Agalia Tan

defluxing isn’t about watering down. It’s about finding the heart of an idea. By iterating, adapting, and remixing, we find ways to invite others into the conversation. It is an exercise in gardening — engaging the world one practical, intuitive insight at a time.

Hyper-optimization and the quantification of everything is another driver. Everything now has a probability. This isn't just driven by the availability of data, but perhaps also a desire to "control" or "measure" outcomes, considered how freaked and out of control shit feels.

But, looking back, there wasn’t a single day I didn’t depend on others: an understanding colleague who told me it was ok to cry, a long-distance call with a dear friend, the countless small kindnesses of the baristas at my favorite coffee shop in the East Village. In the height of my so-called independence, I depended on everyone. Everything good... See more

A performative reader treats books like accessories, lugging around canonical texts as a ploy to attract a romantic partner or as a way to revel in the pleasure of feeling superior to others. While everyone else is scrolling social media, the performative reader insists upon his intelligence with attention-seeking insincerity, begging to be noticed... See more

It made me wonder: what other windows in my life am I forgetting to open? What joy is within reach, waiting only for me to notice the latch? Some opportunities for bliss don’t require effort. They just require remembering the second window even exists.