what you want is some process that allows you to extract information from the context, and bake it into the form. That is what unfolding is.

Digital platforms are largely devoted to making users consume more, faster—think of TikTok’s frenetic “For You” feed or Spotify’s automated playlists. Curators slow down the unending scroll and provide their followers with a way of savoring culture, rather than just inhaling it, developing a sense of appreciation.

If you’re trying to figure out what you’re going to do next, you’re not downshifting, you’re trying to jump straight into your next upshift. I made this mistake. It’s natural. It will take time for your high achiever tendencies to quiet down (this is part of the ending phase). Not knowing what to do next will feel deeply uncomfortable. Sit with tha... See more

‘Eno’ Review: Creativity, 52 Billion Billion Ways

I encourage you to tune into the experience of seriousness in your day-to-day life. What aspects feel tight, heavy, and constrained? In these areas, see if you can tune into any undercurrents of enjoyment. In the context of games, the way to let go of seriousness is to focus on just having fun. And the same applies in life.

You have the capacity to change. Unless you are a pickle, which thankfully, you’re not. As George Eliot wrote, “It is never too late to be what you might have been.”

Have fun — There’s a version of this work that’s hyper-analytical where we try to Moneyball our way to success. There’s another version where we’re living it, enjoying it, and having fun with it. Our best work comes when we’re having fun and enjoying what we’re doing, not when we’re overly analytical. Analytical thinking creates fear and uncertaint... See more

“Whatever you now find weird, ugly, uncomfortable, and nasty about a new medium will surely become its signature. CD distortion, the jitteriness of digital video, the crap sound of 8-bit — all of these will be cherished and emulated as soon as they can be avoided. It’s the sound of failure: so much modern art is the sound of things going out of con

... See more