I’m on a 12 hour flight between Tokyo and London, mysterious Norway lights below me.
Uninterrupted time for reflection, for taking stock of the year, for simplifying.
Your input will influence which creative projects I ditch or cultivate next year.
Here’s to our end of year being full of reflection and gratitude,
Miguel Mayher
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CREATIVITY:
ArtMaking
How challenging to paint in times of travel & execution! Moved from Ireland to Spain, soon probably to Japan… made many drafts but none finished… I’m pondering on better ways.
“Morning Meditation” – life portrait, alla prima, work in progress – oil on canvas board.
SilentSalon
We had to say goodbye to Ireland, so we turned a big farewell into an idea test. It turned out deeply meaningful for all. Should this “reflection time” grow or die? You decide: if enough people are interested in replicating this for their city I’ll teach you how, check here & reply if interested.
Silent Salon in Dublin’s Merrion hotel, a quiet afternoon to reflect on things that matter.
Art World Forum
I was invited as “distinguished guest speaker” (ahem, bit too fancy) by Art World Forum‘s Florence edition on “Artists take the lead“, giving a keynote on Entrepreneurship in Art and moderating a panel of passionate fine artists.
Having fun on stage, exploring Silicon Valley mindsets with Florence artists.
Entrepreneurial Skills For Artists
Got an artist friend? TIAC (The International Arts & Culture Group) asked me to gather all entrepreneurial skills (mindset, strategies, tactics) that could help artists on their journey.
With their sponsorship I created a comprehensive 8 week training program with limited seats launching in 2018. You can hit reply or fwd to your friend to get priority entry when doors open.
MorningMaker
Is there a creative project you can’t seem to get done? I designed a 10 weeks program to enable daily follow through on your creative goals using behavioral science. The 1st pilot saw Joelle Marti finish & publish her 1st book, Those Happy Moments, which follows her one-year experiment towards lasting happiness; WRU DJ published his 1st EDM single O Sonho do Rioand yours truly wrote the training program above. If you’d like to join a future batch let me know.
INSIGHT:
MorningMeditator
Based on the success above I wondered: “what is the most valuable daily habit I know?” The answer was obvious: meditation. Knowing how tricky it is to get established as a daily meditator I’m inspired by the thought of enabling this habit for others. Not a meditation training, but rather a highly effective system to follow through daily. Hit reply if you want to join the 1st pilot in 2018.
Search Inside Yourself – Tokyo
I had the privilege to facilitate Search inside Yourself with Simon Moyes at Google Tokyo. He trained 4 years in the Himalayas as a buddhist monk. I learnt most by observing him when no one was looking: the same calm presence as on stage. Nothing inspires like personified virtue.
McKinsey’s Young Leaders Forum 2
I had the opportunity to spend two days in Germany with many smart folks exploring one of my least favorite topics: navigating political landscapes. My two blindspots turned into takeaways: 1) Seeing politics as evil is naive – they are a web of reasonable self-interests. 2) In complex (vs complicated) systems, you don’t need to understand people’s ‘why’ – just take reversable bets, ‘tinkering’ to improve your understanding of the system’s input/output behavior.
Kingdom Of Now
Tottie and I brought together again some the most inspiring people we’ve met, who themselves invited others, to spend days in Nature without technology, without time, without tasks to get done. What emerged was too beautiful to summarize. We must schedule time for the timeless.
In a hidden natural reserve in Spain, photo by our photographer in residence, Alex Morris
Reflections
“Reading what you journal is like auditing your thoughts.”
“Inspired” is not a means to an end.
“Not to write a letter as it is supposed to look like – but to allow writing to happen, and see if it is good edit out the bad.”
“Skies are the only patch of Nature always at reach for us citizens. Over and over, gaze up.”
The more I try to sound smart – the less original I become. The more you give up – and just observe the thoughts popping up in your mind – the more they surprise you. If I’m observing my thoughts, it means -I- am not “having them”. It’s weird to take credit for that which is given.
Learning from others
–Documentary: Tashi and the monk, be inspired by a life of service.
–Interview: Naval Ravikant on Reading, Happiness, Decisions, Habits (I read the transcript)
–Overheard: Peer’s reflection about his subway commute: “what are we doing to ourselves?”
–Twitter: find someone smart – then read their whole tweeter feed as one reads an interview.
Quotes
“I must never put off for a better day something that I could enjoy doing now.” -Eugene Delacroix (requires conscious choice, ie. wisdom, “never” does not apply to impulse)
“Since time is your most valuable asset, it’s odd to spend it working with people (without) any long-term future together.” – Peter Thiel
It’s a small world…
I will be traveling in the months ahead to…
Madrid
Seoul (TBC)
Tokyo
London (Spring)
Paris (Spring)
Last morning in Florence after 9 days of creative work. Photograph by Basilio San Juan de Dios.
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