How To Discover Your Own Taste

This episode of The Ezra Klein’s Show on How To Discover Your Own Taste is absolutely wonderful. I will make sure my teenage kids will get to hear it too.

(Thank you Annie)

Our Society Lacks Nurture

How Language Shapes Thought

What an incredibly fascinating talk by Lera Boroditsky on how language structure shapes thought! Highly recommend!

The Opposite of Addiction

“The opposite of addiction is not sobriety, the opposite of addiction is connection.”

Heard here. And here’s the full TED talk by Johann Hari. (Thanks for the comment, Pablo)

Now is Better

The conversation starts at 16:47

We closed out our CreativeMornings/NYC year with a conversation between two design legends, Debbie Millman and Stefan Sagmeister. I love Stefan’s orientation towards optimism and urging us to think longterm. Jump to the start of their conversation by clicking here and skipping over all the intros. You can buy Now Is Better Book here.

Things That Aren’t Doing The Thing

“Preparing to do the thing isn’t doing the thing.

Scheduling time to do the thing isn’t doing the thing.

Making a to-do list for the thing isn’t doing the thing.

Telling people you’re going to do the thing isn’t doing the thing.

Messaging friends who may or may not be doing the thing isn’t doing the thing.

Writing a banger tweet about how you’re going to do the thing isn’t doing the thing.

Hating on yourself for not doing the thing isn’t doing the thing. Hating on other people who have done the thing isn’t doing the thing. Hating on the obstacles in the way of doing the thing isn’t doing the thing.

Fantasizing about all of the adoration you’ll receive once you do the thing isn’t doing the thing.

Reading about how to do the thing isn’t doing the thing. Reading about how other people did the thing isn’t doing the thing. Reading this essay isn’t doing the thing.

The only thing that is doing the thing is doing the thing.”

Things that aren’t doing the thing

If You Could Change One Thing About Your Body

Stay until the kids come on. They are so pure. Heart melts.

Tension

I feel this.

A Way of Life


(By Case Kenny)

Uproot War from Ourselves

“We often think of peace as the absence of war, that if powerful countries would reduce their weapon arsenals, we could have peace. But if we look deeply into the weapons, we see our own minds- our own prejudices, fears and ignorance. Even if we transport all the bombs to the moon, the roots of war and the roots of bombs are still there, in our hearts and minds, and sooner or later we will make new bombs. To work for peace is to uproot war from ourselves and from the hearts of men and women. To prepare for war, to give millions of men and women the opportunity to practice killing day and night in their hearts, is to plant millions of seeds of violence, anger, frustration, and fear that will be passed on for generations to come. ”
– Thich Nhat Hanh

Missing From Your Job Description

– Add energy to every conversation
– Ask why
– Find obsolete things on your task list and remove them
– Treat customers better than they expect
– Offer to help co-workers before they ask
– Feed the plants
– Leave things more organized than you found them
– Invent a moment of silliness
– Highlight good work from your peers
– Find other great employees to join the team
– Cut costs
– Help invent a new product or service that people really want
– Get smarter at your job through training or books
– Encourage curiosity
– Surface and highlight difficult decisions
– Figure out what didn’t work
– Organize the bookshelf
– Start a club
– Tell a joke at no one’s expense
– Smile a lot.

I stumbled upon this post again from Seth. Not new. But oh so good.

Courage


Thank you Propheta, what you share is a gift.

Brett Perry

I had a pretty exciting week and met a bunch of super interesting humans this past Monday at an exclusively curated salon in SF. One of the fine humans at this gathering was Brett Perry: Dancer, Farmer, Educator and Producer. During one of his shares he explained how he started getting to know himself better by intentionally living life more with his non-dominant side. (Think doing things with your non-dominant hand first) Love this notion. Thank you you Brett. Also, I decided I want more dancer friends in my life.

Yours Truly on How I Built This

Have you ever dreamt of something really big? So big you felt it could only happen in 5-10y? (If at all!) And then, BOOM it’s reality and the universe giggles and whispers “naaah, you’re ready”!

Gasp!

It has been my secret dream to be on How I Built This, to have CreativeMornings one day be recognized for the completely magical, radically generous, collectively powerful, heart-centered organization it is.

The episode came out yesterday. I am swimming in a sauce of gratitude for anyone who has attended, contributed, supported, loved on CreativeMornings. As Thich Nhat Hanh said: “The next Buddha will not take on any individual form. Maybe he will take the form of a Sangha, a community practicing understanding and loving kindness…”

The Era of AI

(Thanks Tim)

Glimmers

A little guide to glimmers.

The Cozy Web


Thank you David Spinks for sharing this graphic and introducing me to the term “The Cozy Web”. He got it from this article: The Dark Forest and the Cozy Web

Home

“Home is where people notice when you’re not there.”
– Alexander Haymen

Depth | Personalized Journal Prompts

Wow, these AI powered personalized journal prompts are quite helpful for understanding and navigating how you are feeling. The fine folks at Holstee keep impressing me with their thoughtfulness.

“The Good News” by Thich Nhat Hanh

They don’t publish
the good news.
The good news is published
by us.
We have a special edition every moment,
and we need you to read it.
The good news is that you are alive,
and the linden tree is still there,
standing firm in the harsh Winter.
The good news is that you have wonderful eyes
to touch the blue sky.
The good news is that your child is there before you,
and your arms are available:
hugging is possible.
They only print what is wrong.
Look at each of our special editions.
We always offer the things that are not wrong.
We want you to benefit from them
and help protect them.
The dandelion is there by the sidewalk,
smiling its wondrous smile,
singing the song of eternity.
Listen! You have ears that can hear it.
Bow your head.
Listen to it.
Leave behind the world of sorrow
and preoccupation
and get free.
The latest good news
is that you can do it.
– Thich Nhat Hanh

WaterLight

This is WaterLight, a device that provides electrical power using only salt water. 45 days of light with half a liter of seawater. This is incredible!

Safe Place / Biggest Adventure

I love love love the words shared on this post by Rainbowsalt.

There is…

there is brave in soft.
there is wild in simple.
there is peace in thunder.
there are songs in stillness.
Jenthe Emma

The Mind-Bending Physics of Time

How the Big Bang gave us time, explained by theoretical physicist.