Love & Work
A notebook about how we work, learn, love and live.
This week I walked in the woods with my friend Julia Mines. It feels so good to walk with someone you know and trust, in nature, and talk. Not on a screen. Not through a mic. She was one of my early Covid walking buddies and this was a reunion. I was reminded of how much has changed in how we live in just two years. In the spring of 2020, just like that, walking dates became commonplace. Sign me up again. I need them more than ever.
Happy Friday.
How We Live
Joy is an antidote for the times.
When you hike with someone like Julia, a whole lot of really cool ideas are going to shake loose. We tapped them back and forth like Kadima balls on a Wellfleet beach. But the only one that she really pressed was a film about the friendship between the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutut. She extolled the trailer at least twice, then sent me the link to the trailer. She is so right. It's so worth the 2+ minutes.
"Mission: JOY is the moving and laugh-out-loud funny documentary about the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu’s friendship and their secrets of finding joy in troubled times. With genuine affection, mutual respect and a healthy dose of teasing, these friends impart lessons gleaned from lived experience, ancient traditions, and the latest cutting-edge science regarding how to live with joy in the face of all of life's challenges from the extraordinary to the mundane."
Video: MISSION: JOY • Official Trailer • Documentary About the Dalai Lama & Desmond Tutu's Friendship
How We Work. How We Live
"We believe that living together is a better way to live, work and play."
"Stunning Vibrant Complex w/ Terrace + Gym + Coworking, Palmerston Rd (Harrow) · London"
I love the energy of a co-working space. Working near others who are working on their own goals is energizing. Now a whole lot of people are using the same model to share living space, too.
"Coliving is a modern form of shared housing. It's a way to live and share a home with other like-minded people. The biggest value of coliving is access to the community. Fully furnished, specially-designed living spaces create an inspiring environment for people to interact and share experiences."
What separates a coliving space from a VRBO is that sub-letters are there to live and work, not vacation, and they expect to connect and live in community, not separately.
Google the concept. You can find attractive places all over the world. Coliving.com claims to have the "biggest selection of coliving spaces in the world."
Website: coliving.com
Learning
Some of the things we can learn from maps
This map envisions what the U.S. would look like if our founders had drawn state borders to accommodate watersheds, not political boundaries. (Click image for larger-scale view.)
This is a reddit group that shares maps and what they can teach. Fair warning, it is the ultimate rabbit hole. You can never look at just one. Today for example, I learned that the very skinny but very long country of Chile would accommodate Switzerland, Belgium, Wales, Portugal, Austria, Denmark, and Italy within its borders, with room to spare. But of course I couldn't stop there. Not when a nearby post showed me that Brazil's northernmost point is closer to every country in the Americas than to Brazil's southernmost point. I've been to Chile. I've been to Brazil. I didn't know either of these geographic realities. You've been warned.
reddit group: Map Porn, for Interesting Maps
Diversity, Corporate Social Responsibility
Why brands should be more gay.
"It’s always a bitter-sweet time of year for queer people. As we celebrate 50 years of Pride in the UK, mainstream media is platforming ‘debates’ about whether trans people deserve to exist, and racism is apparently still rife even within Pride organisations. Easy to be cynical about it all, isn’t it?
"However, in a dramatic departure from this dearly beloved industry tradition – slagging off organisations doing Pride wrong – maybe it’s time we focused on actual LGBTQ+ people? Why we’re so excellent – and how brands could channel a little of that big gay energy for themselves, instead of strategically co-opting and commercializing it.
"Now, we all know that queers are better than straights at everything. Cowboy hats. The act of longing. Throwing weddings. Salad… And community – us queer people have it by the shedload." - Suky Stroud
Suky goes on to outline three simple strategies that any brand can use to "build community like a queer".
Article: What Queer Instagram Can Teach Us About Building Community
Design, Permaculture
Core ethics and design principles of permaculture and how they can be applied to other disciplines, even UX
"A conjugation of the words permanent and culture, permaculture was originally aimed at agricultural practices. Over time, the tactics and methods of this framework matured and extended to cover multiple (mostly physical) domains, even seemingly far-fetched from its origins.
"Some areas where its strategies can be employed include:
- in architecture, city planning, engineering, and landscape design;
- in the production of textiles, clothing, and footwear;
- in the restoration of degraded ecosystems;
- and in the development of community projects.
"Even in a more digitalised climate, by considering its principles, the underlying philosophy can be put to good use, including in UX. It can help seek out design ideas for products that are energy-efficient and generate sustainable life cycles, or simply reconsider current methods that could do with a fresh approach." - Dora Cee
Article: Applying the principles of permaculture for a more sustainable design ethos
Brand Identity
Some companies have pushed the boundaries of intellectual property law by laying claim to individual colors.
"Plenty of brands trademark certain colors that might appear in conjunction with a logo (think, for instance, McDonald’s red and yellow, or Facebook’s blue). But these companies have done something different and far rarer: They have trademarked literal swatches of color." - Zachary Crockett
Article: Can a Corporation "Own" a Color?
Just for fun
Some things that might make you feel better
Everyone I know is dazed. Just when you thought that the news was bad.... So I was drawn to this collection of feel-good facts.
"The ozone layer is slowly repairing itself."
"India’s tiger population grew from 1,411 in 2006 to 2,967 tigers as per the 2018 census. Based on the best available information, tiger populations are stable or increasing in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Russia and China."
"All of the cardigans Mister Rogers wore on camera were knit by his mother."
There are 17 more. Have fun.
Article: 20 Facts That Might Provide You Some Comfort, As Shared By People In This Online Group
One-liners
Article: Seville, Spain is now home to the world’s first program to name and rate heat waves.
Article: Adverse experiences can change future generations through epigenetic pathways.
Article: Free, Easy, Reliable. How Alexandria, VA helped residents learn to love to ride the bus.
Playlist
We've talked many times about how much I like good covers. When an artist reinterprets a song to make it his or her own, the song's beauty and strength is seen in a completely different light. This reading of Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit is calming and soothing, two feelings that are very welcome these days.
Video: Robert Glasper - Smells Like Teen Spirit (1 Mic 1 Take)
Image of the Week
A raccoon peeks out from a drain pipe in Toronto
Photograph: Jill Finney/Picfair
I love the fact that this animal is bodysurfing the ice flowing down the pipe.
Article: Urban Wildlife Photography Awards 2022: In Pictures
What's Love & Work?
Love & Work is the weekly newsletter by me, Mitch Anthony. I help people use their brand - their purpose, values, and stories - as a pedagogy and toolbox for transformation.
If you get value from Love & Work, please pass it on.
|
