Curated: June 21, 2024
Raw authenticity, the two sides of powerful tools, curation, changing my mind, and living with content
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Hi friends, Happy Curated Friday! Here are three thoughts and three quotes that struck me this week.
3 Thoughts
1.
At the beginning of a meeting, a colleague asked another, “How was your weekend?” Surprisingly, she said the last few days had been difficult because she had found out that her grandmother was seriously ill. She briefly became emotional but quickly collected herself and redirected the group to the meeting agenda.
That moment of raw authenticity stuck with me.
After the meeting, I thanked her for sharing. Her vulnerability reminds me that we are all humans with hopes and worries.
2.
The U.S. Surgeon General recently called for warning labels on social media platforms. Reading about his position reminds me that every tool has benefits and risks. The more powerful a tool is, the greater its potential for damage—it depends on how humans use it. Explosives have done wonders but harmed millions. The same goes for drugs and alcohol. What will the Internet do over the next decade?
3.
One reason I think Trader Joe’s and Costco are so popular—beyond price and quality—is curation. Regular grocery stores carry 20,000 to 60,000 different products, but Trader Joe’s and Costco stock only about 4,000. Less but better is delightful.
3 Quotes
1.
1.
“I like changing my mind… It’s an indication that I’m learning something. So I have no sunk costs in the sense that I can walk away from an idea that I’ve worked on for a year if I can see a better idea. It’s a good attitude for a researcher.”
2.
“Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.”
—Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
3.
“To live content with small means.
To seek elegance rather than luxury,
and refinement rather than fashion.
To be worthy not respectable,
and wealthy not rich.
To study hard, think quietly, talk gently,
act frankly, to listen to stars, birds, babes,
and sages with open heart,
to bear all cheerfully,
do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never.
In a word, to let the spiritual,
unbidden and unconscious,
grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony.”
—William Ellery Channing
Have a great weekend!