Recent articles from Mick's blog
Today I want to share my experience and tell you about: The basics of the Circle Way as a tool/method The effects I noticed on myself after over one year The backstory of how I got to know it and practice it The Circle Way in a nutshell The basic idea is simple: in the circle, everyone is equally important. The circle way is meant to strengthen relationships and foster a sense of community, held…
Once upon a time, every space was unsafe. People would judge you every time, everywhere, every little thing you did. You could never let your guard down and be your authentic self. Especially if your authentic self dared to be different than the Currently Accepted Standard. So, someone came up with a great idea: a safe space . Hey! – they thought – I’m sick and tired of all this shit,…
Cars are mechanical machines. We can be thought as biological machines. Cars need fuel (of some kind, depending on the car). We need food (to each their own, depending on the human). Cars need maintenance. And so do we. Sometimes, the issue is so blatant and critical that the car can’t operate. Here’s a few examples: the wheel may be stuck, the gearbox won’t let you change gears,…
This is a strategy (or a life pro tip , if you will) that served me incredibly well over the past years. Now, if you don’t know me: I am an optimist. By choice! That does not always come easy. But it is the best choice I have. And mind you, it’s not about toxic positivity at all. I suspect it is much more like learned optimism instead, if you know Martin Seligman. But I haven’t…
I’m writing on the spur of the moment because this morning a few things I love happened all at once: I love when I find out about interesting stuff without even looking for it. I love when said stuff defines ideas I’d already come up with by myself. And I love when it breeds a cross-pollination of thoughts in my mind. So, today I serendipitously came across the concept of moral luck .…
I like food. But I dislike politics. So today I want to explore how these two statements are connected. Definitions, personally I find writing down an explicit definition can be quite useful to clarify what I mean for myself and even more useful to make sure we’re on the same page. Of course any definition may be lacking or imprecise, but that’s not the point. I’m not even trying…
Long-time readers would know by now that writing is my go-to reflection tool: it helps me think, assess what I learned, and process my emotions. So, here I am… trying to unpack what happened during the training course Crafting Reality – held in the little city of Carei, Romania. If the aforementioned readers (assuming they even existed) were paying close attention, they would also know that…
Sometimes I have the feeling that I take myself (and this blog) too seriously. All of the editing and the attention to the title, to the slug, to the length, to the paragraphs, to the sections, to the headings, to the words . (And that’s without even considering my pet peeves about how the text looks on screen, like the ones I mentioned towards the end of the article Wait but why .) Sure, I…
A friend of mine recently told me I’m too skeptical about AI. I thought he might have a point. If not embrace it, I should at the very least try it out before dismissing it entirely. But me being me, I didn’t want to use ChatGPT. So I searched for alternatives, and I’ve found a nice project in Jan . I haven’t really used it much yet, but while I was messing around I…
I’ll start with the conclusions (that is, the lessons) in the hope for this post to be useful to you. It’s nothing new, but at least it’s in a condensed form. Keep in mind I’ll refer to a practical, DIY kind of workshop. It may still be somewhat relevant for talks or lectures, but take it with a grain of salt. If you’re still interested, further below you’ll…
Random Revelations is… …a mini podcast – or whatever you wanna call it – about the seemingly ordinary moments in life that are, when you look a little closer, not so ordinary at all. I’m not one to follow podcasts, usually. But this one deserves an exception. Marta’s voice is so soothing, so calm. Perfect for a guided meditation, if you ask me. And that’s great,…
I don’t usually love belligerent analogies, but sometimes they can be useful. I’ve just stumbled upon an article about attention war in chess-related online media, aptly titled The War on Attention (and written by BenjiPortheault). Then I went on reading a few comments, and one especially stood out to me: We tend to paint the attention crisis as an “us vs them” […]…
You want to go east. Luckily, you have a perfectly working compass with you. As you go, you find all kinds of people. Some of them even join you for a while. They don’t have your compass, but sometimes they will object to your lead. That’s not east! East is this other way! – they’ll say. But why would you listen to them? You have the compass. I’ll be less cryptic now.…
Lately, I’m thinking a lot about food. This morning I was thinking about sustainability, specifically about food that needs to be transported a long way (say, bananas from the Philippines) and how it compares to food that is otherwise inherently unsustainable (say, meat). Then I immediately thought I’d choose the lesser evil, implicitly assuming that I had to make a choice. But I…
Writing a half-baked post on how I eat helped me clarify my relationship with food. Other than that, I suspect that article is mostly useless to most people. I hope this write-up will prove more helpful, especially if you like to reflect on the impact of your food-related choices and your actions in general. Now, before we get started: “vegan” is an overloaded word. I don’t like…
It resembles a metaphor from Forrest Gump , but hear me out! Before I start: I always steered clear of technical topics because I surely don’t want to turn my blog into yet another tech blog . But I do use technology, and I sometimes fiddle with it. It’s a part of my life I may as well write about here. And despite its topic, this post is not only for tech people . So, if you’re…
A dear friend of mine asked me something interesting and all but trivial. I blurted out an answer that obviously turned out to be quite lengthy for the standards of an instant messaging app, so I thought I’d share it here. It’s food for thought, and I didn’t feel like letting it rot in the ephemeral world of chat messages (which I set to autodelete after some time). Before we…
Imagine an alien comes visit Earth. Our fella would be eager to try a few of these things most of the earthlings go crazy about, right? I mean: if everyone likes something, then it must be great. Right? Unfortunately, this unlucky alien ends up eating a cheap, terrible, frozen pizza at a take-away kebab place . Or drinking watered-down wine, randomly bought in a local minimarket. Or tasting…
Nothing in life is so important that can’t be interrupted – not even life itself. Stop right there for a second. Appreciate you’re alive. Go on with your life. 👋️🙂️🍀️ Wanna tell me what you think? Contact me ! 📨️ P.S. Hooray for RSS! You're awesome! 😎️
In a nutshell Become wildly influential and change the system from within. Become powerful enough to rig the game to your advantage. Avoid being a low-hanging fruit, but play by the rules. Lie low enough to be ignored, so rules won’t apply. Step outside and play a different game altogether. How, though Extreme drive and skills (and some luck on top of that). Financial freedom (or financial…
I was about to title this post redefine urgency , but I also didn’t mean for this blog to become monothematic! 😜️ Seriously though: even if I think what you’re gonna read applies to both, I’d say it relates a bit more to importance . (By the way, these two concepts are somehow connected – such as in the so-called Eisenhower Matrix . And not seldom they are even conflated.)…
Just yesterday I published a short post titled Living is urgent . I got the point: living (whatever it might mean) always deserves to be on top of our to-do lists – no matter how busy we think we are. But then I thought about it a little bit more, from a different angle. In my experience, urgency often begets stress and overwhelm . I want less of it, not more. So why should I add to the list,…
Today I came across a guy with a black T-shirt with a sentence written in white: VIVIR ES URGENTE (It was also signed “Pau” – and I immediately thought of Pau Donés . An internet search quickly confirmed my guess, which is nice but also irrelevant.) I smiled. I often postpone life, and I don’t think I am the only one to put it off. If you’re a bit like me, this post is for…
Most people in the world won’t even notice, since they don’t know I exist. Many people won’t particularly care nor find out right away, because they may only have interacted with me at a superficial level and/or too much time ago. Some people will hopefully get a chance to think about their life for a second, but they shouldn’t be too fazed about it overall. A few people…
Today I found out I cannot possibly waste your time – not even if I tried to. WAIT, isn’t that quite trivial? In a way yes, since you’re the only responsible for managing your own time. And reading this is solely your choice. BUT, the way I came to this understanding as well as the context in which I did are not equally trivial. So that’s what I will cover in this post. WHY? Who…
This is a super fresh and quick anecdotal post. Mixed signals This morning I passed by a school. On the outside, a sign would read: Entrance is permitted to school staff and users. Entrance is forbidden to outsiders. The second sentence was highlighted by a solid fire red background. But the main door was open, and on a wall inside there was this writing: ART 34 School is open to everyone……
Words are a way to express and understand ourselves and our surroundings. But some things can barely be expressed, and yet never be understood through words alone. And how about the things that can’t be expressed at all? What cannot be said in a few words cannot be said even in many. Wanna tell me what you think? Contact me ! 📨️ P.S. Hooray for RSS! You're awesome! 😎️
I want to say something about Manu’s post A comment on comments . It’s an extremely short post, so you might as well read it now (it takes 30 seconds). In a nutshell, he thinks commenting should be done in one of two ways: Privately via email or via direct messaging Publicly by posting a reply on your own website I mostly agree, but I’d also like to add a third one (after all, 3…
A pedal is not a bicycle. It’s not even a strictly essential part. But I’d rather my bicycle have pedals! To work well, a bicycle needs all of its parts. But for parts to work well together, each part must first work well individually. To be useful, a part has to meet a specific need. It must have a well-defined function and be able to fulfill said function alone. A pedal can’t…
It’s not just all puns and clickbaiting, I swear. Bear with me. I’m no dietitian, but I’ve been eating for quite a while. So here are my totally-scientific heuristics based on anecdotal evidence: fast food is probably not good industrial agriculture is probably not good oily/greasy/deep-fried stuff is probably not good overeating is probably not good factory farming is probably…
Have you ever come across something you enjoyed and which made you feel like you wanted to do something similar yourself? If yes: rejoice, my friend! It may be easier than you think. Sure, a lot depends on the thing itself. If that took a team of aerospace engineers, chances are you won’t be able to replicate it just by yourself. But we’re all bestowed the gift of creativity, in a way…
Let me introduce you to Andrea, Blaise, Casey, and Desi. They are students of astro-statistics at the University of the Moon. It’s quite a complex subject matter, but they’re all pretty brilliant pupils. Space exams Now, at the University of the Moon they know how to administer tests. They won’t make silly mistakes such as hinting at the answer within the question. This…
This afternoon I was supposed to do stuff. Like, the usual work stuff. The same kind of stuff I was doing in the morning, and yesterday, and the day before. Instead, I went on a walk with a friend who could really use some emotional support and company and fresh air and laughter in this period. “I can always do my stuff later” – I thought. But then my sister stopped by to visit, and I…
Today I want to share with you a couple of personal anectodes from my past – instead of the usual bite-sized food for thought and questionable questions. Why so? Well, Manu is hosting the IndieWeb Carnival for this month. And I think that’s great for many reasons, among which: The topic is Digital Relationships. I love it – and, it’s so Manu. It is a prompt to write, with a clear…
The big issue is deep, unfathomable, inscrutable. But it truly matters. The small issue is shallow, irrelevant, and ultimately pointless. The interesting thing I noticed is that in many a situation, we humans tend to ignore the big issue and focus on the small one. Here’s few examples: Pursuing good enough marks instead of good enough understanding. Chasing wealth or perfection at the cost…
A couple of months ago, I came up with a short parable. Kinda like a zen koan, but not really. Maybe. Who knows! Anyhow, I promptly wrote it down in my notes, not to forget it. It was the morning of 17 October 2023. That day I had other things to do, and I was not feeling inclined to write a blog post. But now I do (at long last!), so here we go. The parable You have a guesthouse on a much…
Today I want to take you on a short trip. Ready for a free ride inside my mind? We’re about to leave, so buckle up! Point of departure I woke up thinking about the difference between knowledge and wisdom. It all boiled down to a simple thought: knowledge is impetuous, wisdom is humble . I was just reiterating what I’ve long known first-hand, which was already well-known: think of…
Let me warn you straight away: this is not my usual short and simple post about intriguing ideas, unanswerable questions, or bite-sized food for thought. Instead, I’m gonna elaborate on a few inputs I got from my friend Luigi Teschio aka Gigitux about the pricing of my freelance services. We met last week, thanks to the newly founded social cooperative Hub Porta Nova . We took part in the…
I’m eating excellent grapes these days, and I feel so grateful about that. Just a few minutes ago, while I was having some, lemons came to mind instead. Gratitude and optimism are closely connected. Just as optimism and lemons. You know what I mean. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade . That’s just how an optimist thinks. Simple and powerful. And extendable. So… If life…
Mu . Wanna tell me what you think? Contact me ! 📨️ P.S. Hooray for RSS! You're awesome! 😎️
This morning I woke up at 6:40 with a few thoughts in mind. I wanted to sleep a bit more, but I knew I no longer could. So, I got up to write this post. For context: I’ve always felt a push towards learning and bettering myself. And that sounds to me like a pretty decent definition of personal growth. This process inherently depends on what you mean by bettering . But we can all agree that…
I was chatting with a good friend, and the topic of marketing and ads came up. We all use adblockers, right? If you don’t, go get uBlock Origin . Thank me later. Anyhow, the first thing that came to my mind were two articles by Leo Babauta, namely the future of advertising and minimal web . But then I remembered about a random ideas I had a few weeks ago. Here it is. My random idea There…
I came across this question while aimlessly strolling through the internet. Almost 4 years ago, Manu publicly asked: What makes you happy? Here’s the full post, for convenience (but Manu’s blog is interesting, go check it out): Do more of what makes you happy they say. But what is that? What if you don’t know what makes you happy? How do you solve that? How can you even know what…
It may seem counterintuitive, but your life is not about you. It is for you. This is a thought I had just today, and it immediately started to make sense. What I mean is: you are not the focus , you are the purpose . A blatant example is a business website: it works so much better for you if you focus on your customers instead of making it all about yourself. Moving the focus away from yourself…
The problem can be: The excess (or lack) of X. The desperate need for X. The way of looking at X. As excellently put by Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean : The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem. Also, X is not the solution. There’s no silver bullet. Or maybe there are many. X can be (and often is) misconstrued, misunderstood, idealized,…
I’ve always been used to justifying , to myself before anyone else. Incidentally, this is something I see a lot of people doing, often unconsciously. Then I found out there’s no need to have any reasons, let alone a good one. In particular, doing what I love is more than enough reason in itself. And the reasons that lie behind anything at all aren’t necessarily relevant or…
Here’s a largely unedited transcription of a piece I blurted out last Saturday (6 May 2023), inspired by Vivian Maier’s life and photography. And below, some context. Ravings of an introverted fire hydrant I don’t think I can hold on much longer. I’m weary. I want… release. But I need to hold on. Do I, though? Yes. Yes yes yes yes. Don’t give in. You’re…
Here’s a beautiful poem by Eugenio Montale : I climbed down, with you by my arm, at least a million stairs and now you’re not here, it’s emptiness at each step. Even thus, our long journey has been short. Mine still lasts, yet I no longer need coincidences, reservations, traps, the chagrin of those who believe that reality is just what they see. I climbed down million stairs with…
Fear got the best of me lately, and I worked way too much for my own good. As I was feeling generally anxious and worried, my baseline was changing. I could no longer feel joyful for no reason – just because I am . I want to appreciate every moment because I know what it feels like. But I also know I can’t force anything, and certainly not how and what I feel. So I thought I could just…
Oftentimes, the same behaviour can stem from opposite motives . Let’s say you ask someone for their opinion on a delicate, personal issue. They may tell you a harsh truth because they care and want to be honest. Or they may be blunt just because they don’t care at all and have nothing to lose. Let’s say someone makes a mistake, and you know how to correct it. You can do nothing…