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“Will it work?”
There’s really no certainty that anything you actually want to do is going to work. The only way to really find out—to get a real answer that matters—is to do it. Whatever you’re trying out, treat it like a pilot project. You’re just investigating to see if it’ll work. I like to move fast on…
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Teaching yourself
The ability (and confidence) to teach yourself something is a wonderful thing. Depending on the subject, though, it’s often a very time-intense process. Once you can afford to, walk both paths; take the class, and teach yourself. Two teachers are better than one.
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When the Mexican fisherman parable breaks
I’ve seen this parable everywhere for years, most recently in Oliver Burkeman’s Four Thousand Weeks (great book!), and I’ve usually appreciated it: A vacationing New York businessman who gets talking to a Mexican fisherman, who tells him that he works only a few hours per day and spends most of his time drinking wine in…
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What’s your signature?
I recently came across Virgil Abloh’s lecture at Harvard once again. In particular, I liked his examination of his own personal design language; he says, “Your brain will tell you when something’s finished. And then post-rationalize. Make up something afterwards, or whatever.” That’s pretty much how he developed his design language: Readymade – new idea…
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72 seasons
An ancient Japanese calendar marked time in 72 seasons, ushering in a new season approximately every 5 days. That probably sounds strange to me and you, because we’re so used to thinking of seasons in 3 month increments. (Actually in Toronto it’s more like two seasons and 6 month increments…you get the idea.) Time is…
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Each work is a gamble
From the point of view of one who creates, everything is a gamble, a leap into the unknown. Kusama, Yayoi. Infinity Net: The Autobiography of Yayoi Kusama (p. 37). Tate Enterprises Ltd. Kindle Edition. See printing lottery tickets, the social media lottery.
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Side projects open doors
When I was a student, I had no idea how I was going to get a job. In order to get a job, I needed to have experience; in order to get experience, I needed to have a job. Any internship worth getting also seemed to require working experience. Or so I thought. One of…
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Departure eyes
One of the best—and most bittersweet—aspects of travel is not just arriving in a new place, but departing a familiar one. Oftentimes, departing a place you call home. It’s an occasion that brings out the flavor of home. You appreciate buildings you walked past without a second glance. The most mundane details grow more loveable,…
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The Brilliance and branding
Blogs are still an incredible source of joy for me. That’s why I do this everyday! I recently rediscovered The Brilliance, which I first came across in 2009 during a visual computer science lecture, run by Benjamin Edgar, Chuck Anderson, and the late Virgil Abloh. I’ve been diving into its archives from the late 2000s.…
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Work isn’t meant to be escaped
Entrepreneur Curtis Jackson, also known as recording artist 50 Cent, writes in Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter: One of the most important realizations I came to early in my business career is that I’m running through an endless tunnel. What I mean by that is I came to understand that there’s no “happily ever after.” No…