December Favourites 2022
“Don’t be the best. Be the only.”
🍿 My Favourite Movies of the Month
The Menu
Words on Bathroom Walls
The Resident
Argo
Those Who Wish Me Dead
📺 My Favourite Shows of the Month
Dash & Lily
Bleach
Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War
📚 My Favourite Reads of the Month
A Free Source Of Energy You Might Ignore 🔗 / Szymon Sosulski’s Substack /
What if I told you that every one of us has a free source of energy that we often overlook? …
Philosophy, Not Science 🔗 / Nat Elison’s Substack /
Scientific research is a tool for epistemology. It’s an attempt to create a framework for claiming what we know and do not know. Like most tools, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Its effectiveness depends on the artisan using it and the craft they’re using it on. …
What is beauty for? 🔗 / Taylor Foreman’s Substack /
There are places where people yearn for other places.
…
They are the most aesthetically hateful places I have ever encountered. But, like a horror movie, I seek them out. I can’t look away.
They are not just ugly. They are anti-beauty. They are transcendent ugliness.
These places beg the question: what is the opposite of this?
What is beauty for? …
More stories, please 🔗 / Arman Khodadoost’s Substack /
The challenge is that we underestimate our storytelling capabilities. We’ve been bamboozled into thinking a select few of us are natural born storytellers. But not us. It’s a false belief. Storytelling is a skill that can be improved. …
On the Usefulness of Photography 🔗 / Simon Sarris’ Substack /
Taking “a photo a day” (as a diary, as practice) is a common concept among new photographers, but it’s really worthwhile for everyone. There’s an aesthetic component to this: Searching for a good photo in the every-day of life teaches us to notice our surroundings more. …
✏️ My Favourite Personal Creation of the Month
I died for beauty, but was scarce adjusted in the tomb 🔗 / Instagram post /
💪🏽 My Favourite Lifestyle Changes of the Month
Gut Instinct Translators
There’s a love song that I adore. Since I was a kid, I’ve imagined sharing it with someone who I fell truly in love with — having it be our song. I discovered this month that I can use it as a tool to translate my gut instinct. If I’m dating someone great and I can’t think of a logical reason why I wouldn’t want the relationship to continue, I’ll double check with my gut by listening to that song and imagining sharing it with that person. It’s proven to be a quick and easy way to bypass logic and tap into my true emotions.
Building Buffers
I feel a lot more free and clear of mind when I have buffers setup (meal prep, twitter, instagram reservoir…). I want to take some time to think about where else can I implement buffers in my life.
💬 My Favourite Words of Wisdom of the Month
Quotes
On Art 🔗 / Helena Bonham Carter /
“I think everything in life is art. What you do. How you dress. The way you love someone, and how you talk. Your smile and your personality. What you believe in, and all your dreams. The way you drink your tea. How you decorate your home. Or party. Your grocery list. The food you make. How your writing looks. And the way you feel. Life is art.”
On Ambiguity 🔗 / Movie / Words on Bathroom Walls /
“Being ambiguous doesn’t make you profound.”
On Being Profound 🔗 / Show / Dash & Lily /
“Your clothes are your inside on your outside. And you shouldn’t leave that to mass manufacturers.”
On Competition 🔗 / Kevin Kelly /
“Don’t be the best. Be the only.”
On Friendship 🔗 / Kevin Kelly /
“Friends are better than money. Almost anything that money can do, friends can do better. In many ways, a friend with a boat is better than owning a boat.”
Concepts & Definitions
Congeries 🔗 / Todd Brison’s Substack /
“A congeries is essentially when you decide: "to hell with the items in a series! I'm just going to keep listing things!”
Tweets
🧨 My Favourite Sparks of Motivation & Inspiration
Mission: Voiceover
The idea of easing myself into video creation by first getting comfortable adding voice overs and ad libbing my blog posts.
Connecting Ideas
For great ideas, be just as interested in finding connections between your existing ideas as you are with discovering new ones
Connection ideas is a skill
Pattern finding / making
Using language, images, metaphor, and stories
Questions Over Answers
I feel such a jolt of pure inspiration by reading lists of thought-provoking questions and prompts on topics that interest me.
🖼️ My Favourite Visuals of the Month
My favourite artist of the month
Pascual Rodríguez 🔗 / Instagram account /
📸 My favourite photos of the month
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🤔 My Favourite Realizations of the Month
Introversion vs Extroversion
Interesting interpretation of introversion vs extroversion: each is the more automatic preference to seek for stimulation / input from the inside vs the outside world.
Delayed Legacies 🔗 / vlogbrothers video /
Really interesting idea about how we don’t always get to know our legacy before we die.
On Purpose
Curiosity and interest is all the purpose you need for now.
The Paradox of Speed 🔗 / Sahil Bloom’s Newsletter /
Sometimes you need to slow down in order to speed up.
Passion
I’ve tended to think of romantic passion (kissing, sex…) as different from occupational passion (hobbies, sports…), but they are both the act of doing something for the sake of doing it, without the necessity of reward.
💭 My Favourite Reflections of the Month
On Regrets
In one year’s time, what will I regret not having started today?
Moral Exemplars
Who would make up my mental board of advisors?
Communicating Incomplete Thoughts
Learn how to communicate incomplete thoughts as a skill.
Writing vs Editing
Strategise a way to make a habit of separating your inner writer from your inner editor. Perhaps this is hard to do because these to processes aren’t usually separated in conversation and that’s what we’re most used to.
🎬 My Favourite Video of the Month
🧠 My Favourite Innovative Ideas of the Month
Sample Stores
There should be sample stores that only sell sample sizes of products, so people can test things out before buying something and potentially wasting it and their money. Where can I find more samples of stuff?
Random Tongue Twister I Created
There once was a goat afloat on a boat in a moat
🥗 My Favourite Recipes of the Month
Granola 🔗 / Recipe /
