The things I learn, as I learn them
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Nothing changes, until it all does
Some systems change in a linear fashion. A little pressure, a little movement; more pressure, more movement. But some other systems are more resistant to change. They have defensive structures that are strong in the direction of their main opposing force. No amount of pressure seems to make a difference to these systems as they…
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Being intentional about decay
Primarily this looks like building terrariums and setting up fish tanks with the aim of making them as self sustaining as possible over a great number of years. One of my favourite things to do is to create small ecosystems which mirror the outside world. To do this successfully requires an understanding of the mechanisms…
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The tyranny of distance (another meaning)
From a distance, everything looks simpler. It’s only when we get close to a problem that the detail and nuance is truly revealed. For this reason, our armchair speculation is of limited value. From our vantage point, the solution looks obvious, but we can’t see all of the complexity that’s at play. Being able to…
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That’s great, but what about in the real world?
It’s important to know the theory. “Understanding the concept” makes planning, knowledge transfer and improvisation all possible. But it has a limit. If we can’t take that theory and practically apply it to the real world, then it’s just an exercise of fancy. Brining our ideas and concepts to life, making them tangible and allowing…
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Slips aren’t always fatal, but staying down is
We all fall down. But that doesn’t have to be the end of the song. Any fall that we CAN get up from is one that we SHOULD get up from. When we fall and stay down, we’re safe from the risk of falling down again, but we’re at a fatal risk of doing nothing.…
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Two sides might not be enough
When thinking about important issues or situations, we’re encouraged to consider both sides. What are the pros and cons? What are the arguments for and against? And while pushing ourselves to consider different perspectives is important, it’s important for us to remember that not everything is a duality. If we naturally fall on one side…
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Memory is iterative, not static
If something is important, get the details down somewhere objective. Our memories, wonderful as they are, are not great repositories for nuance and detail. The act of remembering recreates and rewrites the original memory – a process which distorts and changes our understanding of the past. Some details are emphasised and others a pruned each…
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Want to be helpful?
Find a little bit of chaos and bring some order to it. Cleaning up isn’t beneath anyone and it’s always welcome.
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Pace and the ecosystem
Sometimes things don’t move as fast as we’d like. In some of these circumstances, there’s nothing we can do to influence the pace except exercise our patience and be prepared for when it occurs. In other situations we will be able to speed things up, but that doesn’t mean we should. It’s easy to forget…
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On using it well ⏳
On the day of the year when many people will reshuffle their priorities (at least for a week or two), it’s worth listening to one of the masters (literally). Seneca reminds us “It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it… Life is long if…
Got any book recommendations?