wash over me.
– CreativeMornings/NYC is starting out the new year with a bang: Maria Popova, force behind The Marginalian, formerly Brain Pickings is speaking on January 13th, at 8:30am ET, at the beautiful Ethical Society on the Upper West Side. Sign up for in person or the Livestream It’s free!
– “Love is a breeze. The work we are doing is that we are opening our sails.”
– ooh.directory: “A collection of 951 blogs about every topic.” Found this via Kai’s Dense Discovery newsletter. I am right there with him, I’m here for the renaissance of personal blogging!
– My friend Marcus recommended I watch Toni Erdmann. What an incredibly unusual and surprising movie. (Can’t remember the last time I watched a movie in German.)
– “What we’re seeing is the transition of power from institutions to individuals, but it’s going to be messy and it’s going to take at least a generation.” Don’t Rely on Credibility Stamps
Swissmiss is an online garden Tina Roth Eisenberg started in 2005 and has lovingly tended to ever since.
Besides swissmiss, Tina founded and runs TeuxDeux, CreativeMornings and her Brooklyn based co-working community Friends Work Here. (She also started Tattly which was recently adopted by BIC)
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