Hey friends, this post started out with the title, “I need to improve my English speech (as a non-native speaker).” But it turned into something else. I think it’s relevant to know with what title this draft started because it shows where I’m coming from. I.e., wanting to connect more with the people that feel like my intellectual peers. But as you’ll see through reading this piece, I am coming to some insights live, while writing. Hence going forward, this piece is pretty unedited stream-of-consciousness writing.

Strap in, cause I won’t be the most nuanced today.

Ready?

Ok, let’s go!

I have ideas.

Ideas that I feel are worth sharing with more than just my fellow Dutchies. So I write in English, which is fine, but I have noticed the “secret” way to gain reach (although maybe it’s not really a secret, maybe I’m just too much of a chicken to lean into it) is to have face-to-face or live contact with other “idea” people. Mainly people in the US. People that are in the “ingroup” of, eh, let’s erhm, call it the… “Global Idea Sharing” (GIS) space.

Not being in real face-to-face contact with GIS people, I feel I have to put more effort into “selling” my ideas. But I refuse to be “salesy” about my ideas. (I hate it when people sell me stuff, though that’s a whole ‘nother can of worms to open.)

A sidenote I added just before publishing: maybe there’s an actual cultural difference here? That of US folks being much more comfortable with selling or being salesy? (Safest in the eyes of us Dutch folk, that is.) Hence folks from the US gaining more reach because that’s their natural form of communicating. But me, being Dutch—which is like the least salesy culture there is—have a problem with that. Anyway, just a hypothesis so far, let’s continue with the rant…

So to actually hard sell would be to go against what feels right to me, and it’d kill part of my soul. Thus to “sell” my ideas, to get them out there—in a fashion that is authentic for me—I have to make meaningful connections. “Duh!” you say, right? But as global culture is mainly being made in the US, I have to share my ideas with people there. And herein lies the problem for me. Two problems, really:

• First, my “live” English vocabulary during speech is pretty shitty. I often feel I come across as stupid (that’s my own opinion, though, and a rational part of me would say, “that’s imposter syndrome”) when uttering English in conversation. Resulting in me sometimes getting anxious and acting all weird, pushing away the very folks I’d like to connect with.

• Second, I am a father of two young kids, and my wife works 60 hours a week, so I can’t easily go off and leave for the US (for a few days/weeks) to connect & vibe like lots of the digital nomad types do.

Digging deeper into what I perceive as that unspoken secret: it seems that folks and my online friends from the US—or at least native English speakers who also visit the US—constitute a distinct group compared to the rest of us who primarily interact online. And everyone looks at this distinct group for the direction taken in the GIS space. Or at least that’s my perspective… maybe. (As you see, I’m kinda unsure about it all.)

I mean, there are folks here in the Netherlands sharing stuff on similar topics that I talk/write about as well. But they are not making culture. They are copying what they see at the edge of novelty globally/in the US, and then translating it (badly, imo) into Dutch, with all the crappy mistranslated words, misconstrued meanings, etc.

It all feels a bit amateurish, you know? As if you’d ask high schoolers to come up with a new invention for flying vehicles. A fun project, and they learn something from it—so it is valuable in its own way—but they won’t actually create a new invention there.

I’m probably doing a disservice here, cause people do help one another—in some ways even more so than in the global online space—but it’s not the creation of “new” ideas.

Another side note: Ok, writing here to create a bit of nuance, cause rereading it does come across as a bit too harsh/arrogant… So I’ll point out here that my ideas may very well not be novel for other folks: my writing/ideas are probably boring and “mistranslated” for some people out there as well. I.e., I may be the high schooler figuring stuff out for myself here. And that’s fine. It’s just that I would like to gain those new insights, and share them, but I’m getting most of those insights when interacting with the global/US-centered group of people.

I know this can sound kinda grandiose or arrogant, right? But the ideas that pop up here in the Netherlands on the topics I’m interested in are not so novel to me. Usually a few years behind what I saw in English-speaking work (except in the te h space, that’s pretty much on par with global stuff). So I don’t feel connected to that Dutch scene at all on the intellectual and exploratory level.

Of course, I do connect way more on an emotional level here, especially with people close by. The top 50 to 100 or so folks that I love and care deeply for in my life are nearly all here in the Netherlands or grew up here. And maybe that’s what at the root of this disconnect? That I just want to feel more emotionally connected to the folks with whom I share the intellectual passions.

Funny, now that I’m writing this, I see there’s actually a gap in the Dutch “idea market” that I could fill. As in, I am connected to that GIS-space, on an idea level at least, and can translate it for my fellow Dutchies in a way that I think isn’t being done much now. Though is it possible to be in both worlds? (Seeing I wrote 500+ words above about there being a possibly unspoken US “ingroup” that I’m not in…)

Should I maybe practice here what I always preach about individual life? Namely, “Play Your Own Game.” As in, playing our own Dutch/European game? Change the culture here in such a way that folks from the US want to go here instead? Making it so that the global culture is being made here? How’s that for a grandiose idea?! (Then I can finally do my work from the leisurely place of my own home/country/continent without feeling the pull outward… or so I think.)

Still, maybe (read: highly likely) this whole rant could just be me whining and making excuses—an even worse excuse than “I need to improve my English speech,” lol—for not just emailing folks from the US to go on a curiosity call and connect…

Alright, that’s it. Thanks for indulging me in this rant. But puuhlease don’t be too hard on me, cause I’m not even 100% sure I agree with myself in all of the above. That’s why it’s a rant, you know…

Still, if you have thoughts about this, please do share, cause I’m definitely curious about the perspective of other “online” folks, from both the US and other places.

Leave a comment

Cheers!

Jibran

PS. Next week I’ll wrap up my thoughts on the 100-Day Creator Challenge!

Also, I’d love to hear your stories, so feel free to share the wonders that have graced your life.

Let’s go!

Quickly jump to your preferred section:

1. A Workshop to Craft Your Unique Symbol

2. Progress on the 100-Day Creator Challenge

3. Creative Self-Assessment + Creative Archetype Quiz

4. Card Deck for Self-Discovery

5. Course & Coaching Adventures

6. The Aesthetics of Meaning-Making

7. Personal Life (Behind the Scenes)

A Workshop to Craft Your Unique Symbol

In just a few weeks (Tuesday, April 25th), I'll be hosting a special workshop salon that will guide you to create your very own unique symbol. The idea emerged while I was soaking in the beauty of Austria, sharing time with my dear friends and (whom I met through Twitter). Initially, I envisioned people making symbols of steel, wood, stone, or clay—and I’ll eventually work up toward hosting something like that—but for now, I’m embracing the digital realm first.

If your heart calls you to join, follow the sign-up link.

The workshop invites you to dive into the depths of your life story, exploring your subconscious, (inner) relationships, and cherished memories. We'll then gather the most meaningful and significant fragments, molding them into a symbol that's uniquely yours. This symbol will hold a treasure trove of emotion and meaning, ready to unfold in your mind whenever you catch a glimpse of it, reminding you of what truly matters.

Join "The Symbol That Is You" Workshop

The 100-Day Creator Challenge

We're approaching the end of our 100-day creator challenge, reaching day 93 today. Throughout this voyage, I've written an abundance and even ventured into the realm of video creation. Witnessing the heartfelt writing, videos, and audio from fellow creatives has been a joy. It's been truly inspiring to see people connecting and overcoming obstacles they never thought possible.

But I must confess, this challenge has demanded more of me than I anticipated. Writing daily is one thing, but hosting and facilitating this challenge is an entirely different experience. Next time, I may focus solely on facilitation or enlist a helping hand, perhaps even charging a (small) fee to justify the time spent on this labor of love. It has encroached on family time, but the growth and transformation others have experienced make it worthwhile.

As we approach the finish line, I eagerly await the opportunity to connect with everyone who participated. I'm curious to learn about their insights, experiences, and any feedback they have to offer. So, if you're reading this and are part of the challenge, know that I'll be reaching out to hear from you in a few weeks! 😘

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Creative Self-Assessment + Archetype Quiz

Last summer, I crafted a creative self-assessment during a solitary hackathon. Over 200 folks have completed it, each receiving personalized charts and insights into their creative strengths and points of improvement. But I believe it can be even more illuminating, so I've been quietly refining it.

My aim is to help people delve even deeper into their creative spirit. I've identified about ~20 aspects of the creative life, each accompanied by introspective questions and lots of insightful resources (probably a small book worth!). I envision this blossoming into a product I can share with the world, akin to StrengthsFinder (those of you who’ve worked in the corporate world probably have heard of it), but specifically for the creative life. I haven't come across one focused on creativity, so I thought, why not create it myself? The assessment is designed to help you understand your creative strengths and weaknesses.

Additionally, I've been working on a "Creative Archetype Quiz" that you might have seen in the newsletter. (During our 100-day creator challenge, I’m sharing a few of the archetypes, but they still require some refinement. They're a bit too similar for my taste.) The quiz will be a free offering, a stepping-stone to the self-assessment experience. If you're intrigued or have any ideas or suggestions, please don't hesitate to reach out!

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Card Deck for Self-Discovery

Some of you may remember that I've been working on a self-discovery card deck. I designed it back in February, and the printed cards look quite striking. However, the packaging presented a challenge.

In short, I found a printing shop for the packaging, but the results haven't entirely met my expectations. The size is accurate, but it has some tiny irregularities (misaligned words on the side, and the edge of the glued side is seen on the front). As I don't want the packaging to detract from the overall experience—leading customers to rate it four stars instead of five on Etsy for my first product 😅—I want this creation to be a top-notch offering.

I've considered enlisting help specifically for the packaging design. While I'm confident in my ability to create the images, translating digital designs into a physical product requires a skill set I'm still learning. I'm no expert, and with all the other projects I'm juggling, I don't want to invest all my time mastering packaging design when I could seek assistance from others.

Admittedly, I struggle with asking for help and typically prefer to journey solo for this type of stuff. But perhaps this is an opportunity for me to embrace the value of relying on others.

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Course & Coaching Adventures

Over the past nine or ten months, I've been slowly weaving together a course curriculum. I've also had the invaluable opportunity to test most of the exercises with a coaching client. Receiving feedback on what's working, what needs improvement, and what requires clarity has been a transformative experience. I've run some of these exercises as workshops, but guiding one person through the entire process provides a solid point of reference.

My next step was to create the full course and launch it, but, as you can see, my hands are quite full with lots of different projects. So, for now, I'm considering focusing more on coaching and group sessions since it requires less upfront work (such as producing videos and crafting a complete curriculum; coaching sessions can be customized to meet each client's unique needs.)

While I do still plan to launch a course this year—possibly a beta version in July—I will likely test the course curriculum in small groups first. As I mentioned earlier, one of the primary exercises, creating your own symbol, is already scheduled as a workshop. There are more workshops in the works, such as Working with your gift, Your atomic unit of productivity/creativity, Exploring archetypes, Understanding values, and many others. But I won't reveal all the surprises just yet.

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The Aesthetics of Meaning-Making

As I've been navigating the waters of these projects and products, I've noticed they seem somewhat separate from my art.

Let me “side-note” this: I think there is an art in teaching and coaching (as well as in the making of the card decks). But in this case, what I mean with “My Art,” is the personal stories, fiction, parables, poems, and essays I write.

And I write for myself first. That’s why this publication is free.

But since I'm also creating products and providing services, I’m starting to believe it's best to present them under a different name.

I don’t want to fall into the trap of my name becoming synonymous with a card deck brand or teaching/coaching business. What I want to put into the world as a product or service should be able to stand on its own. Also, if I do ever want to get someone on, for the fulfillment and customer service of card decks, for example, it just feels too weird to me if an employee says, “I’m a Customer Service rep. for Jibran el Bazi Card Decks.” (But maybe I’m overthinking it…)

If anything, I want my writing to be “Jibran”-branded. (Maybe I will eventually sell a book, or two). So with that idea in mind, for my more businessy stuff, I'm drawn to "The Art of Meaning Making," as it captures the essence of the products and services I’m building, AND it’s close enough to what I named this writing here (“Meaning-Making”).

Practically, this means I may end up dividing my writing. But I'm still uncertain about it. The last thing I need is to manage multiple websites, like Substack, my blog, Etsy, a course site, and another Substack." That would be overwhelming. So, for the next few months, I'll likely keep everything here. But be aware that I'm considering organizing the content into different categories in the future.

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Life Behind the Scenes

Now that we've covered an array of updates related to my art and business ventures, let's delve into some personal life updates.

Lately, I've been quite occupied with family life, as our kids have numerous school and social activities (almost like the school & teachers had the idea to “catch up” with what they missed during all the last years). Anyway, I’m the "vliegende keep" at home, since my wife has a demanding job as a high school director.

Vliegende keep is a Dutch saying that literally means someone who is playing both the goalkeeper AND plays in the field.

Being vliegende keep means I’m all over the place as I'm the one at home managing all the child-related tasks, such as biking them to school, picking them up, arranging play dates, “holding down the fort” in the afternoons, and preparing meals. But also random stuff like going on a claim-hunt—is that even a word?—since the Dutch-Gov-Shell-duo created earthquakes causing cracks in our walls…

To make space in my schedule for all that, I took unpaid leave for half a year—or a sabbatical, however you wanna call it— from my part-time job. (For which I’m really grateful.) This allows me to focus on the above projects and maintain harmony at home while also preparing for a big celebration my wife and I have coming up. Next to that, I also want to allocate a bit more time for relaxation. I've been working nights, which isn't strictly necessary, but I suppose it's because I chose to have so many projects going on at the same time. (I should probably prioritize one thing at a time...)

With all that said, I'm curious about your life. What’s been keeping you busy lately? Any updates or exciting news? Please share your stories with me, for I find immense joy in learning about your unique journey.

Until next time!

Leave a comment

Warm regards,

Jibran

My dear wife always likes snooping around in thrift stores, though rarely do I join her. But today, I did join in the fun.

And every time I do, I leave with a bunch of secondhand books (just like my dad always did).

This time was no different. 📚

Leave a comment

Have a good weekend!

Jibran

Hey friends, last night my wife, Gigi, was out at a friend’s house a few miles away from us. I was a bit busy with a project, so I continued work. (Plus—and other parents can relate to this—that way we didn’t need to get a last-minute babysitter.)

After about 20 minutes, Gigi texted me: “northern lights.”

I texted back: “really? wow!”

Then I rushed outside to look, for I had high hopes of seeing something tonight.

Btw, both of us have never seen the northern lights. It’s an extremely rare phenomenon to see in the Netherlands. But a day ago, some people in the north, where we live, did get to see it, though we only heard it on the news the morning after.

It was kinda cloudy, so I couldn’t see much. Still, coatless, I braved the slippery, cold, and icy roof on my clomps to get a better view. But alas, no northern lights. Although I did feel the sky was much brighter than usual and had a strange reddish haze to it.

So I texted Gigi, “you mean that reddish thing? you got a picture?”

A few minutes later, she sent me a photo. I looked at it and immediately became very envious.

It was a difficult decision, but I chose to let my work be unfinished for now—even though I had to finish it that night. For I just had to see these mystical lights.

I quickly grabbed my coat from inside and went outside again. Meanwhile getting frustrated—not for the first time—with my neighbor who has floodlights turned on 24/7, even when they’re on vacation…

Still nothing. No northern lights.

I looked around the sky, freezing my buttocks off for another 30 minutes, but it was just too cloudy.

Defeated, I went inside.

But then I had the great idea to go lie in bed, with all the lights in the bedroom turned off and the curtains up. That way, if some colors would show up in the night sky, I could see them. All the while, I’d be able to still get some work done on my laptop—with the brightness setting at its lowest, of course. Genius!

Fast-forward another half hour—not a night light in sight—and Gigi comes home.

She walks into our bedroom and asks: “why is it so dark in here? and why are the curtains up?”

And I’m like, “eh babe, I wanna see the northern lights? duh.”

Gigi bends over and starts laughing like she just heard the best joke in her life.

I ask her, “what? what’s up?”

After taking a deep breath, she replies in a shrieking voice, “you fell for that?! I thought you were smarter than that!” And continued laughing like a maniac.

I got fooled. Big time. (It’s probably been a decade since Gigi fooled me like that. Most of the time, I’m the joker in the house…)

She made it all up, and had a great time laughing at my naïvité with our friends…

😒 If you’re reading this, babe, I’m glad at least someone had fun, cause I only finished my work by 1 AM, having stared at a cloudy night-sky for so long.

Thanks for reading, everyone!

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Regards,

Jibran

PS. I actually had something else in mind for today, but this funny thing happened, so I’ll keep the other stuff for next week’s Meaning-Making.

I do talk kinda slow in this video, cause I’m also focusing on coloring, so I won’t feel bad if you speed it up ;)

See ya tomorrow!

Jibran

In the background, I put a timelapse video of me doing some “stream-of-consciousness“ drawing (no idea what else I’d call it) and coloring.

Why did I go to Toastmasters?

I've always been a bit boring in my speaking. Even after being a teacher for 6 years in my previous careerpath, I still have a hard time not being a monotone speaker.

So that's why I decided to attend a Toastmasters meetup.

I had the idea for a while but didn't get around to it (yes, yes I know, excuses).

Anyway, I went, and it was great! I learned a TON! So why not share it with you?

Here's a list of the things I picked up during the event.

How to not be a boring speaker! Tips! 👇

1. If possible, be well prepared.

2. See an impromptu speech as an opportunity.

3. Take pauses during your speaking.

4. Look people in the eye.

5. Speak in a relaxed tone.

6. Tell a story.

7. Speak about what you felt.

8. Conclude with a lesson or a compelling message.

9. Use vocal variety.

10. Be energetic.

11. Don't put too much information into your story.

12. Give compliments plentifully.

13. Don't put your hands in your pants.

14. Don't walk around too much, but also not too little.

15. Refrain from saying "eh" or "ah" between sentences.

16. Try to feel confident.

17. Use humor.

18. Pronounce words clearly, especially when using complex words.

19. Don't use too much jargon.

20. Speak with intent behind each word/phrase.

21. Don't end all your questions with a question mark.

22. Don't ask too many questions.

23. Choose an interesting topic if possible.

24. Use repetition of important phrases or talking points.

25. Take time before you start talking when you need time to think.

26. Try to pick a story that is not only focusing on yourself, but is relevant to your listeners too.

27. When you are offered a specific (fictional) topic, take a few moments to outline the story in your head.

28. Before telling an impromptu story, keep the end in mind,. You mind finds a way by itself to get to it during your talking.

See you tomorrow!

Jibran

Hey friends, a short audio riff on the cons of an exploratory nature of the mind.

See you!

Jibran

How they look now, in real life! (In crappy low-light though, gonna do some actual “product” photography over the weekend or so.)

Bye!

Jibran

[TRANSCRIPT]
Chopping wood

So this could be something I'm doing on a typical Saturday afternoon if the weather is nice. Chops some wood. This wood is like really old. I cut the tree down eight years ago or so, no, seven years ago, when my son was half a year old.

And so it's really hard, but you see, I have a super sharp axe which goes through it like butter. Although the last time, I nicked it for the first time in years, so it's not that sharp anymore. But still, it does the trick.

I don't want to go too wide with this. The stump I'm splitting wood on is pretty small, 

Let’s see if this one wants to go again.

That’s better.

So I've got some larger piece pieces, some smaller pieces.

Anyway, chopping wood and putting it in the crate. Everyone in the Netherlands probably knows these crates. Anyway, chop wood is what I say, right? Chop wood, carry water.

Hook of Maui

Here is the hook of Maui that my son tried to make, but it split in half before we finished it, so it's kind of sad. So it's going in the fireplace as well. It's some, some other stuff with what I chopped up just now.

Wood larvae?

Look what I also found; I chopped through this piece of hardwood; what is it called? Beuk in Dutch. Beech or ash in English? Anyway, the beech insect puts their eggs in here, or larvae, and then they chew (through it). No idea how long this one's in there.

Does it still live? Probably.

It's winter now. So, and here it’s, closed it off here. See? It chews through the wood and then uses its spit or something to close the hole. And here's another hole, which is something that's died in there, probably.

Let’s see if we can find the entrance, here. Yeah. Here below the bark. If you take off the bark, you'll see where they crawled.

So anyway, interesting. Right?

Cheers!

Jibran

A few weeks ago, I was listening to a conversation between Lex Fridman and John Vervaeke. I’m already familiar with John, who has some great lectures, although they can become a bit too complex. So I was glad Lex could drag the concepts in a more simplified format out of him.

Here are some notes I took while John was talking about the idea of a “failure to love wisely,” as he calls it:

Humans create evil through the distributed cognition that emerges from communicating and acting together in immoral ways. i.e., they fail to love wisely, by turning to idols1.

The evil then becomes a demon "blob" or “evil spirit” that “hangs in the air.” (Metaphorically speaking, which I believe is what ancient mythological and religious texts actually meant.)

In practical terms, they choose the lesser good instead of, the greater good.

An important distinction to make here is that “The greater good” means something different nowadays. It’s a term we misused. Nowadays it means the good of all people, something very much out there. (Much like "doing it for the environment” isn’t a useful phrase.) But you should look at it in the sense of the greater good in this situation. It is not a thing or group out there but an act of doing a greater good right here, right now.

To know the right action, the greater good, in a particular moment you need wisdom and to choose the right action, you need to be loving.

Hence, loving wisely.

Share Meaning-Making

Regards,

Jibran

Deep Dive Podcast

We've Been Dehumanized for Too Long

“Hey Eyal, tell that joke again, it’s hilarious.” I wasn’t in the mood for telling that joke, though. And being told to felt *dehumanizing* in some way, you know? You know. When we are asked to do something that is strictly for someone else’s self-perceived benefit, we feel more like a tool than a living being…

Read more

3 years ago · 3 likes · 8 comments · Eyal Shay 🔥

Eyal argues that we have lost touch with a part of our humanity by focusing too much on money (or what awesome things money can get you).

I agree with his premise and have even written about that in the past—one of my first essays, 3+ years ago, actually—where I argue that we should take a humanity-first approach to build a brighter future. In that essay, I argue that we’ve leaned too much on technology to “save us,” to the detriment of our humanity.

We’ve seen it over recent years even, with members of the Effective Altruism movement realizing that not everything can be rationalized or designed (by us puny apes) into an effective or altruistic outcome without unforeseen second-order effects.

So Eyal’s idea is not totally new to me, but he describes it with eloquence, detail, and great analogies—like the dialectician he is.

Regards,

Jibran

My kids must wear those sticky eyepatches cause they both have one “lazy eye” (that’s what it’s called in Dutch).

They’ve been wearing the patches since they were three years old. However, my son, Bran, had a two-and-a-half year hiatus from wearing them (doctor's error, sadly) and was very resentful that he had to wear them again, now, at seven years old.

So, to help him (and his sister, Daisy) stay motivated to put their patches on every day—for 4 hours—I asked them what they would want after their box of patches was empty. (Which was 100 days worth.)

“A walkie-talkie!” Bran immediately said. And Daisy agreed with her brother right away.

This was ~100 days ago, and they’ve been wearing them for 6 days a week on average.

But now that we’re getting close to their well-earned reward, the message from my dear wife is that “the walkie-talkies won’t be paid from our shared account.”

Of course, I am to blame for this, cause, for the first 2 months, I “forgot” to tell Gigi—my wife, their mother—that they’d be getting walkie-talkies…

So understandably, I get to have the sole honor AND joy of choosing the set. 😉

Woohoo!

These won’t be shitty “toy” walkie-talkies that go like 50 feet. Oh no, these will be ones that can reach 4 miles at least!

And maybe I’ll even get four of them, so we can use them as a family when we’re on a skiing trip in, hopefully, a few years’ time. Or Bran and Daisy can team up, each with a friend, and explore the neighborhood!

Maybe I’m more excited about them than our kids, haha. (Probably because, as a kid, I always wanted to have good walkie-talkies but never had them.)

Anyway, I’ll keep you posted on what walkie-talkies I’ll get myse… eeh, I mean, I’ll get my kids.

Subscribe now

Cheers!

Jibran

Have a good day!

PS. Letter to my son I mentioned in the video:

Meaning-Making

A birthday letter to my son

"Dad, who am I?" You ask me with caramel chocolate in your mouth while we are sitting on a fallen tree trunk. I am surprised by your question. The way in which you ask the question shows me you don't mean to ask if you are your name, Bran, but who you are beyond that…

Read more

4 years ago · 5 likes · 4 comments · Jibran el Bazi

Hey friends,

Just like stardate 12152022, I am tired and home late. So excuse me for this low-effort unedited, and raw post.

I share some thoughts on storytelling, my son making his own “game” based on Minecraft, and writing short fiction.

See you tomorrow! 😘

Jibran

See you tomorrow!

Cheers,

Jibran

• 100-day creator challenge (https://100daychallenge.substack.com)

• Peers who create beautiful writing (see below for some of their latest work)

• Experimenting with video making

• Creating coloring pages in midjourney

• Ideas of creating a service or product around authentic expression.

Have a good one!

Jibran

Some of the latest posts of the people I mentioned:

Not on substack

• Gome

• Christina

• Chris

• Laila

On substack

Métis

Day 41

Looking at the great revolutions in the world, technology was almost never the key factor used to overpower the current regimes. Usually, the greatest power controls the greatest amount of resources, allowing for the exploration of technology as a way to foster and strengthen the regime…

Read more

3 years ago · 1 like · João Mateus

Grandmotherly Wisdom

It's Easy to Be Enlightened on a Remote Mountaintop

A friend once told me about how his plant medicine teacher travelled to a remote village in Peruvian Andes. She had to walk for a few days through desolate mountains and valleys in crisp and thin air. After a long journey she reached her destination and was struck by the immaculate vibes. The whole village was peaceful and serene, everyone seemed to liv…

Read more

3 years ago · 4 likes · Made in Cosmos ✨

yuelian's rough drafts

a paradox of privacy

i recently joined a community on discord where each member was given two personal starting channels by default, a public one and a private one. the group is relatively small, with ~30 members in total and only a handful actively posting to their public channels at any given time, and due to this more intimate setting i have not felt compelled to post an…

Read more

3 years ago · 3 likes · Yuelian Hong

Hey, friends!

In this quick video, I'd like to share my thoughts on how little people know about early things like chatGPT and Midjourney. Despite being quite popular among people who are active on Twitter and online in general, most people don't know about these technologies.

For example, when my kids have a play date at home, and they want to do some coloring, I used to print out some coloring pages from Google. But now I'm using Midjourney to generate a coloring page with their favorite character, like a lightning pokemon or a cute unicorn. All in the style that they want!

Today after my son’s playdate—the girl he secretly has a crush on—was picked up, her dad was surprised to hear that we had made this coloring page with this advanced AI software. He had never heard of it before. This just goes to show that these technologies are still in a bit of an internet bubble. Even though these tools are becoming more mainstream, there's still a long way to go before everyone knows about them.

That's it for today. Bye-bye!

Hey everyone!

It's a cloudy morning here in the Netherlands, but that's okay because I'm kicking off my day with a new video. I've been doing (and hosting) a 100-day creative challenge, and today I figured I'd make a short video update as my entry.

In the past, I've mostly done writing, but I've wanted to branch out and make more videos. Making videos is something I'm not super comfortable with yet, but I'm getting better with each one I make. So I'm thinking about doing the remaining days of the challenge primarily in video form (of which 1/4 or so will be a vlog like this). I'll also be talking about specific prompts or questions, like today's prompt for the 100-day challenge was about a symbol that holds meaning to you.

I'm curious to see how this challenge will shape my online creativity (just like my past writing challenge led me to become a more prolific and comfortable writer). I can write decently—decently enough to get my thoughts out there to connect with folks, at least—but I want to see if I can connect with people through video as well.

I'm excited to see where this 100-day creative challenge takes me, so stay tuned, and I'll see you tomorrow with another video!

Jibran

A kitten, to be more precise.

"Let's get a kitten!" she says again.

Yes, kittens are cute, yes they are doodley fluffy balls, yes they make you all fuzzy inside, yes they even make this (sometimes grumpy) dude act like a child again.

But gawd, they shit and pee everywhere. Also, cat hair will be all over the place.

You see, I don't like taking care of animals. I mean, I enjoy interacting and playing with them, but not so much that I want to suffer the negatives of having an animal in the house.

"But the kids would love it! Pleaaase, just let’s get a kitten! Or two…”

And every time this happens, I'm like: "Nope." (Like Chuck Testa says it).

Now you may think, "Who is this Jibran, being all "Nope" about it? You should be "Dope" about it! Why would you keep your family from having such funzies in the house?! You even grew up with cats yourself?"

I must admit, I once said we would get a kitten when our youngest child would be one year old, but that was a while ago already. So I get that my wife asks for a kitten. The kids don't yet, though, so they're not missing out, right?

But there is another part of the story. Something between my wife, me, and a previous cat we (or I should say, she) had.

Poes (pronounced "poos”)

She had a cat; his name was "Poes," which means "Cat" in Dutch. Yes, very original...

My wife got Poes as a gift from a friend when she was a student (we didn't know each other then). I only found out about Poes after a few dates we had.

Poes had one minor problem, you see. He was deaf.

As a few of you may know, a deaf cat is unfortunate, to say the least. When cats don't hear anything—they typically have astounding hearing—they become a little… crazy.

And CRAZY Poes was. Oh, he was so insane!

He made the most f****d-up sounds you could imagine. The sounds Poes made seemed like a baby being in terror and pain. They were screeching and howling sounds when my wife wasn't in sight. Her even being in another room triggered this.

This behavior was even worse when my wife wasn't home; Poes would run from room to room, howling as if his life depended on it. It didn't matter if I was there in the house… I wasn’t “mother.”

Just going back to these memories makes my cortisol levels rise.

So, Poes didn't care that I was there. And at first, he even actively disliked me, which I can highlight through an interesting experience.

When my wife and I started dating, we did, you know, the sexy smexy things. Making good use of the bed, in that case, is essential.

But of cooooourse I hadn't thought about whose bed we were having fun on!

No, not my wife's (then girlfriend’s) property, oh no! The bed was like a totalitarian state owned by a dictator named Poes.

So it was no wonder that on multiple occasions, I got bitten on my foot while doing, you know, lovemaking.

Five years of love (of Poes for my wife) and hate (of me for Poes) went by before Poes died. After that, I could finally get a good night's sleep.

I did feel sorry for him, though. Poes didn't ask to be born deaf. And his terror howls—that he didn’t hear himself—were his only option for the fear he had of being abandoned.

So, maybe we'll get a cat after all—not a deaf one—and only when our kids can take care of it themselves.

I'll pour one for you, Poes. 🥃

Oh, I forgot

To answer the question of the title—why having a pet is fantastic for your kids, even if you hate pets—which I hooked you with but didn’t get into at all (sorry, not sorry 😉):

Kids learn what it feels like and what it means when something/someone they love dies...

Yeah, it doesn't sound great, but it is good to learn this early. And better to discover this for the first time with pets rather than people.

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Note: I wrote this 3+ years ago. In the meantime, our kids got gerbils as pets, three of them, one for my wife and one for each of our kids. I didn’t get one, but am the one vacuuming all the sawdust these critters leave behind…

A little background

I found this story again accidentally, as I thought I had lost it! (I rewrote it a little bit, on a sentence level only, though.)

Some of you tagging along since the beginning of my writing may even recognize the story. If so, thank you for supporting and reading all that time! ❤️

As to how I found the story again:

Thank you for reading; I hope you enjoyed it!

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Regards,

Jibran