A couple of weeks ago, a friend commented that she didn't think my newsletter was an accurate representation of me. Initially, I was puzzled. I thought: Well, it's not like I'm intentionally holding anything back.
But eventually I realized that it wasn't a question of my intent. It was a question of the medium — namely, the digital medium. This newsletter is digital, and so I tend to share links to things on the internet.
And content on the internet tends to be surface-y: A hot take, a tip sheet, or at most a "long read." As a result, most of my in-depth reading (and my more "out there" reading) happens offline, and I rarely share it here.
So, moving forward, I'm going to endeavor to share a mix of online and offline recommendations. Because a huge portion of the most transformative media I'm tuning into only exists in the offline realm. And you and I both know that analog is the best way to learn. 🤓
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Unfollowing everybody. Anil Dash decided to unfollow everyone on Twitter. This is a thoughtful piece on how he did it and what happened: "One of the most immediate benefits is that, when something terrible happens in the news, I don't see an endless, repetitive stream of dozens of people reacting to it in succession. It turns out, I don't mind knowing about current events, but it hurts to see lots of people I care about going through anguish or pain when bad news happens. I want to optimize for being aware, but not emotionally overwhelmed."
The circadian diet. I'm highly conscious of aligning my work with my circadian rhythms but not so much with what (and when) I eat. This NYT piece was an eye-opening reminder: "Dr. Panda argues that people improve their metabolic health when they eat their meals in a daily 8- to 10-hour window, taking their first bite of food in the morning and their last bite early in the evening. Many people, however, snack and graze from roughly the time they wake up until shortly before they go to bed."
How to spend your privilege. An informative and inspirational piece on how to be an activist when you come from a place of privilege: "Train yourself toward solidarity and not charity. You are no one's savior. You are a mutual partner in the pursuit of freedom. Lilla Watson, an Aboriginal activist and artist, once said: 'If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.'"
Be impeccable with your word. Recently, I've been thinking quite a bit about Miguel Ruiz's four agreements, which are a handful of principles for living a more conscious life. And I've found that, at its root, most of the anxiety that I feel relates to not "being impeccable with my word." Along similar lines, I really enjoyed this podcast on wise speech from Gil Fronsdal, and particularly the notion he shares about "embodied speech" (e.g. in person, on the phone) vs "disembodied speech" (e.g. on email, on Slack).
Nanette and The End of Eddy. There's been a recent theme in my media intake about being an outsider, coming into your own identity, and the (often violent) challenges one faces for speaking out or being different. Hannah Gadsby's Netflix comedy special Nanette is an excellent and eviscerating take on creativity, comedy and disowning old selves. And the French novel The End of Eddy documents the violence of growing up as the queer kid in a working-class town. Both will make you think hard about how you treat others and the stories we tell ourselves about our selves.
+ You don't owe anyone an interaction.
+ A beautiful homage to analog type.
+ Do I have permission to succeed?
| | SHOUT-OUTS:
Much appreciation to: David Sparks, Elena Sheppard, Lizzie Everard, and Amy Varga for link ideas.
The artwork comes from: Ruslan Khasanov, who is based in Russia.
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Hi, I'm Jocelyn, the human behind this newsletter. I host the Hurry Slowly podcast — a new show about how you can be more productive, creative, and resilient by slowing down — write books that will help you reclaim your time, and give uncommonly useful talks. | | | | |
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