š of the š§ [011]
Thereās this nagging feeling that I have. It spiderwebs out in so many different directions that itās difficult to eloquently articulate it. Iāll try to set the stage here, but future issues will likely unpack other aspects of the same theme with the goal to eventually distill my thoughts into something more potent.
Letās play one of my favorite games⦠Fun with words. The word today is grounded. Letās look at the adjective form definitions:
- well balanced and sensible and
- (of a pilot or an aircraft) prohibited or prevented from flying
When you say someone is a grounded or well-grounded individual, you mean #1. When you describe a flight or pilot (or misbehaving child) with grounded you mean #2. The second usually takes the verb form, āThe flight was grounded due to failing safety checks.ā The verb also represents the electrical engineering status of being connected to the ground via a āground wireā. This condition is known as being grounded and it prevents the likelihood of electrocution or electrical fires due to voltage from arcing.
So if I described us as a grounded society in todayās state of technological overabundance, which definition fits? Does the wealth of information in our pockets, on our wrists and most often being constantly stared at make us more sensible or well-informed? That would be grand, but itās far from the reality as I see it. Weāre grounded in the lack of flight or freedom sense.
The irony just smacks you in the face doesnāt it? Technological leaps have grounded us. Weāve never been more connected, yet we lack being grounded. What a shocker. We fry our brains and our attention spans like one of those eggs in the pan in the āThis is your brain on drugsā commercials I grew up watching on television. We should have current versions for various epidemics. āThis is your brain on social mediaā or āThis is your brain on spending more time staring at your phone than you do any of the human beings around you,ā perhaps? Itās the same damn commercial. You just have to swap out the talk track.
Hereās an experiment⦠Ground yourself. Now have fun with the definitions and interpretations of that suggestion, since I donāt give advice.
1ļøā£ Something I šā¦
I saw this in Jeff Sheldonās 5 Things Iām Digging monthly newsletter. I have watched it countless times since. The technical skill, video work and amazing song choice combine into something that I really canāt do justice with words. Itās 5 minutes that will blow your mind⦠I guarantee it.
And just in case your attention span is weak, the 2:50 mark is one Jeff called out in his blurb and Iāll 2nd the motion⦠š¤Æ
2ļøā£ Something I spent time withā¦
Mechanical Watch
This is way more than a 5 minute investment, but if youāre into seeing how something works, this is for you to spend some time digesting. Puns intended.
The writing alongside the interactive illustrations of the watch parts in movement is really engaging. I recommend viewing this one on a larger screen than the phone for full immersion. Speaking of, this quote hits it:
In the world of modern portable devices, it may be hard to believe that merely a few decades ago the most convenient way to keep track of time was a mechanical watch. Unlike their quartz and smart siblings, mechanical watches can run without using any batteries or other electronic components.
3ļøā£ Something I readā¦
What Is Digital Minimalism? ā Slow Growth Newsletter
I dig what Matt DāAvella and the Slow Growth team are doing with their newsletter. When I read this issue, the main feature wasnāt covering any new ground for me as Iāve been on my own digital minimalism journey of sorts. That said, Iām sharing it because itās a great overview to share with someone thatās either curious themselves, or finds some of your tactics a bit curious if the journey is one youāre on.
Great summary:
Ultimately, digital minimalism isnāt about rejecting technology: itās about being intentional with it. And because technology is neither inherently good nor bad, our intentionality is the distinctive factor between it being something that drains us or a tool that benefits our lives.
š¬ Thanks for reading!
You made it to the end of the newsletter! š
If you found this worth the time we both invested, consider buying me a ā or simply sharing this newsletter with a friend.
If you have feedback on how to make this newsletter better, email me.
For more of my writing, check out my landing page with links to other efforts.
Angles Outside 180 š
This section is only for the folks that scroll to the bottom of a newsletter the way true fans sit to the end of the credits in a movie hoping for a little moreā¦
- Thanks to the new subscriber that mentioned to me that the newsletter sign up button here wasnāt functioning properly. It is fixed!
- I donāt recall mentioning it in any other issues, but I saw Hamilton live for the first time last month. Amazing show doesnāt even begin to describe how good it is.
- Interestingly, you donāt see the crowd watching a Broadway show like Hamilton holding up their phones/tablets to record the moment as it is happening the same way you do at a concert. Some of that must be theatre culture vs. concert culture⦠but maybe those that take in a Broadway show or an opera have more of a respect for the experience being lived than the experience being shared online. This would make a great psychology/sociology case study.
- Back catalog of past issues is almost completed⦠ā²