Hello there!
The end of June has arrived and with it some scorching summer heat. I hope you are staying cool, wherever you are. June has been a slower month for me in the content creation department. I’m working on a few projects as the month comes to a close and hope to have more consistent output in July. I did scrape together enough to share some things with you.
🖋️ I posted a poem called “A Vision of I”. I was hesitant to include it here. It’s not my best work but it’s something. I’m trying to focus on the mantra “good enough is better than perfect.” The blog is meant to be a place where I can play with ideas. I don’t want to stay stuck in the trap of judging things as “worthy to share” or not. So here’s a poem that isn’t very good that will hopefully be followed by poems that are incrementally better, whatever that means.
📖 I posted book notes on Skin In The Game by Nassim Taleb. This book is about the importance of risk-taking and having stakes in the outcome of a given decision all throughout your life. If you always play it safe, you won’t get far. And you should be wary of anyone trying to sell you on something that they don’t have a direct stake in.
I. YouTube Channel that has inspired me to simplify my creative process
Van Neistat’s The Spirited Man
Van Neistat is Casey Neistat’s older brother. If you’ve spent any time on YouTube, you’ve probably heard Casey’s name before. If you haven’t, he’s a fantastic filmmaker and one of my biggest inspirations. Van launched his YouTube channel a couple of months ago. He is every bit the creative genius his little brother is but he has a style that is all his own. He is a master storyteller and his videos interplay with his narratives beautifully. I recommend beginning with his video titled Why Comedians Are The Most Important Artists of Our Time.
II. Twitter Thread with solid tips on time management
Time Management thread by Ali Abdaal (2 minute read)
Ali Abdaal is a productivity guru on YouTube. I appreciate his presentation style and actionable advice. In this Twitter thread, he gives 10 strategies on how he manages his time. All ten ideas give you something to consider about how you organize your own time. I am currently implementing his “Time Blocking” strategy.
III. Poem that resonated with me the strange way some poems do
The Worst Thing We Ever Did by Chelan Harkin (2 minute read)
A short poem I found thanks to Pete Holmes’ You Made It Weird podcast. The poem is simple and to the point. It doesn’t spend any time embellishing. The imagery comes through in every line. I guess it resonated with me because it stated something I believe in a better way than I’ve been able to articulate. It made me sit down and write a crappy poem for the first time in a while.
Quote To Consider
“To be an artist is to recognize the particular. To appreciate the peculiar. To allow a sense of play in your relationship to accepted standards. To ask the question “Why?” To be an artist is to risk admitting that much of what is money, property, and prestige strikes you as just a little silly.”
— Julia Cameron in The Artist’s Way
Photo of the Month
May Videos
You’re welcome to email me questions or simply say Hello. Let me know of a good book, podcast, video, or anything else you think I might be interested in.
I hope you have a jubliant July!
Until then,
Scotty
P.S. Van Hates Running