If I were to paid to dig ditches, I would discover that the ditch is for a water line to a new house that means someone gets clean water, once I think it through, I can find my passion in the ditch digging.
It made me look back at my career and the various jobs I’ve had. The ones that have been most rewarding are the ones which have a greater purpose. As a freelance designer it was for clients whose focus was not about increasing the bank account. In my current job it is for a large charity aiming to help people find their next steps in higher education.
When I worked as a barista the most rewarding time was when I was teaching others how to make great coffee. When I realised it was giving them a skill they can take anywhere in the world it was fantastic. I remember receiving a confused look from one 20 year old who wanted to travel but was unsure about earning money that she didn’t need to worry. She hadn’t realised now she could make a good coffee she could find a job in any country in the world. It was great to see how enabling that skill would be for her.
I’ve disliked the advice of turning your passion into a career for a long time and Patrick’s post reminded me why. If we can find passion in our existing careers work becomes much more fulfilling. It’s ok to have a hobby we are passionate about without trying to turn it into our day job.
The sermon in church this morning was all about suffering. A timely subject given recent news about my Mum’s health. Sometimes even as someone who as been a believer for decades you need reminders of the basics. ✝️
I’m resorting to pen and paper to get a proper overview of all the “tasks” that I have assigned to me. Starting to question if digital task managers create work and black holes of stuff.
David Sparks on his journey To Day One and Back Again. I’ve been on a similar thought cycle recently. I have been a long time sporadic user of Day One, and I’ve journaled for a while in Obsidian as well as pen and paper. But recently I’ve decided it’s back to Day One.
Similarly to David it is about ease and access for me. I am a legacy Plus user which means I have sync across all my devices, I can save photos and other items as and when I feel it’s right to do so. Ultimately, I know that if I am going to journal regularly and it be of any use it needs to be easy for me to do so and Day One presents the least amount of friction.
Removed Twitter from my iPhone last night, not because of the Musk thing but because I can’t take all the culture wars. Talking to my counsellor last night I realised how much of a toll it was taking on my mental health. Not worth it at the moment.
My Arc experiment is over. It broke my long established flow for reading RSS and turned what is normally an enjoyable part of the day into an annoyance.
I think he’s right, people don’t, but I do think people want a simple way to share little bits of information easily. Whilst I think a lot of people are overreacting to Musk buying Twitter, I do hope it causes a renaissance of the personal blog.
It baffles me that you still can’t make a reminder from an email message in Mail.app. Reminders is becoming very powerful yet still feels crippled by this.
It’s not just the smartly dressed traveller that’s disappeared. I recently saw a film of the streets of London in the late 1930’s, everyone looked smart, well dressed, and respectable. Yesterday a trip to buy some groceries revealed a man in a baby pink tracksuit and a woman wearing pyjamas, bathrobe, and slippers… not all progress is positive.
A little under four months ago I made a decision about my blog and moved it to use Ghost with the aim of building a more regular posting habit. Needless to say it hasn’t really happened. So I’ve decided to make another decision and go all in on Micro.blog.
Recently I’ve been on a slow and considered drive to simplify things in my life mostly in the digital realm, but not all of it.
I am constantly torn when it comes to Google. I don’t like their data collecting strategy but the design of their products is very attractive and appeals to me which makes me want to use them…
