026: A theme for 2023
And a coffee shop in South Asia
☕️ I found myself in a coffee shop this morning. In South Asia, Coffee Shop means something completely different from Starbucks or you local espresso bar in Italy or Australia.
Typically it’s a corner shop lot with two walls completely opened up. The interior’s tiles or mosaics serve the purely utilitarian function of being easy to clean. Noise pollution from shouting orders, the clanging of pans, and retired folk shouting over the noise is the norm. The noise is so ubiquitous that it creates a kind of quiet in your head.
Do you have a theme for 2023?
Tell us about it in the comments.
My theme is “concentrate”.
It’s a verb. It’s something I can do at every moment. It’s a skill that we are collectively losing as a generation. It is an essential skill for rising above mediocrity.
It’s not so much what I want to concentrate on, though that is a part of it. It is that I want to bring that quality of concentration to whatever I’m doing.
“Prize intensity more than extensity. Perfection lies in quality, not quantity. Extent alone never rises above mediocrity, and it is a misfortune of men with wide general interests while they like to have their finger in every pie, they have one in none. Intensity gives eminence and rises to the heroic in matters sublime” - Balthasar Gracian 1601-1658
I am finishing up some work (though also have some picture book roughs to do over the holidays, but not as crazy amounts as I had last Christmas) today and then intend to carve out some time before the New Year to do my annual deep self-reflection and come up with my word/theme. I am really looking forward to it! I always try to pick words or themes that can apply to all areas of my life in different ways, or that have multiple interpretations. And I really want to hand (and actual hand, not Apple Pencil) letter it this year and put it up near my desk, because I think when I have done that it's embedded much more than just writing a blog post and drawing a digital illustration to accompany it.
How about doing some more “does it spark joy?” and continuing the journey of cleaning my life from the past so that I can enjoy the now to be clean to create my future.