Check-In Round

"What has your attention"?

Wondering why it took me over a year to buy some chairs to put on my balcony. Sitting outside during summer storms is one of my favorite things.

Follow-Up

I moved this newsletter from Tinyletter to Mailchimp last week. When I sent myself a test email it was sent to my spam folder so I hope this is making its way to everyone. You might want to consider adding samspurlin@gmail.com to your whitelist. Then again, if you’re reading this then you’re probably not struggling with it being marked as spam. Conundrum!

Also, I realized a few folks signed up using the Tinyletter link (it’s scattered around Twitter and in a few article footers, still) after I sent last week's issue. If that was you, you probably missed it. See it here.

A Very Miyazaki Week

Over the past week or so I’ve been devouring documentaries on the legendary animator Hayao Miyazaki. It started with the first three episodes of a four-part television series and then the film The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness. It has been a fascinating glimpse into the life and work habits of somebody who is unequivocally one of the masters of his field.

I’m struck by how Miyazaki’s demeanor and outlook on life isn’t at all what I would’ve expected from someone who makes such fantastical and whimsical movies. He’s certainly not an upbeat and happy dude. As he says, “Making films is suffering,” and I don’t doubt that he’s serious when he says that. Large parts of his creative process seem to be utterly wrenching for him.

I also found it fascinating how on the one hand he is kind of a solo creative genius in the sense that he creates the overall story and style of the movies he directs, but at the same time he leads a studio of over 100 animators who he has to work with to actually make his movies come to life. Miyazaki seems like a profoundly difficult person to work for and yet his stature in the field is so rarified I can see why people want to come work for him.

Anyway, it has been fascinating learning more about Miyazaki and the way he works. I guess that means it’s time to actually see one of his movies, eh?

What Has My Attention

I really like finding interest and meaning in the mundane. Greasy spoon diners and familiar fast food are a few of my favorite things. I love this article about artists who have formed strong connections with mundane spaces.
A very cool organization, the Center for Humane Technology, is apparently hiring. If I wasn’t already at my dream job I would probably be trying to figure out how to work here.
I’m guilty of always trying to turn hobbies and interests into paid side gigs. A side effect of my digital declutter last month, though, was the decision to pick up guitar again. I’m striving for mediocrity and loving it, so far.
I can very easily fall into a fiddly hole where I spend too much time playing with new apps and tools rather than focusing on what’s actually important. Reverting to primarily default apps is an interesting exercise in figuring out what I actually need in order to do my work. It’s always less than I imagine.

Closing Round

Eating: Weekends are for pancakes.
Drinking: Working my way through a bag of Ethiopian beans from local roaster Commonwealth Joe and have the latest from YES PLZ waiting for me in the wings.
Reading: I’ve been craving books about minimalism recently, for some reason. That has resulted in re-reading Goodbye, Things and reading The Minimalist Mindset for the first time. Still working my way through The Importance of Living, too.
Work: Last week was one of The Ready’s thrice yearly “dark weeks” where we don’t do client work and instead focus on internal, org-building work. I spent a lot of time clearing out the cruft and little tasks that seem to accumulate throughout the year. I like to think of it as removing friction so that the next trimester can run smoothly.
Playing: Fired up Destiny 2 again after a couple months away. Still working my way through the story and am really enjoying it.
Listening: Say Anything’s latest, "Oliver Appropriate", (Apple Music/Spotify) is making me feel like I'm in high school again and Tycho’s (Apple Music/Spotify) new single has seemingly been on repeat all week.

Yours in intentionality,
Sam