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On personal development, mindful productivity, creative lifestyle design, and figuring it out as you go
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Hey There!
Happy August! After stepping back from weekly videos, I’ve finally been able to slow down and work at a more relaxed, sustainable pace. I’m getting back into my daily jogging habit, re-regulating my sleep schedule, and I’ve even gotten to do a bit of travel to see friends. I’m in a much needed moment of re-balancing.
I’m also getting my ideas together for my new channel Bean Thinking and I’m excited to have the time to let my thoughts percolate. I’m envisioning a series that investigates ideas about how we can build a better world, covering topics of democracy and politics, labor, race, and media/ communication. My goal is to have a series that’s exploratory, inviting, and ultimately hopeful.
Here’s to taking the time you need to bring your vision into reality.
Spiritedly,
Ahsante
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My latest videos, for your viewing pleasure and daily leisure
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In the meantime, I’ve been hosting videos for American Experience! American Experience is PBS’s flagship history documentary series produced out of GBH in Boston.
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They’ve been doing social-first videos to accompany their full-length broadcasts, and I’ve been script advisor and host. It’s been a delight to work on; one of my favorites is about how Los Angeles was created with fanciful (and often far-fetched) advertising.
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Speaking of resisting urgency, I’ve just made a new exclusive vlog for The Brilliant Beans about the process of taking my time to make decisions about the direction of my creative business over the past few months. If you’re part of the community, don’t miss out on your perk!
I’m sending out the painting postcards today in the mail! Look out for those soon.
And the new Wall of Big Thanks is now live! That’s a place where I’ll be displaying the names of the Brilliant Beans who give $5 per month or more in support of my work, as a sign of my gratitude. Y’all are helping me to make this happen.
Thank you so much for your support!
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Music to keep your spirits up and let it all out
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Pieces of media and pop culture that I'm absolutely loving
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So This Is love by Sneha
This is one of those moments where I thank the viral internet for bringing amazing artists into my feed. Sneha’s duet covering So This is Love blew up on TikTok and IG Reels, and she has blessed us by releasing a full version, available to stream across platforms. I was literally moved to tears listening, such a beautiful rendition.
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Chris Hedges on What it Takes to be a Rebel in Modern Times
I came across this video while doing research for Bean Thinking and... wow. Chris Hedges’s outlook is a bit pessimistic for my taste (and he discounts public media, which is still kicking!), but he is quite astute in breaking down the issues with our current journalism and political landscape in such a short amount of time. In this interview with VICE, he touches on how a lot of problematic aspects of society and economic power are working together. If you haven’t come across Chris Hedges before (I hadn’t), it’s worth a watch.
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How to Read a Book
By Charles Van Doren and Mortimer J. Adler
This book is an in-depth look at how to effectively glean knowledge from non-fiction books. The authors cover types of reading that increase in complexity, starting with reading for a basic understanding of what a book is about, and ending with doing research across several books to gain insights on a larger complex theme. Along the way they discuss the particular nuances of various genres, how a book’s arguments should be constructed, and how to properly criticize what you read. While the first half of the book seemed obvious, the build to the second half really blew my mind. If you’re into analysis of the nature of knowledge itself, you’re going to like this one.
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What's been keeping my productivity boosted
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- Video Speed Controller - This Chrome extension allows you to speed up and slow down videos to basically any degree, even when there’s not a built-in video player with controls on a website. I use this to play YouTube and Facebook videos at greater than 2x speeds, which is super handy when someone’s talking slowly or when I only need to skim.
- Obsidian - This tool for networked thought has been a complete game-changer as I’m brainstorming my Bean Thinking content. Unlike Evernote and traditional note-taking apps, Obsidian relies on bi-directional linking between notes rather than a strict folder hierarchy. The argument is that our brains build knowledge by connecting new ideas to those we’re already familiar with. With this app, your idea storage system will be able to do the same. Oh, and it’s free and you maintain total control of your data (it uses a freemium model). I just started using it a couple weeks ago and am loving it so far; I plan to give a tour of my space to The Brilliant Beans once it’s more developed.
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Live Spiritedly & Think Creatively
Catch ya next time :)
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