Being in the world

Letting the world happen to you, free of the desire for anything different

The ability to look deeply is the root of creativity. To see past the ordinary and mundane and get to what might otherwise be invisible.

Rick Rubin • The Creative Act: A Way of Being

I am very affected by place. Actually I think everyone is. Probably more than they realize.

Our surroundings act on us. Some foster chaos, others encourage enchantment. Broad landscapes, beautiful artwork, and ancient architecture fill people with awe. Office buildings with drop ceilings and an unimaginative palette of gray, screeching subways, and... See more

Tommy Dixon • surroundings that speak of enchantment

Work on becoming more attuned to all your senses such that you can notice minute differences between things. Study all the little differences between similar things, and why you like one better than the other. The world wants you numb. Being a student of nuance is an act of rebellion.

-Kepano

Instead, I stopped trying to fit myself and Every into an old model of what a founder, software startup, or media company needs to look like. Those are all old ideas, from an older context. They can be useful when needed. But they’re dry and dead.

I’ve just tried to be honest about who I am, what I want, and what I believe to be true about the... See more

Dan Shipper • Every’s Master Plan

When I watch a Miyazaki film I can’t help but think about his attunement to the world, the presence it requires to transmute the real world into a fantastical one. That’s the interesting contradiction of writers and artists, I suppose: alienation is a necessity, but so is participation. The point of getting better is to be more in the world.

Look for what you notice but no one else sees.

– Rick Rubin

“Children don’t see the world, don’t observe the world, don’t contemplate the world, but are so deeply immersed in the world that they don’t distinguish between it and their own selves.” - Karl Ove Knausgaard, Autumn

Tom Critchlow • LF:13 Family Futures

The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.

When you see what’s present around you as if for the first time, you start to realize how astonishing it all is.