I’m Arun Venkatesan, and this is the arun.is newsletter, where I share my current obsessions, inspiration from around the web, behind-the-scenes content, and more. 

This week’s issue covers a few things:

• What’s new
• Life’s a garden
• Recommendations

What's new 

DIP DPReview

I published a couple posts since the last issue of the newsletter. First up was a reaction to the sudden announcement that DPReview would be soon shuttered. I’ve been regularly checking the site ever since I became serious about photography 15 years ago.

A week in Palm Springs

Second is a photoessay about a family trip we took last year to Palm Springs. I carried my Leica CL, 18mm f/2.8, and 23mm f/2.0. The setup proved perfect for the mix of outdoors, indoors, artificial, and natural.

Life’s a garden

My current phase of life is the busiest I have felt since college. As I’ve struggled to balance my various commitments, a mental model has been developing in my head.

I’ve been visualizing my life as a garden with my various priorities — my marriage, kids, friends, running, work, this blog — as plants in it. 

Consistency

Consistency is key. I can miss a day of caring for a plant, but miss two or more in a row, and it withers. The longer I go without caring for it, the more work will be required to bring it back to stasis. If I let it go altogether, it will die and a new one will need to be replanted.

Balance

I need to provide each plant the care and nutrients it needs. I can’t let one plant grow quickly and overcrowd the rest. I must pay extra attention to delicate plants.

Unpredictability

I can’t be attached to a plant’s eventual form. I can shape it through support and pruning, but the plant takes its own course.

Interdependence

Certain combinations of plants are mutually symbiotic. They can grow better together than they ever could on their own.

Fruits and labor

There is joy in the slow progression I notice as I labor away. Then when harvest comes, the fruit is satisfying because I know how much work I and the plant performed.

Patience

Gardens take time to develop. Little can be done to speed up the clock. I must trust that if I tend to my little garden daily, it will develop in a positive direction.

This mental model has helped remind me that living life is an art, not a science. In the times when I feel down for missing a run, or not being present with my family, or not focusing at work, I visualize my garden and decide what needs to be done. Sometimes it means skipping something altogether. Other times, it means paying close to one particular activity. 

How do you balance everything in your life?

Recommendations

the html review

My first recommendation is the recently published second issue of the html review. It’s an experimental project with each contribution using html as a creative medium. When I think of what originally attracted me to the internet, it’s this.

Terra Nil

I’ve loved city building games my entire life. When I first saw the first version of Terra Nil years ago on itch.io, I had to try. The premise and gameplay are similar to many city builders. You must place buildings on an isometric map while managing resources and win conditions. The major difference is the starting point — a barren wasteland. The object of the game is to transform the land and restore nature. The game is free on iOS for Netflix users and available on other platforms too.

Gamecraft

Gamecraft is a podcast chronicling the business side of video gaming by two people from Benchmark. One of the hosts is an industry veteran who has seen decades of video game history unravel from the front lines.

That's it for this issue.

As always, this is my personal email, so feel free to respond directly.

Stay curious,
Arun Venkatesan