Infinite Right Ways
Current location:
Milwaukee, WI, USA
Reading:
The City We Became
by NK Jemisin
Listening:
iii
by Miike Snow
(if you have a moment, reply with your own 3-item status)
Infinite Right Ways
Since mid-2020, I've been trying to figure out how to rearrange my disparate jumble of professional activities into something more cohesive and comprehensible.
Many people who engage with something I make only engage with that one thing, and are maybe tangentially aware that I do other things, as well, but maybe not.
Some sturdy few have engaged with the entire Colin Extended Universe of work, ranging from my books to my podcasts to my essays, and have maybe even come out to hear a talk or two, over the years.
But I haven't made doing so very easy: I decided several years back to experiment more and promote less, in the sense of putting things out and seeing how they do without too much explanation or backstory or anything even hinting at marketing, to give myself the space to try more things and dabble without accidentally over-investing in something that didn't end up being valuable, interesting, or growth-oriented (for me, or for the folks on the other end of said undertaking).
After years of exploring and experimenting in this way, I've landed on several projects that are distinct, but which work together to achieve some broader ambitions I think are worthwhile and worth sharing. I've also been playing with and refining some expansions of those core concepts that I think could flesh out the whole collection in a meaningful way.
Much of my recent behind-the-scenes effort has revolved around consolidating these seemingly disparate but actually intertwined projects without limiting them individually; demonstrating that they fit together, Voltron-like, but also ensuring they can function as independent entities.
Figuring out that balance—assessing and reassessing what I actually want to accomplish, how I want to accomplish it, and how I want to spend my time as I continue moving toward those goals—has proven to be my most cumbersome project of the past year. And sussing out how to keep this portfolio of projects malleable, economically sustainable, and accessible to as many people as possible has been fundamental to that larger lifestyle-workload harmonization effort.
Ultimately, there are an infinite number of right ways to do anything, and that includes how we structure our days, what sorts of work we choose to do, and how we weave it all together into a purposeful whole.
That limitless number of options is both the problem and the point: it's difficult to winnow such abundance down to a cognitively meaningful array of optimal potentialities, and at times even more tricky to then choose from that curated selection of possible paths, but having (and being aware of) such options is almost always preferable to the alternative.
At some point, though, you have to decide which definition of "right" you'll use to guide your ambitions, which path toward that collection of intended outcomes you'll take, and then finally leap—knowing full well that you're introducing a medley of novel risks into your life and future considerations just by choosing to leave the ground.
If you found some value in this essay, consider supporting my work by buying me a coffee.
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Projects
Note: I'll provide more concrete details about the new projects I just waxed poetic about in the above essay next week. But if you're keen to pre-subscribe to some of those projects (with the understanding that I'll be making a lot of edits and changing some things around in the coming days, leading up to a more "official" launch of those new projects), you can subscribe to most of the new ones here, and one of them here.
Brain Lenses: Planning Fallacy & Home
Let’s Know Things: Arms Proliferation
One Sentence News: September 8, 2021
Curiosity Weekly: September 7, 2021
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Interesting & Useful
Some things to click:
Fascinating explanations and details about the manufacturing processes of a wide variety of products, from daily household items to complicated electronic equipment and heavy machinery.
Incomplete map, but still pretty mind-boggling when you think about modern, sovereign borders and how they were influenced (or not) by these preexisting borders.
I lost (invested!) so much time exploring this glorious Wikipedia list.
What’s the Most Ridiculous Fact You Know?
Allowing for the standard reddit forum caveat that none of this is necessarily true and should definitely be fact-checked before you allow it to inform your sense of reality, there are still some really solid gems, here.
Venice’s Massive Flood Defense System
A relatively concise (8 minute) video explaining how Venice—a city of canals—prevents climate change-related flooding, and how its approach compares to other, similar systems.
PS: subscribe to Curiosity Weekly (link in the previous section) to receive an email containing just curated links every Tuesday
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Outro
This might be just a me-thing (I suspect it's not), but I always feel very exposed and vulnerable after talking about what I've been working on, my intentions for the future, and the why's behind my decisions (be they professional or lifestyle-related).
I'm guessing this is partially the psychological equivalent of preemptively bracing for criticism or insult, or maybe some variation of imposter syndrome: now that I've opened up about what I'm doing with my time, everyone will see me for the fraud I've always been! I should have kept the curtains closed so the ruse could continue unabated!
At the same time, I absolutely love love love solving puzzles and figuring out ways to fit pieces together, Tetris-like, so that all the plates keep spinning and all the trains run on time and I'm able to somehow make a bizarre jumble of enthusiasm-based, intentional efforts come together into something that actually kinda sorta makes sense, and which should be sustainable both in terms of being able to pay the rent and in terms of being able to get everything done while still living life: doing the things that inform my work in the first place.
We'll see how this next step goes; I'm looking forward to sharing more details and "launching" things in a more official way next week. But in the meantime: thank you so much for your support and enthusiasm and the inspiration you've provided me over the years, no matter what shape all those things might take in each individual case.
Knowing that you're out there in the world, living your life, seeing things the way you see them, and being your wonderful self imbues everything I do with a sense of heightened purpose and a hearty dose of joy and fulfillment that wouldn't be there if I was on this journey, solo.
So thank you. And if you're ever keen to write and say hello and tell me something about yourself, I'm around and I respond to every email I receive :)
You can send me a message by replying directly to this newsletter, or at colin@exilelifestyle.com.
You can also communicate via the typical methods: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or out-of-print video game magazine archive.
If you’re finding some value in what I’m doing here, consider supporting my work via one of these methods: Become a patron / Buy a book / Buy me a coffee