Life in seasons
Hey,
I’m back from Edmonton and getting settled again at home. But of course, we are going to Toronto this weekend for the final week of my sabbatical. As such, I don’t have a lot to say. I’m preparing myself to go back to work and trying to figure out what that looks like.
While closing things in Edmonton, I voraciously consumed information about all things. Personal finance, startups, happiness, cryptocurrency, creativity, productivity, life. On the one hand, that’s great. I hit a serious lull for many months, not reading much. On the other hand, the reason I was so active, is that I was avoiding the goals I had set for myself regarding writing. 😁
While reading, I came across two completely different references to the same idea that really a chord with me. The first is from Nikhil Sethi who writes a great newsletter called Splash.
“Lately, I’ve been feeling myself getting caught in the mundane, letting the small parts of daily life become the entirety of daily life, as if there’s nothing more to do than go grocery shopping, laundry, and watching television all the time. And although it was an enjoyable way to live for some time, I think that my phase for rest and moving slowly is coming to an end, and a season of creative work is upon me.“
The second was a Hacker News comment shared by Steph Smith in a blogpost:
It may help to think of your life as “epochs” or “seasons”. Sometimes you’re in a work period, or in a startup epoch. Another time you’re in a travelling season. It’s easier to split your interests over time than to parallelise in the present. The season idea can be greatly reassuring - “oh, I’m not doing enough music now, but that’s because I’m in a work period. Focus on work, do that, that’s enough. Spare time - rest, recuperate, so I can do better work tomorrow.”
I have an obsessive personality which tends to lead me in 100 different directions at once. As a result, I often struggle to finish things because I’m so excited about what else I could be doing. This intensity is an asset when I can stay focused. If you’ve worked with me before, you may have experienced this. It’s also a liability because my “Project Priorities” list is a perfect example of someone who doesn’t know how to set priorities.
Almost every day I write a new list that I tell myself is my new set of priorities for the moment, though it continues to change. Perhaps this is my season of experimentation. Trying many things, hoping to find something that sticks. Please bear with me.
To that end, some good news. I finished the little app Stumble I was working on before. It was a slog that led to me re-writing it twice and redesigning it once. But. Where we ended up is way better and for once, I have put together an app icon I actually like. It did require some very valuable design guidance from a friend.
Things worth sharing
I have two things to share this week. The first is small, the second is small but epic.
Watch the Sound - Mark Ronson has a new show, Watch the Sound, on Apple TV+ where he breakdown some great technology and techniques in music, showcasing how music is created and evolves. The first episode is about Autotune and I was hooked instantly.
Our dog is in Vogue UK - This next one is amazing. One of our dogs, Echo, is a lil Instagram influencer. Completely managed by Liz, he (Echo) has managed to get a nice little following. Most recently, he is being featured in the September issue (!! big deal if you’re in the know) of Vogue UK. Liz and I will be hunting down as many physical copies as we can over the next two weeks.
Okay I lied, I have a third thing. I BOUGHT TICKETS TO BILLIE EILISH. It’s a big year for me. They sold out instantly and I had to get them on Stubhub, but it was totally worth it. The show isn’t until March of next year, but I am excited.
See ya!