At least a quarter of the messages he receives from readers express one idea—“The world is shit,” as he put it. “That has a sort of range: from people that just see everything is corrupt from a political point of view, to people that just see no value in themselves, in human beings, or in the world.” Cave recognizes that outlook from his “nasty little guy” days—but he fears that nihilism has moved from the punk fringe to the mainstream. The misery in his inbox reflects a culture that is “anti-sacred, secular by nature, unmysterious, unnuanced,” he said. He thinks music and faith offer much-needed medicine, helping to re-enchant reality.
For there is much about which to be enchanted. Certainly a lot of technology things—planes, chemistry, computers, and our endless fascination with building things. But technology is only the obvious target of enchantment, and its allure is finally wearing off. The reality we need to again find enchanting is the outside world. The literal source of our experiences.
What role does self-advocacy play in creating authentic and fulfilling relationships?
Self-advocacy is redefined as a cornerstone for personal and relational growth.
In advocating for your needs, you’re actually leading the way for the people that you serve to advocate for their needs.
~ Elizabeth Cunningham (4:15)
The conversation explores the concept of self-advocacy as a foundation for personal development and authentic relationships. It begins with reflections on the openness of participants at the Art of Retreat and transitions into how self-advocacy is an overlooked cornerstone in personal and professional life. Elizabeth emphasizes that advocating for one’s own needs fosters not only personal growth but also serves as an example for others, countering the misconception that self-advocacy is selfish.
Another focal point is the journey toward self-awareness and identifying areas where needs are unmet. This includes helping individuals recognize patterns of self-sacrifice and enabling them to understand the importance of prioritizing their own well-being. Elizabeth highlights the challenge of meeting people where they are without pushing solutions onto them, stressing the importance of cultivating genuine curiosity and allowing others to arrive at their realizations.
Takeaways
Self-advocacy — A foundational principle for personal and relational growth.
Self-awareness — Begins by identifying where personal needs are unmet or ignored.
Community dynamics — Movement and service-based communities often prioritize others at their own expense.
Leadership in needs — Advocating for personal needs models the behavior for others.
Coaching strategies — Effective coaching meets people where they are and avoids imposing solutions.
Cultural openness — Environments like retreats foster unique receptivity to self-growth ideas.
Intersection of service and self-care — Balancing helping others with self-prioritization creates a sustainable cycle of compassion.
We cannot make social media good, because it is fundamentally bad… all we can do is hope that it withers away, and play our small part in helping abandon it.
What insights can be gained about the culture, practice, and academic study of Parkour?
The conversation explores how Parkour evolved into a subject of academic research and its broader cultural implications.
I just got so interested in Parkour that I tried to spin every single project of any kind that I did, towards Parkour. Because I realized there was no— there’s hardly any research written about it at all.
~ Damien Puddle (3:50)
The conversation covers the cultural and academic dimensions of Parkour, including its growth as a global practice. Parkour’s physical techniques are explored, particularly how they contribute to biomechanical understanding and injury prevention. This ties into broader academic efforts to document and analyze Parkour, positioning it as a boundary object uniting diverse interpretations.
Attention is given to the social and philosophical aspects of Parkour. These include its global adoption, differences in regional practices, and how practitioners perceive and engage with the discipline. The conversation concludes with reflections on the broader significance of Parkour as both a personal journey and a collective cultural phenomenon.
Takeaways
Parkour as a boundary object — It unites various interpretations and perspectives across cultural and personal practices.
Regional Parkour variations — Different communities shape the practice in unique ways.
Intersection with academia — The conversation highlights how Parkour has become a legitimate subject for academic research.
Biomechanics and movement — Parkour’s techniques provide insights into safe and efficient movement practices.
Philosophical underpinnings — The practice offers opportunities for self-reflection and personal growth.
Globalization of Parkour — The spread of Parkour highlights its adaptability and universal appeal.
Community engagement — Volunteering and contributing to organizations enrich the practice beyond physical training.
Resources
Boundary Object Theory — A sociological framework discussed as a lens for understanding Parkour’s diversity.
How do personal approaches to podcasting, storytelling, and authenticity evolve over time and influence podcast production?
A storyteller shares insights on transitioning from solo episodes to engaging interviews.
If it’s not the real me— If it’s not something I love to do, then it won’t be authentic enough to actually go forward with it.
~ Aaradhya Tiwari (8:46)
The conversation explores the evolution of podcasting as a personal and creative medium. Aaradhya reflects on the transition from solo episodes to guest interviews, emphasizing the challenge of overcoming initial fears of rejection and the perfectionist tendencies that often accompany such projects. The importance of authenticity in podcasting is a recurring theme, with a focus on how genuine connections and natural conversations enhance the listening experience.
A mindfulness approach to creativity also features prominently. Observing daily life and being present in the moment are identified as essential practices for sparking creativity and storytelling. The discussion also touches on navigating differences in perspectives during interviews and how such exchanges can enrich a podcaster’s understanding and production quality.
Takeaways
Mindset shifts — Moving past the fear of rejection is a key step in starting and maintaining a podcast.
Perfectionism in podcasting — Striving for authenticity can help overcome the paralysis of perfection.
Storytelling as a foundation — Stories serve as a universal element that bridges differences and enriches content.
Mindfulness practices — Observing surroundings with intent enhances creativity and inspiration.
Adaptability in interviews — Acknowledging and respecting differing perspectives can lead to richer, more meaningful conversations.
Authenticity and passion — Staying true to oneself ensures the podcast remains genuine and engaging.
Resources
This is Marketing — Seth Godin’s book exploring authentic approaches to marketing and storytelling.
The second meaning of the word belong has to do with being an owner: Something belongs to me. To belong to a community is to act as a creator and co-owner of that community. What I consider mine I will build and nurture. The work, then, is to seek in our communities a wider and deeper sense of emotional ownership and communal ownership. It means fostering among all of a community’s citizens a sense of ownership and accountability, both in their relationship and in what they actually control.
There comes a moment in doing your reading where new work begins to rhyme. When you start to see the connections. When you understand who influenced the person you’re engaging with right now.
I find it difficult to figure out when to shift from empty-cup, learn-everything mode into the mastery mode. Godin’s insight about “rhyming” strikes me as a great test. In the beginning of some new learning adventure, everything is new and everything is surprising. The idea of noticing when a lot of things start to rhyme… of noticing when you can tell who or what influenced this thing you’re currently studying… that is when you notice that you have shifted into the mastery level of practice. Mastery does not—not by a long shot!—mean you are done. It’s more like the point where the airplane pivots and leaps into the sky: Now I am ready to begin my own journey.
The greatest crime is the overlooking of who you really are in favor of the story of who you think you are. This preoccupation with your personal drama is the cloud that masks the sun.
Nothing has all of the ingredients for the emotional breakdown recipe quite like a pandemic-induced global shutdown. Lack of face-to-face socializing and general social isolation? Check. Financial uncertainty and mass unemployment? Check. Lack of regular exercise, sunlight, and access to basic necessities? Check. High uncertainty of one’s safety and security in the near future? Check. Tons of free-time to refresh news feeds five thousand times per day? Double check.
If ever there was a yawning opportunity to backslide on all the things I’ve changed in recent years—setting aside time for reflection, reading, boundaries with television and food, habits of movement and exercise, how I use the Internet (it no longer uses me,) writing, recording podcasts, … If ever there was a yawning opportunity to backslide, this current shift is it.
I still have people I care about. I make decisions about my health. I make choices using my mind by applying reason. I balance conflicting demands for my time and resources. Certainly, most of the day-to-day details of life writ large are different. But all the things which begin this paragraph remain unchanged for me.
WAIT. Why did I start with pointing out there’s a yawning opportunity to backslide, if I’m saying nothing has changed?
…because the rest of world has relaxed what it expects from me.
Think about that. If I veered and: stayed up late binge-watching Netflix, didn’t get up at the time I normally do, didn’t shower and shave when I have video calls, didn’t act professionally, etc., people would let it slide. Right? The world is facing a global crisis, so it’s ok to relax the standards.
Instead, I’m raising my standards for myself. Now, just when everyone else would be happy to give me more slack, I’m renewing my efforts; Do I really want to do this (whatever-it-is), or is there a better way I can spend my time right now? What relationships do I nurture, and which do I sever? What have I been reading? What have I been creating; does what I create build the world up or tear it down?
The thing I care the most about: what do you do when no one is looking, what do you make when it’s not an immediate part of your job… how many push ups do you do, just because you can?
Stumbled over this 8-year-old post from Seth. It’s suprisingly apropos—confirmation bias in action I suppose—of a conversation I just had.
There are two ways I can go with my thoughts on this: It turns out that I do a lot push-ups, (and other things, “Hello, Art du Déplacement,”) just because I can. But I think there’s a more interesting thread I can pull from this serendipity.
I don’t trust inspiration. I don’t trust it to show up, let alone motivate me. If something inspires me, I channel that energy to envision the path which could make the inspiring idea into some reality. I use moments of inspiration to propel me into doing the hard work of figuring out the next possible step. …and the step after that. …and after that.
The rest of the time—most of the time in fact—all I’m doing is working my systems. A bit of this, a bit of that, some of this, and some of that.
So basically all of these systems are intimately interconnected, and probably before this is done with researchers will find five more systems intimately interconnected with all of these. It might be that inflammation is the master system which causes a cascade of events in all of the others. It might be that one of the others is the master system. It might be that depression is a collection of multiple different diseases, and some are caused by one thing and others by another. It might be that looking for a “master system” is silly and that the true mathematical relationship between all of these things is such a chaotic process that all you can say is that they all stumbled together into the wrong attractor point and things deteriorated from there.
This is one of those stories where science has been carefully teasing something apart for many years, only to find out, in the end, that they had it all wrong along the way.
Clarity: SCIENCE FOR THE WIN.
But — via my confirmation bias — this jumps out as another place where being “certain” about things turns out to be — wait, no — I’m not certain. Dammit. Oh well, it’s just turtles all the way down.
The third-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the majority. The second-rate mind is only happy when it is think with the minority. The first-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking.
When inlining of images happened; The first time it was possible to put an image directly INTO the page. And JPEGs man. JPEGs where coooooooooool.
Also, tables. Today, everyone loves to whine about how bad it is to use tables to layout pages. NOT having tables was much, much worse.
And image-maps; The idea that WHERE exactly you clicked on an image, could take you to different content. I won’t even get into what we had to do to make it work… (but it involved: convex polygon mathematics, C code, a compiler, and a DEC Alpha work station.)
So yeah, back in the day we had Mosaic. Then these guys hit it out of the park with:
Navigator was the way millions of people around the world were introduced to the web. Many web technologies and standards, such as as SSL, Java, Javascript, open APIs and support for online media, were innovations that Navigator made mainstream.
Around the corner I have a friend, In this great city that has no end, Yet the days go by and weeks rush on, And before I know it, a year is gone.
And I never see my old friends face, For life is a swift and terrible race, He knows I like him just as well, As in the days when I rang his bell.
And he rang mine but we were younger then, And now we are busy, tired men. Tired of playing a foolish game, Tired of trying to make a name.
“Tomorrow” I say! “I will call on Jim Just to show that I’m thinking of him”, But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes, And distance between us grows and grows.
Around the corner, yet miles away, “Here’s a telegram sir,” “Jim died today.” And that’s what we get and deserve in the end. Around the corner, a vanished friend.
