This is new for me
Lately on Sundays…I've been thinking about self-expression, self-worth, creativity, and how to take up space. How pompous it can feel to want to share your thoughts, interests, and visions with others. How difficult it is sometimes to take up space by sharing yourself. I don't mean sharing on social media, although that is certainly a level I struggle with as well.
I mean sharing what's really happening with you. How often do you feel truly comfortable or worthy of taking up space, to make the conversation about where you really are, what you're navigating, and what you need?
In my yoga practice, I find Star Pose most challenging and demanding of my emotions. It brings up a ton of shit because it requires me to do just that --- TAKE UP SPACE.
And so, more on taking up space and creativity…
I've always admired people who give very few fucks about the opinion of others. Those who share their creative work and ideas in their early drafts. The ones who experiment, test, and learn from their prototypes. Those who do it for themselves, free from the need for approval or validation from others.
So, friends…that's what I'm working on. Creative self-expression. Birthing the projects I've been cradling. Freedom from over-thinking and the mental blocks it creates. A crucial decision was disconnecting from social media for a bit. That was ignited by Michaela Coel's dare to writers in her Emmy winning speech.
In all this reflecting, I've birthed Lately On Sundays. A collection of good reads and internet musings that have inspired me to reflect. Sundays are my most introspective and creative days. This is my digital studio of sorts…a place to collect and share. Come on in.
First a few words from T-Pain.
This week's Good Reads
Why Bother? By Salman. Name a creator that hasn't questioned their why? Salman gives us something to think about here. “Any talent, wisdom, or insight you have that you don’t share becomes pain.”
Your Brain Doesn't Work the Way You Think It Does. This GQ article FCKD me up. We are basically all living one long hallucination. "People tend to feel like we’re reacting to what’s actually happening in the world. But what’s really happening is that your brain is drawing on your deep backlog of experience and memory, constructing what it believes to be your reality, cross-referencing it with incoming sense data from your heart, lungs, metabolism, immune system, as well as the surrounding world, and adjusting as needed"
Lessons on Life and Business from Reid Hoffman - the co-founder of LinkedIn. Here, Reid's Chief of Staff, Ben Casnocha, shares 16 lessons he learned on the job. Some of my favorites:
Respect the shadow power - including assistants
The people around you change you in myriad unconscious ways - May we all have the opportunity to partner with and learn from the special people in our lives
Xx,
V