Enjoy the sun - week in review
A sunny week in the Netherlands brings reflection on balance, creativity, and slowing down.
Hello, regular readers, and welcome to the new ones!
This is Luis, with the latest issue of my newsletter. I write this newsletter to share my passion for photography, cities, and technology, along with interesting links I find over the week(s). This newsletter will be (as long as possible) free, but if you like to support it feel free to become a paid subscriber (pay what you want), or buy one of my photos.
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Welcome to one more weekly newsletter. In this issue you’ll find:
Sun in The Netheralands
Struggling to stay creative and focus
Interesting links
The text is broken down by pictures I published last week. If you want to see more photos, follow along on my Instagram or Pixelfed. Have a happy reading!
You can imagine by the title — it was a sunny week.
For some of you, dear readers, to have a sunny week might be the norm. However, living in The Netherlands, one learns to truly appreciate the sunshine and temperatures above 20ºC. It is an event. The parks get busy, people sunbathe, barbecues fire up after work — It was a good week.
When I was thinking about what to write, I kept coming back to the sun and being outside. Yes, it was good. Nevertheless, I also reflected about some other topics: How can I stay consistent with side projects? How do I make time for everything I want to do? How do I keep creative?
I don’t have answers to those questions. I know that I struggle from time to time, to adapt and make space for everything. I have ideas and try to implement them, but some-most times-life happens. Like everyone, I have to prioritize: How do I spend my time, where I focus my energy. Lately, that’s been on being outside, spending time with friends and family, and enjoying the good weather.
From time to time, I get frustrated that I’m not making enough progress on my side projects, that the plans I had in my mind aren’t moving as fast as I’d hope. Then the frustration blocks my creativity workflow, and it feels like a spiral—until something, someone, or I break it.
I know this is part of the process. Sometimes we make big moves, and ride a creative-high. Other times, we move more slowly. And that’s ok. It’s ok to go out, enjoy the moment, appreciate the people we are with, and recharge. Try to be creative by observing other at a picnic. Notice the details. Immerse yourself in good conversations.
Yes, it was a sunny week—a good week to slow down.
Links from the week:
Weeknotes:
Creativity
191 ☼ How to Build Your Own Creative Practice by Wesley Verhoeve
Madrileños: Un retrato a la ciudad a través de 50 personas nacidas en la capital. El País Semanal (Madrileños: A city portrait through 50 persons born in the capital)
Mastodon:
Thanks for reading!
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About this newsletter
I'm Luis Natera, a software developer, network scientist, and data/cities/tech nerd. I have an interdisciplinary trajectory (architecture -> sociocultural studies -> network science -> software development), you can read more about me and my career here.
This is a weekly newsletter about photography, cities, and software.
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