Turn it off and on again

You don't need a screwdriver to fix your life

In undergrad, I got a gig helping students get connected to the internet. I would rush from dorm to dorm with a small screwdriver and a head full of TCP/IP settings. I never needed the screwdriver. For most problems, even human ones, you start with the macroprinciple of IT: turn it off and on again.

When you are feeling disconnected, consider finding your own way to “turn it off.” It can look like a fika, a year off work, an ocean cruise, or a five-second intake of breath during chemotherapy. To turn it off is to make space for another kind of thought. Breaks are a part of the work.

During my six-month break from writing this newsletter, I visited a partner in Hawaii, I attended a middle school reunion, I wrote a draft of a small weird book, and started a coaching practice based on the principles of this newsletter.

And on again

I believe that we design the conditions of our existence through narrative. To put it another way, if we want a better future, we need to design it by writing it, together, according to principles we believe in. I want to help creatives and makers cultivate this thinking and practice in their lives, especially folks in a period of transition.

If you are interested (or are in state of transition right now), you can read more about this endeavor here.

As for this newsletter, I am turning it on again. Letting it beep, hearing the whirr, and waiting for the light to flicker to life.