Newsletter Roundup Special
TAoN No. 104: Thin slices of joy, luxury views, food adventures, and more ideas from some of my favorite newsletters. And a new icebreaker, too!
UPDATE! Before we get to this week’s issue: Last week I mentioned “Where You At? A Bioregional Quiz.” As you may have seen if you read the comments, there is an updated version of this quiz created by Kevin Kelly in 2003. And he has now made a cleaner version of his Big Here Quiz — with more questions and more relatable language — and has posted it here: https://kk.org/thetechnium/the-big-here-quiz/. It’s really great; recommended!
This gets exaplained below.
This might be a slightly ridiculous thing for someone who writes a frequent newsletter to say but — I’ve fallen really behind on reading all the newsletters I subscribe to!
The good news is that not only did I enjoy getting caught up, I encountered lots of ideas and tips and thoughts that might inspire TAoN posts. And rather than dribble those out over weeks, I decided to do a quick-fire, more bang-for-your roundup right now.1
So in no particular order, here goes.
Writer Karla Starr, in her newsletter The Starr Report, has a very thoughtful essay responding to Cal Newport’s idea of “slow productivity2,” and the subject of work and burnout more generally. Here’s one key snippet:
“My goal isn’t slow productivity: it’s sustainable productivity. Among other things, sustainable productivity requires keeping a larger perspective about the role of work in our lives. It requires maintaining boundaries with your definitions (you are not your job) and your time (recharging is not a luxury).”
The whole thing is worth reading.
Speaking of recharging not being a luxury, Letters From Ximena reminds readers:
“I’ve begun to experiment with rest trials, personal experiments for getting well-rested, based on research for my forthcoming book. Once a month, I share these experiments with a small group of folks who have opted in to test them out with me. If you’d like to give these rest experiments a try, sign up here.”
Looking forward to the results of this endeavor.
Iridescent Ordinary has been on an interesting riff, convincing readers that you don’t have to be able to draw to be “creative”! (That might sound obvious, but it’s definitely true that fear of drawing really holds people up sometimes.) This post suggests alternate “creative” practices you can commit to repeating daily over time:
“Take a selfie, invent a new sandwich combination, compose a haiku, make a playlist, crochet a granny square. Some of these examples represent the ‘art’ part of creativity. Many of your attempts will suck. But an equal amount will surprise you with how amazing they are.”
You’ll need to be a paid subscriber (as I am) to read this additional post, tied to the annual #the100dayproject for even more ideas, but I’ll mention a couple:
A photo of the sky every day when you wake up. … A list of something every day … Create (and name) a color palette … Use wordle as a writing/drawing/photography prompt. … Envision a superhero. …
You get the idea. Any one of these is a great prompt. Pick one that sounds fun to you. Or invent your own!
OfficialKMikey M List recently linked to this fascinating TedX talk from artist and architect Andi Schmied, who pretended to be a billionaire so she could see (and document) the views from ultra-luxury high rises. This was much more than a frivolous prank — it turned out to be a really provocative exploration of private views and their surprising consequences. I found some of the stuff at the end truly amazing.
I continue to enjoy Café Anne, and in a recent issue particularly loved reading about Anne’s pilgrammage to a Bed-Stuy pizza place that serves a weird-sounding cinnamon bread with marinara sauce that a reader told her about. “I finally worked up the nerve to go try it,” and her typically charming report is here.
It’s a very fun read, but also great inspiration to plot a mini-mission of your own. I specifically endorse eating at dubious restaurants in the book, but if you don’t feel safe doing that these days then perhaps you can choose a park or other outdoor destination. Have a small adventure, and write about it!
A recent issue of life:examined delves into something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately — the value of cultivating “beginner’s mind.”
“A suggestion: Embrace the I don't know space. It's a fertile ground where you can deepen your curiosity and humanity.”
Read the whole thing here.
Recommendo has at least one great tip pretty much every issue. Recently:
“A fun, single purpose website. Click to relax and listen to ethereal sound of water and music. Zone out on the ripples. It is definitely relaxing.” Via.
“Send your future self a letter. Might be a prediction, a goal, or a letter about something that happened today you don’t want to forget. For 20 years Future Me has been forwarding letters into the future for free.” Via.
And this great one, discovered from “an ex-Google engineer who wrote the book Joy on Demand” and offers some “short and simple ‘joy’ exercises.“ Here’s a quick example of a “three-second brain exercise” to help you “recognize thin slices of joy:”
“Notice the joyful moments in your day, however small, however fleeting. Notice how good it feels to have that first sip of your drink. Or how tasty that first bite of food is. The pleasurable feeling of your skin in warm water when you wash your hands or take a shower. The moment of delight and comfort when you see your friend. These thin slices of joy only last a few seconds but they add up! The more you notice joy, the more you will experience joy in your life.”
And lastly, AffirmationChickens points to a short video of a sheep enjoying a trampoline. I think maybe this is what a “moment of joy” looks like? Stay curious, people; be this sheep.
Thanks!
My thanks as always to paid subscribers for making The Art of Noticing possible. I currently post a free issue every Monday. Paid subscribers get a second issue Thursdays, as well as occasional weekend discussion threads. TAoN depends on reader support, so if you enjoy it or find it valuable, I hope you will consider becoming a paid subscriber, too. And/or just help spread the word. Thank you for reading.
If you desperately want access to paid subscriber posts but you just can’t afford it, write to me at consumed@robwalker.net and I’ll see what I can do. Give a gift subscription here. Underwrite a subscription for someone who doesn’t have the budget right now, here.
Noticing is about other people, too. The Icebreaker series aims to help with that. There’s a central collection spot for all the icebreakers to date, here.
In the spirit of today’s newsletter roundup, I’m going to adapt an icebreaker from a recent issue of The Whippet. (Fingers crossed that The Whippet won’t mind!)
The context is an anecdote about someone who made a set of protest stickers that became really popular, so popular that the person got contacted by an official government agency — which wanted a few of the stickers to preserve for historical purposes! That’s obviously not a turn of events the maker of protest stickers would have predicted … but it’s also kinda cool?
Leading to this question:
“Please tell me about a career milestone you achieved (or you heard about someone else achieving) that is weird/unusual/you would never have thought of until it happened. Doesn’t need to be Nobel Prize level! Just a marker of success, however you define it.”
There are some entertaining answers in The Whippet’s comment section.
As usual, I’m still working through the disorganized backlog of icebreaker submissions. But as always, I want more:
Please send your favorite icebreaker (whether you made it up or found it elsewhere) to consumed@robwalker.net
Okay that’s it!
As always, I value your feedback (suggestions, critiques, positive reinforcement, constructive insults, etc.), as well as your tips or stories or personal noticing rituals, things we need a word for, and of course your icebreakers: consumed@robwalker.net. Or use the comments.
—> Or just click the heart symbol. That always makes my day.
And thanks for reading …
rwTwitter | RobWalker.net | NB: I use (some) Amazon Affiliate links
All this by Rob Walker PO Box 171, 748 Mehle St., Arabi LA 70032
To unsubscribe see the grey box at the bottom of the email, or go here.
For the record, this does not represent every newsletter I love, let alone every one that I read. Lots of other great ones I didn’t mention this time but will surely mention in the future!
I keep meaning to take a deeper dive on Cal Newport’s work — but there’s so much of it! For someone who endorses “slow” productivity, he sure does crank out a lot!
(The Whippet doesn't mind! The Whippet is gratified.)
I have subscribed to so many great newsletters lately, and now I am too suffering from falling behind on reading all of them! I wonder if there's a healthier and easier approach to it?