From My Inbox: Eye of the Beholder
Random thoughts along with 💩 curated from my inbox.
One person's junk is another's gem.
The Smithsonian headline screamed "An 11-Year-Old Boy Rescued a Mysterious Artwork From the Dump. It Turned Out to Be a 500-Year-Old Renaissance Print" - which provokes the question (announced in an equally large tone) "Who would toss in the trash a 500-year old print made by a contemporary of Leonardo da Vinci???".
Why did this headline pique my networking mind?
Beyond perhaps, personal taste in art, this is a story about context.
In one highly personal contextual universe the print was junk, so it was tossed. For another, it was beauty. Or simply a cool, unexpected find, so why not take it home!
The 500-year old Renaissance print is no different than the asks, offers, requests, suggestions, proposals etc. that fill your inbox or slide into social media DMs - whether sent by a friend or a slime-ball or a spambot. In one contextual universe the ask, offer, request, suggestion or proposal is a gem. It's valuable. You don't want to miss this! How could you throw away the chance to have this for yourself? But what one person considers a gem will be another person's junk.
Not everyone will value what you create or offer. The answer to disinterest is not more more more of the same served up with push push push endless outreach. Urgency does not turn what some perceive as junk, suddenly into a gem.
But in a crowded sea of garbage, it is possible to locate gems.
So rather than trying to be shinier or louder in the attempt to transform junk to some into gems for everyone, cast your attention to the gem finders. What makes them curious about you? Where is your value, aligning with their values? If they're curious about you, why don't you take a moment to get curious about them?
Read
🖼️ An 11-Year-Old Boy Rescued a Mysterious Artwork From the Dump. It Turned Out to Be a 500-Year-Old Renaissance Print (Smithsonian)
Watch
🗝️ A ‘dumpster archeologist’ reconstructs strangers’ stories via what they’ve discarded (Aeon)
Listen
📸 The Wedding Detectives (BBC)
Connect
📚 Not a book club. A reading party. Read with friends to live music & curated playlists (Reading Rhythms)
Find Time
📲 How a digital detox day could help people take control of downtime (The Guardian)
⏰ The Consolations of Chronodiversity: Geologist Turned Psychologist Ruth Allen on the 12 Kinds of Time and How to Be More Fully Alive (The Marginalian)