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"Learning to stand in somebody else's shoes, to see through their eyes, that's how peace begins." - Barack Obama

Love & Work
A notebook about how we work, learn, love and live.

In December I told you that I have stopped drinking. For help and support I have become a very proud and very active member of Alcoholics Anonymous. I have found a new church. As another member said, "I go to church because I like to sing. I come to AA because I like spiritual and emotional growth."

AA is very powerful in part because it has clear and simple rules that are based on honesty, openness and willingness. There is such magic in a circle of people from diverse backgrounds sharing their most vulnerable selves in the safety of trust.

We don't talk politics, and our backgrounds and social standings are irrelevant. I often hear others say: "It's a shame everyone in the whole world couldn't experience the AA circle."

Obama is right. Peace starts with knowing others. It's not top down. It's bottom up.

Happy Friday.

How We Live
In order to renew social democracy we need to renew social connection.

"My argument starts in observations about time and the way it has been basically stolen from places in our lives and reappropriated to other things. I’m thinking about the expansion of the workday, and working activities in general, so that it’s almost impossible to extricate ourselves from them. Then it turns into an argument about what to do when we’re able to reclaim our time for ourselves.

"One of the concerns I have is with the growing trend towards social isolation. We end up giving in to labor more often than not when we’re by ourselves, even when we are engaging in activities that are meant to bring greater “wellness” to us, or “self-care,” as employers like to call it. What we’re actually doing is trying to make ourselves more fit for our return to work and [trying to be] better laborers, which, as in Melville’s “Bartleby, the Scrivener,” is a cyclical trap.

"In the meantime, while we’re continuously working on ourselves in isolation, we’re ignoring each other. We’re ignoring the people who exist in our community, the people who exist in our democracy, the people whom we have to cultivate attention and care for, because if we don’t, then those structures will fail. Democracy is based on hypothetical care for strangers; if we can’t cultivate that, it’s really hard to keep the whole machinery running." - Sheila Liming

Author Interview: How We Socialize Now: A Conversation with Sheila Liming

Learning, Democracy
This week Barrack Obama wrote a letter thanking librarians across the country for everything they’re doing to protect our freedom to read.

Graphic credit: Ryan MacEachern / Penguin.co.uk

"...I want to take a moment to thank all of you for the work you do every day — work that is helping us understand each other and embrace our shared humanity.

"And it’s not just about books. You also provide spaces where people can come together, share ideas, participate in community programs, and access essential civic and educational resources. Together, you help people become informed and active citizens, capable of making this country what they want it to be.

"And you do it all in a harsh political climate where, all too often, you’re attacked by people who either cannot or will not understand the vital — and uniquely American — role you play in the life of our nation...." - Barack Obama

Article: Thank You to America’s Librarians for Protecting Our Freedom to Read

Related Article: Obama takes to TikTok to support libraries’ fight against book bans

Personal Development
"When we focus so much on what someone achieves the parts we miss are all of the other parts of them."

Rainesford Stauffer is a freelance writer and Kentuckian. Lately she's been focusing on how younger generations deal with work and burnout. She's had an aha: that making work and achievement the centerpiece of her life was rooted in the insecurity that she would never be good enough.

"The idea that we’re running behind unless we’re always running toward the next best thing and our next best self doesn’t just bypass the million ways our time is shaped and spent. It limits our ambition.

"We discover new things, people, and places we love. We meet new versions of ourselves, who often come with new needs or new goals. Without pausing to notice when one track is gone and a new one appears, we lose out. We miss opportunities to celebrate milestones or accomplishments that might not fit a social script of achievement but are significant to us. We miss sitting with ourselves when we fall apart, the urge to patch over grief or heartbreak or feeling lost with more churning forward. We miss–I was missing–this, the right now. The only moment we’re ever guaranteed."

Article: There's No Such Thing as Getting Ahead

Video: Rainesford Stauffer’s Brief But Spectacular Take on Rethinking Ambition

Creativity
Before becoming a puppeteer, Jim Henson was fascinated with set-design and considered becoming a professional comic illustrator.

Richard Hunt, Jim Henson, and Frank Oz. Notice how all three puppeteers are looking down in the same direction—they are watching a video of their actions. This was another Henson-innovation. Henson learned that he needed to see a video of his puppet as he was recording to get a sense for what the audience would see. All his puppetry was performed with the puppeteers watching their movements on a screen.

In 1965 a 28-year-old Jim Henson began keeping a diary. It is called the Red Book because it is red. In this article Jillian Hess explores this book, as well as another called the Sketc-hbook, in which the artist sketched his ideas as they were developed. She blends these artifacts with fascinating stories.

"Kermit made his debut in 1955 and has the distinction of being one of Jim’s very first puppets. Henson made the first version of Kermit out of his mother’s old turquoise spring coat and ping pong balls (cut in half) for the eyes. He wasn’t a frog yet because, according to Jim, 'all the characters were abstract in those days.' Henson crafted abstract puppets because he thought they offered a more interesting experience."

Article: Jim Henson's Red Notebook

Writing, Communication
Audience first —always

Last weekend I stumbled upon a book with an intriguing title: Smart Brevity, The Power of Saying More with Less. But when I thumbed through it seemed to me that these teachings are so simple that they would be better presented as a long-form article. Fortunately for us, the publishers agree. They've made the primary ideas available as a simple pdf.

In slide form they have me at rule 1:

"1. Audience first — always. Before you sit down to write, stand up to speak, or plug in to record, consider three things:

"- What is the goal of your communication;
- Who is your ideal reader or listener;
- Who is a real person who fits that profile?

"Let that person guide the decisions you make. Keep only what’s new, interesting, or urgent to them. Cut anything that’s familiar."

PDF: Smart Brevity 101

Related Article: The Dubious Wisdom of “Smart Brevity”

Advertising, Teaching
"This project is about showing how improving design can help grab people’s attention and make a message stronger.”

Left: The original poster advertising a handyman’s service. Right: Kolomatsky’s redesign of the poster with the same information

File this under good teaching and good karma alike. Max Kolomatsky is a filmmaker and graphic designer who lives in Brooklyn. As a creative he recognized that simple tweaks would improved the effectiveness of the hundreds of flyers that decorate his neighborhood.

So he improves them, and he shows viewers on TikTok how he does it. He doesn't tell the poster he's doing it, nor does he remove the original flyer. He simply posts the new and improved version nearby. Then in short-form videos he demonstrates how he uses Photoshop to replace colors and fonts, to simplify and rearrange text, and to add simple graphic elements.

So far he's amassed over 3 million online views and the attention of Adobe, who has hired him to create several design process videos for their own social media platforms.

Article: The Brooklyn Artist Revitalizing New York, One Flyer At a Time

Graphic Design
The ubiquitous recycling symbol was created by a college student.

"In 1970, just months after that first Earth Day, the Container Corporation of America (CCA), then the biggest manufacturer of corrugated boxes in the U.S. with a reputation for being at the forefront of corporate graphic design, plastered college campuses with posters encouraging aspiring designers to produce a symbol for future use on products made from recycled paper. Said symbol would be a public domain design with a prize of $2,500 and a fellowship to attend the 1970 International Design Conference at Aspen.

"The 500 entries were judged by a team of design experts, including graphic arts legion Saul Bass and the influential IBM designer Eliot Noyes. The winner was a recent graduate of the USC School of Architecture by the name of Gary Anderson." - Kristin Joker

Article: The Story Behind the Symbol

One-liners

Article: Dr. Bronner’s adds a refill system to its product range

Article: The Lord’s Prayer "Our father" opening may be ‘problematic’, says archbishop

Article: These surfers want to restore temperate rainforests to Ireland

Article: Making hiking accessible without cars

Playlist

In 2004 the Cowboy Junkies closed a European tour at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall in England. They recorded and filmed the show, releasing both a CD and a DVD called Long Journey Home.

They opened the DVD with this version of the Velvet Underground's Sweet Jane. Lou Reed once said that of all of the many covers of this song, the Cowboy Junkies's reading was his favorite. This beautiful performance shows why.

Video: Cowboy Junkies - SWEET JANE (LIVE). For anyone who’s ever had a heart.

Weekly Mixtape
In the spirit of the Cowboy Junkies, here is a playlist for those times when less is more.

Playlist: Longing for Less

Image of the Week

The Image of the Week is by the Paint Up Community of Beirut.

"Surprise everyone! We're all PAINTED UP!
"73 Steps, 7 hours, and a dozen designers later, and we have our beautiful staircase, V.3, complete
Like it, share it, and if you can, pass by and take a peek at it down on Mar Mikhael Street!
"A job well done to our exceptional team who put all their love into our new step forward to brightening up & bringing color to the streets of Beirut." - A Dihzahyners Project.

Project Facebook page: Paint Up June 17, 2012

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.

You can learn more about me and my work here: mitch-anthony.com

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