RSS Bilingual Reader

My meditation teacher said something that stopped me cold: “We fall in love with the idea of a person, and then we fight so hard to keep it alive.” We were talking about marriage. Here's what I realized as those words settled: you could replace “person” with place. Or with job. And especially with yourself. The idea of what we are supposed to be versus the one actually breathing in this body right now. This is how it works: you meet someone. What you're actu...

I forgive you. I forgive you for how needy you've been for approval, for this dependence on others. It's normal—your uncertainty brought you here, your childhood brought you here, and I forgive you for it. I forgive little me. I don't condemn that child, don't make him feel guilty when he reaches for his mother, when he seeks his father. When he clings to his business partner, to his husband, to his wife, to his employers, to his lover—I don't make him feel...

If you ever stood outside the Fifth Avenue Apple Store in New York, you noticed how the glass cube rises like a minimalist temple, appearing even more ethereal than the Kaaba in Mecca. Once you see that, it's easy to realize how millions of consumers visiting it are on a pilgrimage of sorts. Inside, the Apple logo hangs luminous at the center, elevated and spotlit like the cross in churches to draw the eye upward. Ironic how the crucifix was replaced with a bitten apple, an ancient symbol o...

A note on this provocative essay: In seven months, it reached over 100,000 unique readers and was translated into more than five languages, becoming more popular on HackerNews than the discussion about Trump's tariffs. The best advertising I've ever made is for the abolition of advertising. What if we made all advertising illegal? It's such a wild idea that I've never heard it in the public discourse. Even saying it seems so far outside the Overton window that it makes nuking...

A student performer recently reached out to ask me about transitioning from college to “the real world” while pursuing comedy and video production. His eyes lit up describing an intimate dorm room improv show he runs: 20–25 people packed in weekly for pure joy and experimentation. Then came a familiar tension: one friend urged him to monetize it immediately, while another suggested preserving its organic magic. There's tremendous pressure to monetize every passion. The ...

“Sometimes creativity is a compulsion, not an ambition.” — Edward Norton There's something comedic about my dog's reaction to Trump's voice on inauguration day. Each time it played, he'd pad into my room and sit at my feet, as if sensing some disturbance in the force fields. When the voice stopped, he'd retreat to his bed. When it resumed, he'd return. I am not trying to make an easy joke, but rather observing this canine EMF detector of politic...

Diogenes was knee-deep in a stream washing vegetables. Seeing him, Plato said, “My good Diogenes, if you knew how to pay court to kings, you wouldn't have to wash vegetables.” — “And,” replied Diogenes, “If you knew how to wash vegetables, you wouldn't have to pay court to kings.” 💫 Ghost's ActivityPub integration has arrived, and I'm among the first to use it. Follow @[email protected] from any Fediverse platform&#x2014...

Try to read a page. The phone rings. Try to read a page. The courier buzzes. Try to read a page. This is ping culture : the constant barrage of notifications, interruptions, and demands that fragment our attention into unusable pieces. Each interruption creates ripples, like stones thrown into still water. Brief distractions disturb not just that moment, but the entire hour that follows—especially when you're creating rather than consuming. Days could stretch out like an uninterrupte...

A veteran of photography recently told me she's “really been enjoying AI street photography.” She explained that she had never felt comfortable doing actual street photography. In particular: going out into the world, engaging with strangers, capturing real moments. But now she could finally enjoy the genre without that discomfort. I had to stop her there. What she's doing isn't photography at all. This isn't mere semantics. Photography—from photo- &#x201...

Borgmann's distinction between “things” and “devices” is crucial to understanding our relationship with technology. Traditional “things” demand engagement (like a fireplace), while modern “devices” promise effortless commodity delivery (like a smartphone). But our contemporary technological landscape reveals a critical gap in this binary framework. “ Single-task tools ” combine technological capability with thing-like qua...

How many tasks you can check off before your soul quietly packs its bags and leaves? Eight? Twenty? Forty-two? You achieve inbox zero, demolish your to-do list, and optimize your workflow to perfection . Victory, right? But instead of feeling triumphant, you're exhausted. And somehow there's more work than ever. Welcome to the productivity paradox. “The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great p...

We're living in the convenience regime , an era where convenience reigns supreme. From one-click purchases to AI-generated art, we've optimized away life's little frustrations, betting on our discontent with reality itself . But in our quest to make everything easier, could we accidentally be erasing what makes us human? Shortcuts, especially digital shortcuts, are not just making tasks easier: they're fundamentally changing how we exist in the world. Trading real-world frict...

I've been reflecting on the layers of disparate elements that have molded my perspective–and I encourage you to do the same. At my core, there's a fascination with people who distill complexity into its essence. Whether it's in architecture, philosophy, comedy, or design, I'm drawn to minds that cut through the noise to reveal fundamental truths, much like the concepts explored in  The Art of Deliberate Friction-Building . Form: Simplicity and Modernism Take archi...

“The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.” – Carl Gustav Jung Let me paint you a picture: A communal campfire flickering in rural Michigan. Stars above, forest around. My partner and me, a foreigner, face-to-face with a local prison guard and his girlfriend. At first, silence. Wary glances. Then, “Where you guys from?” he asks. With my accent, I tell him. His girlfriend lean...

Sometimes, the best way to improve your life is by making it a bit harder. Ever notice how easy it is to get sucked into your phone? It's like a black hole of endless scrolling and notifications. Before facial recognition or fingerprints, you had to punch in a code to unlock your phone: that tiny bit of effort was enough to make you think twice. But what if you could break free from this cycle and regain control over your mental health and relationship with your tools? Adding a little frict...