#002: Building your personal toolkit, learning from the matriarchy and unveiling the Panopticon
Read time: 2m 13s
Good morning, lovely readers! I’m feeling very peaceful this week after a wholesome weekend in Edinburgh with some new friends. I was hit by inspiration from many angles last week so today we’re covering everything from what’s misunderstood about matriarchal societies to the restrictive design of the Panopticon prison. I hope you enjoy this newsletter as much as I enjoyed putting it together.
A window into my brain
Building your personal toolkit: how embracing a flexible routine can reveal what’s truly important to you
The misconception of the matriarchy: a brief exploration of why the matriarchy is more than the simple reversal of the patriarchy
We live in a Panopticon prison: unveiling the invisible rules and power structures that govern our society
A thought experiment in career experimentation: how embracing an experimental mindset can open up a world of opportunities
What a candle, thumbtacks and matches can teach us about creativity: how the cognitive bias known as functional fixedness can limit our creativity
Sentences I wish I’d written (or maybe have 😆)
If we had been born of another time and place, to different parents who held different values, we would have had an entirely different lens. The lens we received generated a conditional life, which represents not who we are but how we were conditioned to see life and make choices…We succumb to the belief that the way we have grown to see the world is the only way to see it, the right way to see it, and we seldom suspect the conditioned nature of our perception.
James Hollis, The Middle Passage
The secret is not to find the meaning of life, but to use your life to make things that are meaningful.
James Clear, 3-2-1
When you make assumptions about your partner based on who you knew their past self to be, you restrict their evolution to the next version of themselves. Asking questions, staying curious, and exhibiting a desire to fall in love again and again with their next evolution is the only way to ensure that your expanding independent selves continue to fold into the unfurling fabric of your relationship.
Me, Future Histories!
From idea to reality
In the spirit of Building your personal toolkit, I’d encourage you to consider what the four quadrants of your toolkit would be. Some helpful prompts are:
When you get to the end of the day, what are you grateful that you made time for?
Which activities give you a burst of energy throughout the day?
What’s the first thing to fall off your priority list during a busy day that you always regret?
A question for you
What conditions are shaping your current perception of your life and the world?
Praying for sunshine this week,
Nikita 💃🏽