Tara Zhang

“The trick to having good ideas is not to sit around in glorious isolation and try to think big thoughts. The trick is to get more parts on the table.” Johnson says that a key way to get more parts on the table is to put yourself in networks of other creatives who are striving for the same thing. He continues, “What kind of environment creates good

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The happiest people I know create— they write, take beautiful photos, work with wood, make music.

The unhappiest consume— endlessly scrolling through others’ highlight reels, sensationalized news stories, content designed to hijack their nervous system.

Creativity fills the soul.

Consumption drains it.

Until the late nineteenth century, diamonds were found only in a few riverbeds in India and in the jungles of Brazil, and the entire world production of gem diamonds amounted to a few pounds a year. In 1870, however, huge diamond mines were discovered near the Orange River, in South Africa, where diamonds were soon being scooped out by the ton.... See more

The major investors in the diamond mines realized that they had no alternative but to merge their interests into a single entity that would be powerful enough to control production and perpetuate the illusion of scarcity of diamonds. The instrument they created, in 1888, was called De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd., incorporated in South Africa. As... See more

An easy way to lose oneself is to consume so much we lose sight of who we are and what we value. Creating is the opposite. The more we create, the more likely we are to figure out what’s really inside us.

And I don’t mean getting more people to start a Substack, or build an audience. There’s a peculiar kind of sadness that comes from adding more... See more

For one week, every time you think about looking something up online, ask someone instead. You can tell them about your experiment so they don’t think you’re a total weirdo. Ask them if they know the answer—and they’re not allowed to look on the internet either. Have a conversation about it. Share your best guesses. Have the conversations you would

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If something has gone sideways in your friendship, ask your friend to tell you what they’re feeling and thinking. Then be quiet and listen. Resist the urge to interrupt, defend, or answer back. Let them get out everything they need to say. After you clarify that you’ve understood them correctly by repeating back what you heard, ask, “Is it okay if

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