Notes at 45
Naz Hamid gathers some perspectives on his birthday. Resonating this morning is “opt for joy, delight, or energy.”

Start low-fi
Erica Heinz shares perspective on why low-fidelity is a better approach for product development. In some sense, this is a great approach for any notion...

Merlin’s Wisdom, cont.
“If you can't be a good example, at least try to become an interesting cautionary tale.” Merlin moves his wisdom but keeps adding to it. Re-linking as I’m writing a list to my future self (WIP).

Trying patch
Dan Sinker wrote about trying. He’s now made a patch to remind himself to do so.

Diaries of Note
Shaun Usher (Letters of Note) started this new project in January. My first visit was this excellent entry about science and art by Raymond Chandler.

Unordered, incomplete list of things I want from a job
Lynn Fisher outlines a dream job. / via Guy

Bottles of Veuve Clicquot
Justin Duke made a deal with his partner “to celebrate things we’re particularly proud of with a bottle of Veuve Clicquot.” And then he documents each moment. I really love this idea. (Plus also? There’s an RSS feed.)

Cat flyer for kindness
Brad Montague made a flyer with a cat. It’s invitation to step out and do something for someone else (and available to download and print).

A diagram of flow
That sweet spot in the middle. / via Rachel

Tina’s 2023 Intentions
SwissMiss had a birthday, and she kicked it off with intent and goals and fortitude. Also of note, her call to find ways to celebrate her 50th: The responses are gold.

Excerpts from an interview with Lynda Barry
Brandon Schaefer shares some great snippets that inspire reading the full NYTimes interview.

A community isn’t a garden, it’s a bar.
I nodded all along the cases that Derek Powazek presents and concludes. “Online communities are bars and we should admit that and start building the diverse, engaging, and safe gathering places we deserve.”

Why keep blogging?
The sentiments here apply to so many different practices. Austin’s thoughts from 2 years ago hold up well. Nice to revisit, thanks to Michael Rill

The Creative Switch
Ralph Hammer suggests changing your mood space to create options. Couldn’t hurt eh?

Performant Mental Health
Five-part series designed to ignite greater awareness of mental health issues at home and at work by Suzanne Moll and Eddie Brouse, edited by Cameron Moll

It’s none of your business.
"You’ve created something – a drawing, a layout, a video, a piece of code, or a blog post – and after you’re more or less done, you pause and you look at it. And you don’t like it." Mattias Ott bridges this thinking with wisdom from Lynda Barry

Do it poorly
Motivation in the thread.

Small Seasons
A more fine-grained way of thinking about the year in two week sekki. We're at “Drops of dew on grass” at the moment. More insight from Ross Zurowski / via Rachel

3 approaches to solving problems
Appreciate these reminders gleaned from Steve Jobs - 1.) Zoom Out 2.) Focus In 3.) Disconnect

Practice any art…
music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow.

Love Every Body
A touching thread and moving last words / via SwissMiss

Catherine Madden’s woven tapestry
This journey map captures a year of highs and lows in 2020, part of a workshop with Eugene Eric Kim.

The greatest output of your careers will be relationships
The list of ”10 things I wish every design student knew“ by Cameron Moll holds up incredibly well over time, but also? Works for every profession.

Would I do it tomorrow?
One way to gauge participation is to ask this question. Thing is? I'd invariably say yes to more if it meant I could cancel what was already planned.

24 Hours in the Creative Life
Advice to young, mid or late career artists. Many favorites but "Learn how to advocate for yourself." from Joaquina Kalukango is a standout this morning.

Attempting to find more fun
A challenge to achieve, but these four steps feel solid / via smartpeopleiknow

Why I’ve Decided to Take My Podcast Off Spotify
A cogent perspective from Roxanne Gay

Tiny Love Stories
Touching reader-submitted stories of love with no more than 100 words. This NYT series has been going for a while. Just learned of it thanks to Rachel on the left.

Find your own rainbow
An enlightening Twitter thread about how Bill Grundfest cultivated comedians in Greenwich Village / via SwissMiss

A Grand Unified Theory of Buying Stuff
Lots of links to this piece by Paul Ford for good reason: the payoff at the end is inspiring when we consider experiences we hope to achieve when buying stuff.

The Magic of Pee-wee Herman in a Dark Year
Dan Sinker writes about finding light in the darkness of a pandemic, and the timeless joy of a Playhouse

Gratitude Zine
I very much enjoyed sitting at the kitchen counter while the Thanksgiving meal cooked, filling out this little number by Austin Kleon.

Intermissions
I love Austin Kleon's train of thought about putting space in-between things. I've long felt this way about books, imagining the next chapter as I fall asleep, but this is a whole other level.

Retain a beginner’s mind
Simon Collison collects links and pulls (an excellent) quote from an interview with Thom Yorke and Stanley Donwood as they discuss the visual language of Radiohead's album art over the years.

Merlin’s GitHub of wisdom
Whenever you meet someone new, ask them what they're most excited about right now. Everyone interesting is excited about something right now, and they'd probably love to tell you about it. (And many more!)

Tetris tames trauma
"24hrs after a traumatic event, or as soon as you are safe, play Tetris. It SIGNIFICANTLY reduces likelihood of intrusive memories." A fascinating thread with links.

Nick Cave on Charlie Watts
And three other related questions. A dense, concise and lovely reply. / via Daring Fireball

Sunlight
9 panels about growing by Grant Snider / via my friend Shannon

Stewardship of global collective behavior
"Addressing the harm wrought by dramatically restructuring human communication of the span of a decade, with no aim other than selling ads." Of all the challenges we face? This one is so very important to address.

Five-finger breathing exercise
Ground yourself in the present moment to calm down

The Fresh Start Challenge
From the NY Times: "As pandemic restrictions begin to ease, we all have the opportunity to rethink what life looks like going forward. Our 10-day Fresh Start Challenge will share daily tips for mindful living, stronger connections and healthy habits."

3 Most Important Questions
Grab some pen and paper and take 24 minutes. Started my day doing this exercise by Vishen Lakhiani. to consider life experiences, growth and contribution. A powerful draft to consider the future. (Thanks Emily)

Write to find out.
"When you’re writing, you’re trying to find out something which you don’t know." - James Baldwin. This and more ruminations on writing by the late author. / via @voicesandnoises

Our iPhone Notes Are Poetry
"People don't open up your Notes app and look through your notes. It's sacred." this and lots more good thinking about the notes app / via Om Malik

Something to look forward to
"It can be a very minor thing, and it can be a major thing. But you always have to have something you’re looking forward to next."

Love is a verb
It's not a permanent state of enthusiasm, it's an actual practice

My spirit animal for March 2021
Actor Sheila Hancock on what a year in lockdown has been like for her and why she thinks we need a revolution.

Ten reasons to write a book
Among the solid list of reasons, it clarifies your thinking. / via Swiss-Miss

Queer Designers Share Their Vision for the Future of Design
I stumbled on to this article thanks to Rachel, but enjoyed clicking all around IDEO's site.

Manager README
I really love this. Martyn Davies has a user manual on how he likes to work. There are too many choice lines to share. The concept is not unique, but it is solid and I aspire to write my own README. / via Rachel Kwon

How Garfield Helped Me Make Peace With a Culture in Decline
Try getting into Garfield variants: remixes of the original strips that testify to the internet’s limitless invention. Upon recommendation by Thor

Ewok Banquets and Hobbit Joy

You and the Thing That You Love

3:45 PM

A Brief Guide to Noticing

Sunday

Advanced Topics in Reminders and To Do Lists

Commit to the journey

You Should Go to Bed Super Early
Says them

The Gandalf Option.
