Tagging something steals its soul

The day you teach the child the name of the bird, the child will never see that bird again.

To see, we must forget the name of the thing we are looking at.

The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth.

Once you label me, you negate me.

Language can become a screen which stands between the thinker and reality. This is the reason why true creativity often starts where language ends.

Any label you assume before sitting down to create, even one as foundational as sculptor, rapper, author, or entrepreneur, could be doing more harm than good. Strip away the labels. Now how do you see the world?

^{None of the words above are mine. I’m just collaging. Thanks - in order of appearance - to Jiddu Krishnamurti, Claude Monet, Lao Tzu, Søren Kierkegaard, Arthur Koestler and Rick Rubin for their thoughts.}

^{This might remind you of that ‘Everything is a remix’ video, or my previous ‘Doubt, fear and regrets’ collage which you liked.}

A tribute to our holy Internet rabbit-holing hobby. Sick editing.

Ninajirachi subtly references her secret website 4562.world, where she drops teasers, announcements, etc., to her core fan community. Here’s a Google doc where the community try to unlock the password - a rabbit hole within the rabbit hole.

Talking about rabbit holes, have you ever spent hours comparing fishing lures? I did. It’s not about finding the best super-soft curl tail soft plastic lure. Of course you’re going for the GrubZ. But do you want it regular or split-tail ? 2 or 2.5 inches? Midnight oil or watermelon red? The bitch comes in 25 distinct colours.

Ultimately, it just doesn’t matter. My son caught his first flathead last week… on a $10 rod.

Welcome to Fredkin’s paradox.

This is why we spend hours ‘scrolling Netflix’, and that game can quickly become a costly one in a business context - teams and departments debating for weeks about branding variations that consumers won’t even notice.

Analysis paralysis. The more difficult the decision feels, the less it actually matters. To prevent it, here’s Fredkin’s rule: As soon as you recognise that two options are of equal or near-equal attractiveness, stop analysing, flip a coin, and pick one immediately.

You know these 22 rules of storytelling from Pixar? Shared everywhere on the Internet, including here by me at some point, I’m sure.

I was surprised to hear in this interview with Andrew Stanton himself (part of the Pixar Brain Trust for 30+ years) that they didn’t generate it:

To my knowledge, it was created by a former Pixar employee who came up with their own set of observations and rules. I’m not saying we didn’t necessarily follow some of those principles, but there has never been a rule book or tenets that we explicitly follow, written down or otherwise.

That has become a myth. I’m here to tell you that just because something is online doesn’t mean it’s real.

Imagine how many people use these rules as gospel today, while - and I’m diminishing the intent - they’re observations shared in 2011 in a tweet by Emma Coats, a storyboard artist who stayed at Pixar for five years.

Now, from Stanton's words, here are a few storytelling takeaways I found powerful:

1. His best definition of drama (originally from William Archer)

   Drama is anticipation mingled with uncertainty.

2. The power of evoking wonder

For me, the greatest stories evoke that. They make you humble and appreciative of the power of life, of simply existing. Sometimes that wonder comes from smelling the top of a baby’s head, other times from surviving a near-fatal crash. It can come in all shapes and sizes.

3. Write for yourself

We’ve never written for kids. We’ve simply written for ourselves, which I suppose means we’re immature. We’ve never truly left our childhood; it meant a lot to us. We’re definitely in the Peter Pan world all the time.

Join now and get new posts delivered every Monday. The newsletter is always free, with an option to support my work through a paid subscription.

You can also support this newsletter by sharing it with a good friend and giving it a ♡

Thanks for your attention. Take care, and have a great week ☀️