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Visual I.D.E.A.s: Where to focus your attention to improve your quality of life
In this issue: resume virtues vs eulogy virtues, why I revisit the same ideas, the role of teachers, and the difference between beginners and masters.
PJ Milani
April 09, 2024
š¤ INTERESTING
Donāt build a resume-driven life.
Build a eulogy-driven one.
In the book, āThe Second Mountain,ā David Brooks brings up two different types of virtues:
1. Resume virtues: accomplishments and accolades earned throughout a career
2. Eulogy virtues: the things your friends and family will remember and say about what kind of person you were at your funeral
Most of us have been taught how to cultivate the former, but few of us have ever been told how to pursue the latter. Read the full post here.Ā
šĀ DESIGN
If youāve followed me for a while, you might notice Iāll often revisit an ideaāto find a different articulation of that message.
Thereāre 3 reasons why:
Each articulation forces diving into deeper understanding.
Improves pattern recognition of how things are connected.
Different metaphors will impact people differently.
Thereās also a more personal reason worth mentioningāit keeps my perfectionist monster at bay.
If I know the visual Iām creating is just āone of many,ā then Iām less precious about finding the āperfect analogy.ā
Hereās an example of a recent articulation of āfancy language vs simple language.ā
And here are two earlier articulations of that same idea:
 |  |
š” Curious--which of these resonates the most? |
š§ Ā ANALOGY
"The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried."
Most people compare destinations without comparing journeys.
I'll give you an exampleā¦
For 13 years, Mike Winkelmann (aka "beeple") made a piece of art, everyday (aptly called his āeverydaysā).
Day 5,000, Mike takes each of his everydays and stitches them together into an NFT of a mosaic called: "The First 5000 Days."
And...
October 2021, this NFT sells forā¦wait for itā
$69 million.
Media labeled it an "overnight success."
But there's no such thing as an overnight success. Only over time success.
13 years of shooting daily shots.
Beeple still creates today. 6183 days and counting!
This is what it means to be a master.
Hit or miss, you keep shooting.
š¤Ā WHAT IāM READING NOW
A delightful find, āTeaching Artfullyā by Meghan Parker dives into the power of comics and metaphor to help enlighten teaching, expand learning, and deepen understanding.
It gives me Grant Snider vibes and itās been a treat at the end of each day exploring this book before falling asleep.
Like a dream before a dream.
One of my favorite quotes from the book:
The meaning of the word aesthetic is the opposite of anesthetic; it is our invitation to deepen our connection to our senses and the artfulness of ourselves and the world.
-Celeste Snowber
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