Brian Wiesner

This is all to say: it’s worth listening when a place calls to you. It’s worth thinking about whether the place you live enables your goals or stands in their way. And it’s worth noticing what surroundings speak of enchantment, cultivate the conditions you feel at home in, and aim toward them. Life is more malleable than we think. It’s a surprise... See more

“A Spaniard’s social agility is superior to their fierce feelings of personal independence.” Giles Tremlett, Ghosts of Spain.

To simplify it only a little: in the first stage, a country is poor, and thinks it is poor. This is the baseline for basically every pre-industrial society and for some third-world countries today.

In the second stage, it is rapidly becoming rich but still believes it is poor. The prospect of acquiring wealth and of being a nation on the upswing... See more

I spoke about how I didn’t agree with James Dean when he famously said Dream as if you’ll live forever, Live as if you’ll die today . I prefer to contemplate life as if you’ll live forever . To follow desires free from the conscious limitations of time.

she suggests, this is because people have an internal alarm clock that goes off at big life events, like turning 30. It reminds them that time horizons are shrinking, so it is a point to pull back on exploration and concentrate on the here and now. “You tend to focus on what is most emotionally important to you,” she said, “so you’re not interested... See more

I suppose this is just a gentle reminder that if you sense you are in a moment where things are blossoming, where your hard work is crystallizing, where what you once hoped for is coming true—it is a good idea to take some time and appreciate it. To cherish the abundance you have created. To allow it in. To take some time to be with it. There is no... See more

However, amid the AM -ification of cities and culture, there is light in the darkness. We are beginning to understand what we lose when we reject the night. Policies to keep cities open round-the-clock have been picking up steam since Amsterdam began issuing 24-hour operating licenses in 2013. The idea of cultivating night time economies has since... See more

A Time We Never Knew

"Phones? No. We had each other."

Being off social media helped me remember how to think for myself. I’m having my own thoughts again, rather than social media telling me what to focus on.

I’ve been able to spend my time with much greater intention. I learn what I feel called to learn, rather than what’s put in front of me.