Natalie Audelo

Here’s the thing when you hang out with writers: We pay attention. We write things down. Much of what I write about are my observations. I always say I don’t have to make things up. I just need to pay attention.

I believe that our creativity grows like sidewalk weeds out of the cracks between our pathologies—not from the pathologies themselves. But so many people think it’s the other way around. For this reason, you will often meet artists who deliberately cling to their suffering, their addictions, their fears, their demons. They worry that if they ever l

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The English word “company” comes from the French compaigne—the sharing of bread, the same root as “companion.” Interestingly, the oldest Swedish term for business, narings liv, means “nourishment for life,” and the oldest Chinese symbol for business translates as “life meaning.” Perhaps when we rediscover organizations as living systems, we will al

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Quality is so rare generally that people are often surprised by it.

Quality rarely happens as an accident, it usually means someone is willing to go further building something that necessarily. At least, someone has to be motivated and allowed to do it, not forced to solely focus on some measurements.

Quality, brand and culture are some of those inta... See more

Schopenhauer loved metaphor, and his counsel starts with the example of a mason: The man is “employed on the building of a house” but “may be quite ignorant of its general design.” Because of this arrangement, Schopenhauer suggested, the mason was stuck in the daily details of his work instead of seeing it as part of a grand design. And so it is wi... See more

One of the best ways you can show productivity trust = modeling and embracing “blank time.”

While adapting to living here might sound pessimistic and resigned, I found talking about it deeply up-lifting. This is partly the subtle therapy of acknowledging the truths that hide in plain sight, though also because despite the insecurity that living here entails; it ’s an altogether more humane place to inhabit. It’s where we recognise our int... See more

Self-actualization means, at least partly, that you have designed a life that fits you—that allows you to express your human potential. And as I talked about in the last part, to make a good design, to find a fit, you need to perceive the context you are designing for clearly.

At the same time, a crush is beautiful because it’s a little unrealistic, because you see the very best in someone even when they’re flawed. One might argue that even a casual crush is a bit selfish—a way to project positive qualities onto someone, and to get the glowy excitement that comes with that, without really seeing them in all of their diff... See more