Hobbyist Academia #45
I bought a blank, unlined notebook a few days ago. I’m using it to sketch out a working prototype of a journal version of my system for how to be a connector. It’s a complement to the workshop- or maybe it will even stand alone without the workshop.
The workshop acts as an introduction, a guide for how to set up the system. The notebook then serves as a dedicated space to reflect on the people and communities in your life, set intentions, make tactical plans, and follow through on those plans.
As I’ve been building out the system, I’ve been trying to use it myself to see how it works in practice. I’ve tried having it mixed in with other things in my main notebook, but the regular cadence of pulse checks that is central to how the system works seems to get lost when the notes themselves are comingled with other work and ideas.
So this is the next part of my experiment: will a physically separate, handwritten notebook that is solely focused on the connector system help me form a routine and implement it? I know I’m an n of 1, but I have to start somewhere.
Engage and Interact
The Purposely Social app has launched! If you want to make it easier to make social plans with friends, give Purposely Social a try. You tell the app which of your friends you want to hang out with, what you want to do, and when. It searches everyone’s synced calendars and sends everyone an invite.
I recently attended a virtual Open House event from the House of Beautiful Business around the topic of curation. One of the coolest things that was presented and discussed was a global game of telephone across artistic mediums- and the resulting digital exhibit of how ideas and messages have traveled around the world and been “translated” across the categories of sculpture, music, literature, painting, and film & dance. Click around the exhibit- it’s the ultimate online rabbit hole.
21st Europe is a think tank designing blueprints for Europe’s next chapter. The project operates through a lens of changemaking, impact, and human connection. (I found this through The Field Trip Co.)
Read
A recent edition of the Break Free from the Internet newsletter explores a middle ground between a smartphone and a dumbphone: adopting a strict mindset of using smartphones as a tool. This highlights a key distinction when it comes to technology: some technology is purely a tool, sitting on the shelf waiting for you to use it, but other technology has an agenda of its own, motivations to keep your attention that are not to your benefit.
The House of Beautiful Business has been releasing writing and programming centered around curation, the topic of founder Tim Leberecht’s next book. He recently penned this essay about the history and current functions of and strategy for curation- a preview of his research and work thus far for the book.
Gen Z is considered the first generation to have no memory of a life without social media and the Internet in everyone’s pockets at every moment. Now that they’re in the age range of 16-24, they’re old enough to look back at their constantly connected, digital childhoods and what they’re feeling is regret- and driven to action. They’re also taking matters into their own hands to fix it, forging new offline social clubs and initiatives aimed at taking back what they feel they lost.
When you’re an extra on a movie set, you’re not allowed to have your cell phone with you. This writer’s experience reminded him of what it was like to move about in the world before smartphones. (I found this from Erica Keswin on LinkedIn.)
Listen
In a recent Working with Feeling episode, Oren Shai talked about belonging and connection at the intersection of biology and culture.
A recent episode of the podcast Beyond Margins featured Jay Acunzo speaking about resonance as a KPI. How do you know and measure how well your ideas, your writing, your content is actually connecting with the people consuming it?
Watch
In this video from Big Think, Oliver Burkeman talks about perspective shifts away from productivity goals and toward living goals. If you’re too rigid with your to do list and your plan, you’ll crowd out the things that matter.
Save This for Later
The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
Creative Acts for Curious People: How to Think, Create, and Lead in Unconventional Ways by Sarah Stein Greenberg
The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper by Roland Allen
Logging Off: The Human Cost of Our Digital World by Adele Zeynep Walton
The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again by Robert D. Putnam
Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World by Anne-Laure Le Cunff
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