023: Staring into the abyss, feeling uninspired, and animal onomatopoeia

Plus a new concept called Phone Jail.

Welcome to In the Clouds, where I share what I've been consuming and what I find inspiring.

Hiiii

The first line of In the Clouds is about how this newsletter is where I share what I find inspiring and yet you may notice a general theme in the newsletter this month—a lack of inspiration and overall vibelessness.

Maybe it’s the time of year. Maybe it’s the *gestures broadly* everything going on in this country. Calling my mom, going for walks, reading a book, writing this all helps.

Enjoy 🤪

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🗞️ All I Really Need to Know (About Creative Thinking) I Learned (By Studying How Children Learn) in Kindergarten (2007) by Mitch Resnick

I have been feeling overstimulated by the amount of content I see every day so I found this read about how kids play helpful, even through a very academic lens.

🛒 Library card sweater vest knitting pattern by prettygrandpa

Positively delightful.

📹 I hate my phone so I got rid of it by Eddy Burback

On work days, James and I have been sending our phones to Phone Jail by putting them in a little shelf by themselves in the kitchen while we’re working. I work remotely and if my phone is even little bit within my peripheral vision, it’s over for me. I’m constantly reaching for it to open and close the same app, check emails, play Two Dots, etc. I hate that I do it and I hate that I can’t stop doing it. But Phone Jail changed everything. It has been great for feeling more focused, more calm, more productive, and less phone itchy. It has made me feel so much better. Now I just need to commit to doing it consistently.

Phone Jail reminds me of this tweet, which I always quote when I see a chain of preschoolers walking down the street <3

I saw this video come across my feed and I was scared to watch it for two weeks because I feared the results would be what I already know: phone bad. The whole thing was so thoughtful and balanced and well done and now I want to throw my phone into the East River. But like, only on weekdays.

I love Eddy Burback’s deep dives and this experiment did not disappoint. I loved his parallels to the Sex and the City girls and the sweet montage of his friends leaving him voicemails. If you like it, you should watch his video where he goes to every Rainforest Cafe in the country.

🛒 This tea kettle via Pan After

🌀 Animal onomatopoeia in different languages via The Pudding

One of my favorite cross cultural phenomenons is how animal sounds are translated differently across languages.

You can imagine my dismay as a seven-year-old thinking roosters said kikiriki and then moving to the States and finding out they say cock-a-doodle-doo…

🗞️ Staring into the abyss is a core life skill

I’m trying to learn the ways of staring into the abyss. 🧘‍♀️

Both making effective life decisions and having novel insights require you to figure out non-obvious true things about the world, which are sometimes uncomfortable or scary, and therefore you’ll only figure them out if you’re good at staring into the abyss. The converse of this is also true: for many people who I’ve seen struggle to improve their life, part of their problem was that they avoided thinking hard about some important part of their life because it was scary to stare at directly.

🛒 This shirt via Flashback Shop

🛠️ Framing 101 by

Jamie & Celia

A helpful guide full of though starters and practical advice for how to frame your beautiful objects.

🎶 SABLE, fABLE by Bon Iver

There’s a Rhythm is so good. Incredible 90s R&B and gospel vibes. Just impeccable vibes all around. Listening to this to get through it all.

📞 Genuine question: what do you do when you feel unmotivated or uninspired? Help!!!

Here’s a pic of some ham to send you off.

Ham ready to be served at Berbena in Barcelona.

See you next time. On the first Monday of the month, you can expect Asset Library and on the third Monday of the month you can expect In the Clouds in your inboxes.

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