Love & Work
A notebook about how we work, learn, love and live.
Here in the U.S. many of us are enjoying a long weekend. It is nice to just stop.
Happy Friday.
Politics
Celeste Ng on giving thanks during challenging times
An editor recently asked Celeste Ng to contribute to a Thanksgiving summary of things she is thankful for. He was specific in saying that he did not want to consider anything political. She wrote an elegant response.
"I love this idea, but honestly, in the current moment, it’s hard for me to think of things that I’m grateful for that are not, in some way, connected to politics. Please understand: I completely get why you’d prefer not to use anything about politics. After such a hard-fought and often toxic election season, I think everyone wishes we could take a break.
"But as a woman and a person of color, my very existence is political through no choice of my own. I don’t get to take a break even if I want to.
"What am I thankful for? I’m thankful for my parents, who immigrated to this country as poor students, worked their way up in a country that wasn’t always welcoming to them, and stayed and put down roots for my sister and me so that we could succeed; who taught us that tolerance and compassion and hard work aren’t simply buzzwords, but human values, and the tenets of the country they chose to make their home; who have shown me through every action of their lives that no one gets anywhere on their own, and that if you’ve had an ounce of success, it’s your duty to recognize those who helped you along the way, and to pay it forward. ... - Celeste Ng
Essay: Giving Thanks is a Political Act
How We Live
Humans are capable of creating such beauty
Paris, France. Image by Getty
With so many architectural crimes against nature and community, it is easy to forget about the sheer healing power of great urban spaces. This is a lovely armchair tour.
Article: 53 Beautiful Streets Around the World
Corporate Social Responsibility, Circular Economy
Uniqlo, a brand associated with 'fast fashion', has opened two up-cycle and repair shops in London.
"Located just a stone’s throw from London’s Savile Row, the tailoring hub where clothing is built to last decades, and makes multiple returns to its originators for mends, repairs and alterations, Re.Uniqlo Studio’s mission is to keep Uniqlo apparel items in circulation for longer, maximising their myriad possibilities.
"A dedicated space for pursuing a new future for clothes, the first Re.Uniqlo Studio opened on the lower ground floor at the brand’s Regent Street, London store; a second space launched at the opening of its new Battersea Power Station store in October 2022. The initiative aims to help customers enjoy Uniqlo LifeWear fully, freely and for longer by offering specialist repair services." - Simon Mills
Article: Uniqlo Clothing Lives Longer Thanks to London Repair Studios
Personal Productivity
Getting things done in a much better way than just letting things happen, which often turns out not to be very cool at all.
David Allen
The older I get the more I resist the cultural zeitgeist of doing more with every waking day. Some of my most profound learnings have occurred while doing nothing. To get here I've read a whole lot of personal productivity literature. Getting Things Done by David Allen is my favorite.
"GTD—or 'Getting things done'—is a framework created by David Allen for organizing and tracking your tasks and projects. Its aim is a bit higher than just 'getting things done', though. (It should have been called 'Getting things done in a much better way than just letting things happen, which often turns out not to be very cool at all'.) Its aim is to make you have 100% trust in a system for collecting tasks, ideas, and projects—both vague things like 'invent greatest thing ever' and concrete things like 'call Ada 25 August to discuss conference schedule'. Everything!" - Erlend Hamberg
Allen's most liberating teaching is to learn to move ideas, big and small, to safe, sequestered spaces where you won't forget them, but they won't wake you at 3 AM, either.
Some take his teachings as gospel. There are workshops, seminars and apps that coach how to use the same multi-file system that he uses. To me this is counterproductive fealty. Hamberg agrees. He's written a simple distillation of a powerful perspective. Allen uses file cabinets. I use a few index cards.
Article: GTD in 15 minutes – A Pragmatic Guide to Getting Things Done
Media
In spite of the fact that music is easier and cheaper to get, younger Americans are listening to less.
"A new study shows more young Americans are listening to news, podcasts, and audiobooks than ever. Nearly all of that growth comes from listening on digital devices like phones, computers, smart speakers, and internet-connected TVs — and not AM/FM radio.
"The authors of the 2022 Spoken Word Audio Report conducted interviews in English and Spanish with 4,118 U.S. residents aged 13 and older. The report, released annually since 2014, is part of a partnership between NPR and Edison Research. For their purposes, 'spoken word audio' means pretty much everything but music — news and talk shows on AM/FM radio plus podcasts and audiobooks of every stripe.
"While the share of Americans listening to spoken word audio increased across all age groups, it increased the most for those ages 13 to 34, the report found. That age group now dedicates 26% of its listening hours to spoken word audio (instead of music) — up from just 12% in 2014." - Sarah Scire
Article: Younger Americans Are Listening to More Non-Music (like Podcasts and News) Than Ever
Creative Process
Your brain can't run clear until you flush the crud out.
"Visualize your creativity as a backed-up pipe of water. The first mile is packed with wastewater. This wastewater must be emptied before the clear water arrives.
"Because your pipe has only one faucet, there's no shortcut to achieving clarity other than first emptying the wastewater.
"Let's apply this to creativity: At the beginning of a writing session, write out every bad idea that unavoidably comes to mind. Instead of being self-critical and resisting them, recognize bad ideas as progress. Bad ideas are usually the clichés your brain has been overexposed to.
"Once the bad ideas are emptied, strong ideas begin to arrive." —Julian Shapiro
Article: Creativity Faucet: Being More Creative
Learning
Music producer and professor of cognitive neuroscience Susan Rogers explains why your favorite songs move you.
I discovered Pavement by listening to their 1992 album Slanted and Enchanted in my car. At first I didn't get it. It felt discordant. It felt ragged and defiantly lazy. But it came highly recommended and I kept listening. Then, I remember exactly where I was when I did get it. Suddenly I loved it. To this day, 30 years later, it remains one of my all-time favorite records.
Susan Rogers, who has produced songs for the likes of Prince and Bare-Naked Ladies and who in her spare time is a cognitive neuroscientist, explains why and how that happens.
Author Interview: Why Do We Love the Music We Love?
One-Liners
Article: George Lois, visionary art director, is dead at 91
Article: Local media provide sizable solutions to global crises
Article: In a ‘sea change,’ women of the Philharmonic now outnumber the men
Article: Emily Post's classic etiquette handbook has been revamped to center inclusion
Playlist
Mimi Parker Photo by Jordi Vidal/Redferns via Getty Images
Mimi Parker, who cofounded the band Low in 1993 with her husband, Alan Sparhawk, in Duluth, Minnesota, passed away on Nov. 5 at her home of ovarian cancer. She was 55. That week I linked to an obituary. This week as the music world's loss sinks in, I want to honor her contributions a bit more.
First, a tribute by Robert Plant and his collective band Saving Grace. On the sixth of this month, one day after she died, they played a concert at King's Theatre in Glasgow, and honored Mimi by closing the show with a cover of the band's song Monkey.
Video: Robert Plant Pays Tribute to Low’s Mimi Parker - Monkey
Next up, Rick Beato, the music geek's geek. He's got an enlightening YouTube channel full of videos featuring him listening to amazing music and deconstructing what we're listening to. If you want to understand how the duo created their Slowcore vibe from a production point of view you'll love this.
Video: Rick Beato, This Band Blows Me Away
This last one speaks for itself. It's the band performing at the Water Is Life Festival in their hometown of Duluth this past September. No one knew that this would be the last time Mimi would perform on a stage.
Video: Low - "Days Like These" Sep 04 2022
Thank you, Mimi.
Image of the Week
Unidentified woman taking a mirror selfie with a box camera, 1900. Wikimedia Commons
"This mirror selfie taken around 1900 raises a lot of questions: who was the woman who took it? Was she the same person who took the numerous photographs displayed on the shelf to her left? Nobody knows.
"But it also provides an interesting insight into how photographic technology changed over time. The woman shot her self-portrait with a Kodak Brownie, visible in her hands. This line of box cameras were first released in 1900 for the price of one dollar. Its point-and-shoot design made photography truly available to the broad public." - Kat Eschner
Article: Take a Peep at This Gallery of Historic Selfies
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.
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