Craig Constantine

Au delà du saut

September 1, 2022 · All posts on Sep 1

Nous abordons toutes les dimensions de la pratique depuis l’histoire jusqu’au flow, en passant par les entrainements physiques, la technique, le mental, les valeurs … Tout ce qui vous permettra de mieux comprendre et ressentir le mouvement pour pouvoir aller plus loin.
~ Stany Boulifard Mallet from, L’Art Du Déplacement –

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I’m really excited about this. Two friends of mine, after very much work over several years, have finished a book. It’s in French (there’s discussion of doing an English version next) and available as a digital file if you’re not in France. Two things…

I had a conversation with Stany Boulifard Mallet (one of the authors) back in 2018.

And if you just thought, “lart du depla-what?!” and you’re the curious type, see my Art du Déplacement tag for my blog posts related to this beautiful movement community and its French roots.

Work ethic with Mark Tweddle

August 31, 2022 · All posts on Aug 31

What are the challenges and strategies for managing the technical, creative, and promotional aspects of podcasting effectively?

Audio engineers are adapting traditional skills to modern tools like Descript, reshaping collaboration in podcasting.

There’s a value in the creative work, there’s a value in the hard work, there’s a value in story, there’s all these values about doing the thing, but what do you think having it be published would add for you?
~ Mark Tweddle (17:57)

The conversation covers challenges in podcast production, focusing on integrating traditional audio engineering with modern collaborative tools like Descript. Descript’s transcription and editing features facilitated collaboration for a multi-host podcast, enabling efficient feedback and editing processes. The discussion also explored the creative synergy between music, storytelling, and podcasting, particularly through the unique production dynamics of live recordings and audience interactions.

Another major topic is the difficulty of balancing creative work with the practicalities of podcast promotion. Despite producing compelling content, finding the right audience and ensuring the podcast reaches them is a persistent challenge. Mark reflects on how personal values and satisfaction drive creative efforts, questioning what publishing adds to the creator’s sense of accomplishment.

Takeaways

Evolving role of tools — Collaborative podcast production and tools can streamline feedback and editing processes.

The challenges of transitioning from virtual to live podcast recordings — live shows demand different preparation and adaptability.

The importance of storytelling in various mediums — storytelling connects creators and audiences through shared narratives.

The intersection of music and podcasting — creative integration of music can enhance storytelling and audience engagement.

The difficulty of podcast discovery and audience targeting — even high-quality content may struggle to find its ideal listeners.

Balancing creative and technical demands — creators need to manage their time and energy effectively.

The role of pre-planning in podcasting — effective preparation ensures smoother production, particularly for live events.

Resources

Descript — A transcription and editing tool for podcasts and audio production.

Sauce Productions — Neil Harrington’s audio production company, specializing in podcasts and advertising.

Intimate Fame Podcast — A dramatized podcast focusing on historical figures; upcoming episodes explore Marilyn Monroe and Wallace Simpson.

Hindenburg Pro — Audio editing software for podcast production.

Edinburgh Festival — Venue for live podcast recordings discussed in the conversation.

(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)

Who’s in charge?

August 31, 2022 · All posts on Aug 31

But then [Seneca] gives the real reason: “The body should be treated more rigorously that it may not be disobedient to the mind.” I think about that every morning just before I crank the knob. Who is in charge? The courageous side of me or the cowardly side? The side that doesn’t flinch at discomfort or the side that desires to always be comfortable? The side that does the hard thing or the side that takes the easy way?
~ Ryan Holiday from, You Actually Should Do Something That Scares You Every Day – RyanHoliday.net

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This made me think. Usually, I share others’ writing because I thought highly of it. In this case, I’m hesitant to say this, however: I’ve never thought my body was in charge.

Certainly(!) I have reflexes and bodily functions or urges which my mind has no control over. Certainly flinching (under cold water for example) is something you can learn to reduce. I’ve always thought of my mind as the one who’s not always the best captain of the ship. I don’t need to train to put my mind in charge of my body.

Recently I hurt my back. The story begins with my doing some truly pathetic, free-weight exercises to strengthen my back. I over did it. Then I ate poorly and wound up bloated and a few pounds heavier. Then I went rock climbing and worked on a problem (a challenging combination of moves and skills, in an easy to access location rather than 2 hours up some mountain, so one can spend time with it) that involved maximum–strength pulling with my arms while pushing with my legs. Boink! Ow, my back. I managed to calmly pack my 20 pounds of things into my pack, walk back to the car and drive myself 3 hours home. There were a myriad of things that could have set me off in the moment, on the drive, and in the coming days: acute pain, inability to sleep well, the inability to reach my feet or wipe my butt, the fact that I did it all to myself while trying to improve my body, drivers on the highways and people who tried to talk to me, the overall setback, … so many things. But instead, I was reasonable with everyone. I did what I could do, rested and recovered. A week later—just as I knew I would be—I’m back to where I was before I picked up the free-weights. Ready to try again at improving myself (and planning an even more gradual start.)

So I’m inclined to say: My mind is clearly in charge, even under duress.

What I was thinking about, in that first sentence here, was if I have trained to put my mind in charge, that means there’s room for more training.

A rare repeat

August 30, 2022 · All posts on Aug 30

Because sometimes I experience small periods of blissful serenity. I’d particularly like to be able to go there on a more regular basis. It seems to me that spending about 10 days doing nothing but meditating in silence would be a delightfully mind-altering experience.

~ Me from, Waiting for the next one – Craig Constantine

I’m a process maniac. I have automation that feeds me links to my historical blog posts. This one from three years ago was something I really needed to reread (and was therefore very glad I was given the nudge to do so.)

Opportunity with Gabriella Pitman

August 29, 2022 · All posts on Aug 29

How can content creators balance the need for consistency and momentum with the risk of burnout and the desire to create meaningful, sustainable work?

The conversation unpacks the delicate balance between consistency and creative freedom for podcasters.

There is a certain amount of spaciousness in your mind in your emotions in your physical mental space. You need to have that kind of openness that emptiness in order for ideation to occur.
~ Gabriella Pitman (5:37)

The conversation explores the nuanced relationship between creative consistency and personal well-being in podcasting. Challenges such as burnout, audience engagement, and maintaining momentum without overextending oneself are discussed. Reflections on the publishing schedule reveal that rigid adherence to routines can detract from the joy and authenticity of creating. Gabriella highlights the importance of stepping back to recharge and regain inspiration.

A significant portion of the discussion centers on the evolving metrics and expectations in podcasting, particularly how creators can navigate audience demands without succumbing to the pressure of frequent publishing. Gabriella and Craig emphasize the value of intentionality in creative work and the necessity of pacing content creation according to personal capacity and audience needs.

Takeaways

Balancing momentum — Maintaining creative momentum is valuable but must not lead to overextension or burnout.

Importance of spaciousness — Openness and mental space are essential for creativity and ideation.

Publishing frequency — Audience engagement does not necessarily require constant content output; intentional pacing can be more impactful.

Resistance as a signal — Resistance can indicate either a need for persistence or a deeper issue requiring change.

Podcasting metrics — Traditional metrics like download counts and schedules are not the sole indicators of success or audience impact.

Resources

South by Southwest — Mentioned in relation to live concerts and content creation opportunities.

Seth Godin’s Blog — Referenced for its consistent publishing practice and influence on creators.

Spotify — Discussed as a podcast platform that influences engagement metrics.

(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)

The why

August 29, 2022 · All posts on Aug 29

People think of that complexity as an expression of our capacity for abstract thought. We believe our brains are so complex because of the wonders we can build in our minds. Make no mistake, we can build wonders in our minds but what we have neglected is that those wonders are boot strapped on top of motor control. The first purpose of the brain is to guide movement.
~ Rafe Kelley from, «https://www.evolvemoveplay.com/the-why-of-movement-practice/»

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And the second purpose it to solve problems in the physical world. (How do I go over there? How do I avoid that danger? How do I get food?) To solve problems you need to be able to define what the problem is. You define any problem by imagining some desired state (I am over there. I have avoided that danger by running. I have eaten that food.) and then looking for options that can get you from the current state, to the desired state. So it turns out that the better your imagination is, the better you can be at solving problems. Faced with endless options, you mind turns out to be really good at heuristics—making estimations in advance with limited knowledge (prejudice can be a good thing; assuming snakes are not friendly is an excellent heuristic.) All of which makes possible the beauty and diversity of our lives. Fortunately, we have a capacity for reason atop all of that which enables us to make choices so the possibility of beauty and diversity can be our a reality. I digress.

Back to Kelley’s point, if the entire edifice of our minds is built upon that first purpose, what happens if we starve the mind of the physical engagement?

Lions and lambs

August 28, 2022 · All posts on Aug 28

Since retiring as a lion, I have grown to admire and respect the lambs. As it turns out, they are the ones that have not yet been rendered idiots by the ‘health and fitness’ industry. Their meekness comes not from weakness of character, but from highly justified scepticism. Their sideward glances stem not so much from question such as “what am I doing”, but rather “what the hell are you doing..?” And quite rightly so. What the hell are you doing?
~ “MoveMore” from, The Problem with ‘Exercise’ – MoveMore

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A quirky article from some place new (to me). The author (who is completely unidentified across their entire web site as far as I can tell) has a fun way of turning the tables on the standard lambs and lions. They also rail against the mainstream health and fitness representations of, well, “health” and “fitness”.

Novelty

August 27, 2022 · All posts on Aug 27

I get the feeling that a lot of us are afraid of repeating ourselves – as if doing so demonstrates a lack of originality or a “less than” memory.
~ Jon Yuen from, «https://www.yuenjon.com/articles/2020/6/5/reminders»

Clearly (based on all these blog posts) I’m not afraid of repeating myself, and it feels in each moment as if I’m repeating myself. I see the same patterns in what interests me, and I think the same trains of thoughts. When I zoom farther out however, I see long, slow trends. The problem for me with repetition is that I find the salience of things tapers away towards zero. I’m [knowingly] within a few feet of a snake so rarely that my brain effortlessly applies maximum attention; but the number on the scale, not so much. What works for me is when the repetition is uncertain. I know I’ll read one of my quotes tomorrow, but it’ll be a random one—and I’ll remember it instantly as soon as I start reading it. Repetition repetition on to something else then… surprise! …more repetition!

The message

August 26, 2022 · All posts on Aug 26

There are mountains of content. None of it is new. How do we decide what to practice or teach? A message can clarify this. There was a time when I did not have a message. I delivered great content, accumulated from various teachers I’d studied from. The participants had fun, but my lack of messaging left me without answers to questions like, “Why does this much strength (or mobility) matter?” or “Why have you chosen these moves and not those moves?”
~ Kyle Fincham from, What’s Your Message?

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It used to be, that when I read things like this article, I would be launched into deep thinking. It’s nice to know what my message is. It’s nice to know why, specifically, each piece of my menagerie is in my care, why I continue feeding it, and what my hopes for it are. It’s nice. I point this out not in some attempt to jump on my soapbox about how everyone should sort their own menagerie out… no. I’m literally just pointing out that my experience of it is nice.

Somatic movement

August 25, 2022 · All posts on Aug 25

A somatic approach to movement can help us get reacquainted with ourselves. This is our home base after all. It’s our guts and tissues, our thoughts and perceptions. It’s our subjective experience of life. […] When we cultivate self-awareness through movement, we come up against the boundary of self and other. We recognize that we don’t live in a vacuum.
~ Chandler Stevens from, «http://chandlerstevens.com/blog/2016/11/9/connection-relation-and-somatic-ecology»

The word “reacquainted” leapt out at me. Every time I truly pause to pay attention, I’m immediately confronted by my physical self. There’s the inevitable settling towards senescence, and frankly that doesn’t bother me. I enjoy looking back at the things I was once capable of and thinking, well, that was nice! No, the confrontation I’m talking about is the stuff that I know is my fault… and I’m not going to list physical metrics. Suffice to say: All I’d have to do it remove the stress and everything else would settle back to a wonderful baseline that I’d love to return to.

How to think for yourself

August 24, 2022 · All posts on Aug 24

Independent-mindedness seems to be more a matter of nature than nurture. Which means if you pick the wrong type of work, you’re going to be unhappy. If you’re naturally independent-minded, you’re going to find it frustrating to be a middle manager. And if you’re naturally conventional-minded, you’re going to be sailing into a headwind if you try to do original research.
~ Paul Graham from, How to Think for Yourself

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This is a case where I found it difficult to pull-quote. This at least gives you an idea of what the article is about. The challenge for me seems to be not becoming a raving lunatic when I’m off in independent-thinking land. I’ve learned to be able to swim in the conventional–minded, littoral waters, and I’ve been told I can even be helpful there. But my native environment seems to be the deep ocean of solitary thinking. I need to constantly remind myself that coming back to shore is important… as is doffing the raving lunatic appearance before trying to fold myself back into collaborative efforts.

Having a practice

August 23, 2022 · All posts on Aug 23

What does it mean – “having a practice”? It is a very vague definition that can be used in many ways and can mean many things. As well as it can mean nothing at all, just referring to smoke and mirrors. The straightforward notion of “practice” in itself entails being involved in a process, repeatedly engaging in an activity with the end goal of achieving mastery in something. It can be both an empty description of a habit or it can be a phenomenon that fills human life with meaning.
~ Anna Bezuglova from, The Bamboo Body – Blog – Movement Practice Barcelona

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I’ve often mentioned the power of asking movement enthusiasts for, “three words to describe your practice?” The power of my question comes both from the difficulty in summarizing and from the difficulty in describing one’s practice. And yes, I’ve made a note to see if I can get around to talking with Bezuglova on the Movers Mindset podcast.

Variance

August 22, 2022 · All posts on Aug 22

However—fourth—over the last century there’s a huge relationship between how rich a country is and the variance in growth. The richest countries have low variance: They all stubbornly keep growing at around the same 1 or 2%. However, middle-income countries vary enormously.
~ “Dynomight” from, Do economies tend to converge or diverge?

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There’s several different interesting threads in this article. But this point about variance leapt out at me. I’m reminded of how just the other day, a piece about statistics that I mentioned was talking about variance (if you clicked through and read the article.) Variance feels like a sort of second-order thinking that I probably should be doing more often.

Creepy

August 21, 2022 · All posts on Aug 21

Motility, and in particular directed motility, is decisively important for host colonization, as bacteria deliberately seek to colonize an organism and conquer all niches.
~ Ludwig Maximilian from, How stress hormones guide bacteria in their host

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*shudders* The article is about stress hormones in people, and research into how bacteria are (not “may be”) using our hormones to signal when they (the bacteria, *shudder* again) should go on the offensive and move. I don’t have anything to add. This just struck me as creepy.

That says it all

August 20, 2022 · All posts on Aug 20

And worse, when something truly significant does happen, it blends in seamlessly with the continuing shitstream that is information in the social media age.
~ Mark Manson from, The Outrage Cycle

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Manson lays it out pretty much as he always does. He’s not swinging a baseball bat; No it’s one of those bats from a zombies movie with nails sticking out of it. But the point is valid none the less.

Physical or digital?

August 19, 2022 · All posts on Aug 19

In the past couple weeks I’ve been thinking a lot about whether or not to keep my slipbox physical or if I should switch to a digital system. There are specific reasons for having it be physical:

Physical “viewing” is vastly better. I can do countless things with markings, colored sticky notes, standing cards up/on-angles, pulling cards out and spreading them on my desk, it’s faster to make a few marks on paper than it is on digital. Some of that can be done with vastly complicated systems (always a bad idea to build those), but physical is simply better.
The small size of each paper slip (I’m using 3″x5″ cards) is a feature. Any digital system is going to let me put way too much on each digital slip. There’s value gained by forcing myself to think about just what to put on a slip.
It’s not digital. Any time I have to use a digital device, I’m that much closer to the things which cause me problems. Any time I can avoid digital systems, that’s a Good Thing™.

I knew all that when I started. That’s why I created a physical slipbox. But lately, the following things have become a problem, and led me to reconsider going fully digital:

I have a fairly small collection of things I refer to that I want to be able to find quickly when I have computers handy. Where’s that awesome grammar and punctuation site that I love? What’s that odd–ball command to do that thing I have to do only rarely? It’s all stuff that I could figure out again by searching the Internet, but if I just had a little digital note, I’d be moving forward again in an instant. For this type of lookup, the computer is faster than the physical slipbox.
Sometimes I really do want to put a lot of content “on” one slip. For example, I have these fairly large digital files of research on people that I’d like to be able to connect to people who are in the slipbox. If I’m working with the slipbox, and I find Jane Doe, then I want to know that I have a digital file for that person.
For those larger digital files, I want to be able to write a URL which instantly takes me to viewing them.

It’s that last item which is really a big deal for me. To solve those three issues I was considering changing the entire slipbox to be digital (and giving up all the other positives of a physical slipbox.)

Fortunately, I kept thinking, reading and experimenting and I figured out I can have both worlds.

I eventually realized that I already have really large “slips” in the slipbox. I already have a collection of digital books, essays, and articles that are in PDF format. For those digital files, their corresponding physical slip has a doodle (it looks like a piece of paper with one corner turned down) that reminds me there’s also a digital file. All of those files are currently “on” slips below the “2” address in the slipbox. (e.g.: The “2tu3” slip has a digital file doodle, and there’s a “2tu3 – Whatever the Title Is.pdf” file.)

For my item 2 above (big digital files of research on people) I just do the same thing for those people. “Jane Doe” would already be on slip “4c1do” (which is a listing of “Doe”, “Donatta”, “Droge”, etc.) I can simply toss in a slip “4c2do1” with a digital-file mark (and name the digital file “4c2do1 – Jane Doe”.) The next person on “4c2do” who needs a digital file gets to be “4c1do2”, and so on.

For item 1 in my list, there’s no reason I can’t have a bunch of files where I keep little “remember this” notes. So I added physical slip “4c3”, and then every slip that might ever go under that address is a digital file. For example, my grammar web site is on “4c3wi1a”. But I never have to know or remember that. I just search for “grammar” and I land on that digital file.

It was item 3 from my list that had me stumped until I remembered Obsidian!

I simply have a folder full of folders and text files in the same organizational structure as my physical slipbox. Where I once had a bunch of digital books, essays, and articles tossed in one folder; those are now all stored under “2”. And there’s a now a “4” folder, with a “4c1” for people’s digital files, and a “4c3” for those “remember this” items. Back over in the physical slipbox, any slip that has a digital-file mark, I’ll find the digital file in the parallel universe of this tree of folders.

Finally, I pointed Obsidian at the outermost folder. Voila! For anything in this tree of folders, in the Obsidian app I can click “copy Obsidian URL…” and I get a URL like this one which I paste anywhere I want:

obsidian://open?vault=Craig's%20Slipbox&file=2%2F2i%2F2io1%20-%20Inconsistent%20yet%20persistent

I have the Obsidian app installed on all my devices. Any time I try to navigate to an obsidian:// method URL, it open the app, and Obsidian opens that file.

Physical? Digital? I can’t choose… How about: Mostly physical, but digital when it needs to be? Nice.

Or not

August 18, 2022 · All posts on Aug 18

There’s no getting ahead with your podcast. There’s only adjusting your calendar and developing the discipline to keep separation between your production schedule and your publishing calendar.
~ Evo Terra from, «https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/why-youll-never-get-ahead-with-your-podcast»

Terra is laying out the eternal struggle which everyone who takes up podcasting soon discovers: You are beholden to the publication schedule. I mean, sure, you get to set your own schedule, right? …but then you…

Wait, why is that again? You know you can just publish whenever you feel like it. That’s what I do and hundreds of published conversations later across multiple different shows… literally no one ever has asked me when the next episode will be out. Nor why I don’t publish on a schedule. Maybe they’re all just ignoring me, or think I’m a weird podcaster. But know what I definitely am not? …beholden to a schedule.

Instead I can do what I want to do (have great conversations) when I am able to arrange that. And then I publish them. *mic drop*

Tasty numbers

August 17, 2022 · All posts on Aug 17

For five years as a data analyst, I forecasted and analyzed Google’s revenue. For six years as a data visualization specialist, I’ve helped clients and colleagues discover new features of the data they know best. Time and time again, I’ve found that by being more specific about what’s important to us and embracing the complexity in our data, we can discover new features in that data. These features can lead us to ask better data-driven questions that change how we analyze our data, the parameters we choose for our models, our scientific processes, or our business strategies.
~ Zan Armstrong from, Stop aggregating away the signal in your data – Stack Overflow

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This one just has neat graphs in it. And it has some interesting insights about what data analysts do. The phrase “big data” has been tossed around a lot in recent years—the way “quantum mechanics” gets tossed around by people who have no idea about that either. This article isn’t about truly big data sets, but it’s a neat dive into energy usage as an example of some spiffy data analysis.

What would make it amazing?

August 16, 2022 · All posts on Aug 16

This process starts with identifying the things you want in your day, as if you were curating a small but thoughtful collection. What handful of things would make your day amazing?
~ Leo Babauta from, 5 Ways to Simplify Your Life – Zen Habits Website

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Sometimes I’ve not the least interest, let alone hope, of getting to “amazing.” Sometimes my days are all spiders, paper-cuts, stubbed toes, and sepsis. And then I think: well, actually, what would it take to get to “amazing?” The answer is invariably two-fold: I would need to cut loose from something-or-other, and doing that would burn a bridge, (money, relationships, etc.) Then I waiver. Usually, I decide not to strike the match. But sometimes… I just want to strike the match and watch my world burn.

Better choices

August 15, 2022 · All posts on Aug 15

And Stoicism, it could be said, is a philosophy about how to make better choices. This is what we see in a book like Meditations. We see Marcus Aurelius journaling, working to get better at choosing. Choosing the right things to value, the right things to think, the right things to focus on, the right response to a difficult situation.
~ Ryan Holiday from, Life Is Up To You: 8 Choices That Will Make Your Life Better – RyanHoliday.net

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One of the first things you learn about philosophy is that the word means “the love of truth.” It’s the sort of clever thing a much younger version of myself would have bludgeoned others with. “See me study philosophy!” I long ago learned to set aside such cleverness.

Fortunately I learned that philosophy—at least, the sort I’m interested in—is about self-improvement. The proof of my work shows in myself… in my actions and the way I think, and is noticeable to those who care to pay attention. (I’m not suggesting that everyone should pay attention to me.) Surprisingly, at the deeper level of self-improvement, reminding myself that “philosophy” means “the love of truth”, has returned to being a great thing to trot out regularly… as a reminder to myself.