#107 I'll write so many words this year
Common Discourse is a newsletter designed to help others (and ourselves) think through the pursuit of creativity, business, and culture.
Every week, we share a few ideas 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. Occasionally, we’ll write a journal with observations on what’s happening in the world.
How I’m arriving into 2025…
— Alex
A few ideas
I. FORM
As you’re staring at the goals, dreams, and desires you have for this year, remember this: You have everything you need.
Give form to what is in front of you instead of waiting for perfect circumstances to act.
II. IMPERMANENCE
One day you will do something for the final time.
Today might be the last time you walk in your favorite neighborhood, hug a dear friend, or eat a home-cooked meal. When you realized that nothing is guaranteed aside from the moment you’re in, your only real choice is to cherish each exchange like it’s your last.
Out of gratefulness, I work hard, run after every tennis ball, and tell my friends that I love them.
Coming to terms with life’s impermanence is a remarkable way to live.
III. A CASE FOR STRATEGY
There is some debate as to whether or not strategy is a necessary part of launching good creative ideas. The data, research, and opportunities are all nice, but what is the idea?
Additionally, it’s quite unanimous that the best ideas carry a certain risk. While everyone is going right, we’ll go left.
In short, strategy is an act of creating certainty around the creative risk we’ll take together.
Are you in?
A quote from somebody else
“For many years I’ve been in desperate search of taste. I think people wrongly assume that your taste is a birthright, that it will fall into your lap. I don’t think so. I think you have to run after it. That was what I was doing all those years when I was poring over books written by old Russian men instead of paying attention in class, picking cherry blossom petals off the ground by the handful and worrying them until they fell apart between thumb and index finger, talking to you instead of living my life, buying the wrong clothes and discarding them, screenshotting thousands of words of text. I was following my attention. I was letting myself get caught, and then I was tearing myself free.”
— Ava Huang
Links worth sharing
♟️ Gen Z and millennials are hungry for in-person interaction and are joining old-fashioned chess, mahjong and backgammon groups. New York Times
🎱 Sean Monahan’s 2025 Predictions, 8Ball
🐶 Charlap Hyman & Herrero designs and releases a beautiful dog bed
⛅️ 10 years after coining the term “Normcore,” K-Hole’s members reflect on the evolution and the state of viral trend forecasting, SSENSE
📈 Ana Andjelic on the problem with trend reports, The Sociology of Business
👁️ A perspective on How Generative Music Works
Thanks for consuming!
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