Rookie
We all have to start somewhere, but we don't all begin at the start line.
Hello Pocket Friends,
It’s been a busy fortnight for me. From spending nearly three years wfh home hibernating, cocooning, resting, hiding, nesting, chilling etc., and speaking to fewer than five people a week, to working 26 days in a row, some of which were effectively 11 hours out of the house, once the commute was added in. So, I’m beat.
Cue generic instagrammable photo of someone cupping a coffee mug, with an opened book on the table.
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Photo by Hayley Murray on Unsplash
Everyone is a rookie at first. Dip a toe in or hold your nose, run and jump. Grab your opportunities. Seize the day. Take chances. Try new things. Eat strange food. Travel to new places. Move house. Reinvent your image. Talent, luck, nurture, 10,000 hours practice. You only get good at something by doing it. Even Tony Hawk fell off his skateboard in the beginning. Do you think that (*insert your guitar hero here) could play like that the first time the picked up their guitar?
We all know people who want to get from A to B without doing any work to get there. The sharp-elbowed, middle-classes who will do whatever it takes to push or buy their way to the front of the queue. They say they just want the very best for their offspring, but often fail to recognise that their child might not have the talent or aptitude that other kids have, who don’t have the pushy parents. Living a life mapped out, without risk. Green lights all the way. No struggle. Nepo babies. Influencers. Helicopter parents. Someone else will take care of the hard details and make the uncomfortable decisions so they don’t have to. Having it all.
When you’re used to privilege, equality feels like oppression.
It sometimes feels like the progress achieved by women in the 20th century is slipping away and we’re actually going backwards, not forwards. Read this article about how algorithms are sexist.
nuff said.
Hit List
I don’t know why, but the artist Ron Mueck popped into my head today. I guess it was following on from the hyper-realistic robots in the last newsletter. Ron Mueck makes incredibly-realistic sculptures of humans, but on an exaggerated scale. I remember going to Edinburgh for the weekend years ago specifically to see one of his exhibitions, and the memories have stuck in my mind.
Here’s an example of how a song can give off two completely different meanings depending on who sings it. Firstly, the genius of Taylor Swift, singing her own song, with the mega-talented Jack Antonoff on guitar.
A very different vibe in this cover version.
Until next time,
Nx