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Three Good Things for Thursday, March 21st

I've spent the past week dreading a conversation that I'm going to have to have tomorrow with a member of my team. Doing the actual work of managing is definitely my weak spot as a manager - I would much prefer that everyone on my team simply function optimally without my having to exercise any power to make it so. 

Then again, I remember Douglas Adam's insight about power, that those who are the most motivated to seek out power are those who are least suited to use it, and at least I know I'm on the right side of the equation there. At any rate, my overarching Good Thing tonight is that by lunch tomorrow I'll have at least had that conversation, and be done with dreading it. On to the more granular good things:


1. The Shitty Camera Challenge Sweatshop.

My friend Adam created The Shitty Camera Challenge (a contest whose main mandate was the use of a camera that was cheaper than the roll of film inside it) on Twitter some years back as a way of exploring photography separate from the gear fetishization that too often overwhelms the craft and joy of image-making. He's also a super talented artist and designer, and until the 25th he is running a ridiculous sale on his Threadless store: 

https://shittycamerachallenge.threadless.com/

This is maybe my favorite T-shirt and I may have to buy its replacement before the 25th arrives...


2. Art But Make It Sports.

The Garden of Earthly Delights, by Hieronymus Bosch, 1480-1505, 📸 via @nocontextcbb

This bluesky (and I think also Twitter) account is incredible. They find and present amazing moments of resonance between still images from sports broadcasts and the world of art. It just tickles me to no end.


3. AA Slogans.

There are many brilliant insights that went into the creation and shaping of Alcoholics Anonymous, and other 12 step groups, but one that has been so important for me is the distillation of practical wisdom for living into short, pithy statements. The idea was that your typical drunk stumbling into the rooms was going to have a very limited cognitive capacity, so it was crucial that the life-saving and -shaping guidance of the program be as easy to access and recall as possible. There are a few phrases in the above screenshot that just help the needle of my mind slip into the groove. 

One that's not there isn't technically a slogan, but rather a phrase from the 12th step: principles before personalities. This is the medicine my heart needs tonight, as I need to remember to honor my commitment to be truthful, as well as my commitment to my role in the work of healing, over and above my personality's desire not to be seen by anyone ever as the Bad Guy. This is an old dynamic of mine and while that desire hasn't lessened, at least I've learned tools and practices to help me stick with my principles.


4. Bonus Good Thing: Cat in the Sock Hamper.



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