Weekly Mix #213 - Role Models, Internet Famous, Building Resiliency & Third Places

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​Role Models, Internet Famous, Building Resiliency & Third Places

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Happy Monday!

I rediscovered the freedom—and productivity—that comes with having zero plans this weekend.

I had a friend visiting for the weekend, and enjoyed myself Friday and Saturday; when Sunday came around, I had things to do, and no plans to think about.

It made me wonder just how often I've actually been in the zone—feeling flow—recently.

It's always been easier for me when other options are removed. It's why I find it so easy to work on a plane.

And why it's so difficult in summer, when there are all kinds of activities available.

Which always brings up the question: should I be doing something for fun? Or bettering myself? Are the two different?

Either way, being present, and fully focused, is the ideal way to do it.

And that seems to be easiest when there isn't anything else to do, or think about.

Hope you have a great week.

Graham

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Links

📖 Dwayne Johnson Lets Down His Guard - Vanity Fair - A great profile of a person I have a lot of respect for. Dwayne Johnson has had his fair share of tough times, changed careers multiple times, and seems to excel through hard work at everything he does.

📖 On The Internet, We're Always Famous - The New Yorker - "Being known by strangers, and, even more dangerously, seeking their approval, is an existential trap." The psychology and dangers of modern social media.

📖 The System That Actually Worked - The Atlantic - This is a fascinating story about the work that goes on behind the scenes to keep the internet running. It underlines a truth as well: the internet is built for disaster. In a time when we've had so many issues with supplies and shutdowns, we take the internet for granted.

📖 "Third places" - This Tweet asking for a list of "third places" in New York led me to the definition of a "third place": "In community building, the third place is the social surroundings separate from the two usual social environments of home ("first place") and the workplace ("second place"). Examples of third places include churches, cafes, clubs, public libraries, bookstores or parks." An interesting way to think about the places in our lives.

📷 Astronomy Photographer of the Year Winners - The photos in this contest are absolutely stunning. Make sure to click into each gallery.

🍿 The Alt Tour - EF Gone Racing - Lachlan Morton, a pro cyclist for Education First, tackled the Tour de France this year, with one twist: he cycled all the transfers in between too. 5,550km from Brest to Paris with over 65,000 metres of climbing, over 23 days, camping solo. This is the film documenting the tour.

​10 Tweets

​The shift to remote working in one graph​​

​List of favourite "third places" in New York​

​The story of the Apple Store from Chris Hladczuk​

​Austin Schlessinger telling the story of WHOOP​

​A list of threads on company-building​

​What is a DAO? An explanation​

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