5 Things I Consumed Last Week (light on 💡)
words of wisdom packed in one issue
Hello Nello!
This issue is going to be Kevin Kelly style (which is a book now) cause that’s how I read throughout the week. Words of wisdom packed in small quotes, it might spear your heart or else it won’t tinge you even slightly but who doesn’t like reading life advices right?!
1. When Is The Last Time You Challenged Yourself? via Daily Stoic
It’s very easy to get comfortable. To build up your life exactly how you want it to be. Minimize inconveniences and hand off the stuff you don’t like to do. To find what you enjoy, where you enjoy it, and never leave.
A velvet rut is what it’s called. It’s nice, but the comfort tricks you into thinking that you’re not stuck.
The Stoics knew that this was a kind of death. That as soon as we stop growing, we start dying. Or at least, we become more vulnerable to the swings of Fate and Fortune.
2. If I Had Three Lives by Sarah Russell via The Alipore Post
If I had three lives, I'd marry you in two.
And the other? That life over there
at Starbucks, sitting alone, writing -- a memoir,
maybe a novel or this poem. No kids, probably,
a small apartment with a view of the river,
and books -- lots of books and time to read.
3. AiLONE by Prof. Galloway via No Mercy / No Malice
We are breeding a generation of asocial people who don’t know what it means to be rejected, forget a name, miss a flight, and find unexpected joy. AI, and mobile technology, have strip-mined a key component of what it means to be human, what it means to be a mammal. Happiness is a function of your willingness to take an uncomfortable risk and have something wonderful … really wonderful … happen in person. Technology offers productivity and prosperity. However, joy is in the agency of others. The most important skills are forged, not taught.
4. The Tension Between Art and Money via More to That
I don’t create to build an audience. That’s the byproduct of my creativity, but not the aim of it. If anything, the only reason I want to reach a wider audience is to find the few people I can really go deep with. It’s to have a tight-knit community of people where I can share what I’m learning about myself, which in turn reflects what I’m learning about humankind as a whole.
5. Dear Pepper: Answers to a Prompt on Promptness via The New Yorker
Loved these illustrated light hearted advice column answers on “What do you think it’s important to be on time to, what should one be early to (and how early should one be), and when should one be late (and how late)?”
6. becoming yourself is a process of reduction via Mind Mine
Power comes from distillation, from seeing what you’re good at and doubling down on that. Power is admitting who you truly are and letting yourself embody that. Power is realizing that doing things to seem powerful does not make you powerful—it makes you weak. It’s realizing that all the powerful people we revere ignored the social status they could have grasped at by doing what would impress others, and instead chose to do what was truly them. This isn’t to say that you cannot do multiple things and be powerful, it’s only to say that the things you choose to do need to genuinely activate you—they need to be true to you.
7. yeet thyself via visa’s voltaic verses
How long has it been since you wrote a story where your real love or your real hatred somehow got onto the paper? When was the last time you dared release a cherished prejudice so it slammed the page like a lightning bolt? What are the best things and the worst things in your life, and when are you going to get around to whispering or shouting them?” – Ray Bradbury, Zen In The Art of Writing
8. Scraping training data for your mind via Escaping Flatland
Reading something powerful, the voice infects them. Sometimes this is a weakness, if the influence has not been transformed into something personal. But there is also no way around it: finding good influences is a prerequisite for writing well.
Let’s call this scraping good training data for your mind. It is an important skill. Too often neglected. When learning a new craft, it is tempting to first go after the tasks you need to master. But to get good at something—parenting, writing code, doing research—you also need to internalize examples of prime achievements in that field. Knowing how to find these examples is upstream of the tasks you need to master.
9. The languages you speak via Mari Andrew
Absolutely loved this illustration from Mari!
10. Light On by Maggie Rogers
And lastly, my new jam which is also the title of this issue :)
Tap and save and dive deep in these words of wisdom!
That’s all for this time folks, see you next week :)
Wondering how you can support me?
If you are a friend of this newsletter, show some love here.🐼
If you enjoy reading this, maybe share it with your colleagues, friends and family; it would mean the world to me :) or else Order a handrwitten postcard for them.
You can always reach out to me on dearhummingbird1@gmail.com. or connect with me on IG at _i__cook or use the comment section!
Always grateful for the love,
The Hummingbird🌺