#101 Hello from New York
Common Discourse is a project designed to help others (and ourselves) think through creativity, focus, and intentional work—from Alex Tan & Alice Otieno.
Every Tuesday we share an idea from us, a quote from somebody else, and links worth sharing. On Fridays we invite a guest to share images from their camera roll and a sound that resonates with them.
Mackenzie and I are in the city from now until the end of the month working out of Index Space. I don’t know a better way to explain it, but when people ask what we’re up to in New York, I feel like “existing” is the most accurate and genuine response I can give. There are few cities where just being there does good things to you, and this is one of them.
Come say hi, or tell me where to eat, or tell me what the secret is to getting on a tennis court in this city.
— Alex
An idea from us
I. COMPOUDNING SKILLSETS
It may have taken you a few minutes to do something today, but it has taken you a lifetime to learn how to do it in a few minutes.
No skillset is a fixed, measurable unit of value.
II. KEEP MOVING
If you have to choose one, settle for imperfect before you settle for indecisiveness. Luck favors those in motion.
III. WORTH STRUGGLING FOR
The happiest people on earth are ones who have found something they feel is worth struggling for.
If you think about it, every good thing in life is a result of sustained effort. A healthy body, good friends, steady relationships, and a warm home are all dependent perpetual intention.
Effort is required to appreciate what we’ve done, and passion is required to keep going when things get difficult.
These small, repeated actions are the moments of tension that end up telling the story of our entire lives.
A quote from somebody else
“Tension and tenderness may appear to be opposing forces, but they both find root in the Latin tendere, meaning "to stretch." In French, "to stretch" and "tender" are the same word: "tendre," which can also mean to hold one's hand out.
Both softness and the act of offering gentle attention, and something being pulled, stretched out, becoming taut, speak to reaching out beyond oneself, to an ex-ten-sion.”
Links worth sharing
🍞 Notes on toast is a bakehouse and think-tank housing a collection of research based around food.
📦 100 ways to share your work + life that aren’t social media
🕰 Timeline of African American Music is a site documenting the history of different genres, their relationship to one another, and how they have evolved over time.
🌫 Coperni unveils Air Swipe bag made of 99 per cent air via Dezeen
🎺 What can friendship teach you about the experiences of jazz in New York and L.A.? by Harmony Holiday. An ode to jazz, friendship and how certain places allow us to hear music differently.
💌 love letters to places i’ll never meet
Thanks for consuming!
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