Doing Things "Just Because"
And some takeaways from our first two weeks on the road
We’ve officially begun our year-long world tour*!
I’ve wrapped up all client work and mostly kept my calendar free of zoom calls (!!) so that I can be present and unencumbered for the foreseeable future.
What will I do with all this “free” time you ask?
Whatever I want!
Seriously though.
A few weeks ago, I described my ideal week on LinkedIn. While not all these “jobs” are feasible on the road, a few are, and I intend to spend time on those.
With that, I’m excited to share that I have started job #7 (out of the ~10 that I would ideally, simultaneously, have): a Thursdays with Uri podcast!
Listen (or read transcript below**) to hear more about why I’m doing this, and why Uri wants to become a citizen of the world.
I started this podcast*** for the same reason I write this newsletter: a feeling that I need to get something out of my head.
Once I do, even if getting it out of my head makes me feel embarrassed or insecure (like this first episode does…but hey, it’s only up from here!), I feel more at ease. Like I’ve given my brain a little more space to let new thoughts pass through.
As I alluded to in my last post, sometimes you gotta do things “just because.” This is my own take on The Artists’ Way’s renowned “morning pages;” my way of “keeping the channels open” a la Martha Graham.
“There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.” - Martha Graham
My short documentaries, our world tour, this podcast…the list of projects that lead me nowhere goes on and on…but I have found that the more I do the things I feel compelled to do, the more ideas and inspiration flow through my brain, and the better able I am to have FUN.
If I could prescribe anything to others, it would be to do more things “just because.” Give it a shot and let me know how it goes if you do 😁
*world tour reflections: week 1 & 2 (catskills, ny)
I felt immense pleasure paring down my possessions leading up to the end of our lease
I wish I learned this lesson earlier: clothing is only worth packing if it has pockets
On that note, I finally invested in a fanny pack and even if they go out of style again, I am never (!!) going back to life without one
While it’s been very liberating staying in other people’s homes (where their not quite perfect plants and bookshelves and paint jobs don’t phase me), it’s also been draining trying to make sure my toddler doesn’t destroy things that don’t belong to us
Mornings here have been glorious. We hear a lot about the night life of different destinations, but what about the morning life? I have always been (and therefore likely always will be) a morning person. Not because it serves my productivity, though it does, but because no matter how late I went to bed, or how desperately I want to sleep in, my body roars with energy by around 6am. This means that when I travel, I am up and ready to explore, engage, and experience, by 7am. Some destinations are better suited to us early birds than others, just as some places are better suited to night owls than others. I’m going to explore this more…
**interview transcript
Jen: Okay, episode one, Thursdays with Uri. Who are you?
Uri: I think who I am, is hard to describe. But it's a lot easier to describe what I am. I am a father, I'm a partner, software engineer. I think I'm funny. I don't love cats, but they're okay. I don't really know exactly who I am. But I know what I want to be in the world. Someone who sees a lot of humor. And doesn't take life very seriously but understands that there are important problems in the world and would like to contribute my time and efforts to it.
Jen: I'm surprised you didn't say inventor.
Uri: I definitely identify as an inventor. Like, probably first, although I said it last.
Jen: What else do you identify as then?
Uri: Maybe a cat.
Jen: You definitely are a cat. Okay, can you describe what has happened in the last week?
Uri: A lot actually. I no longer have a full-time job, which ended basically the same day our lease was up, and we packed everything up, put it in storage. And then, who knows, really.
Jen: How are you feeling about all this change?
Uri: Mostly optimistic and I think because so many chapters ended it feels like closure.
Jen: What do you think the next chapter will be?
Uri: I think it's like naive of me to think that I know what's going to happen. I'm going to go into a part of the world that I've never been before, around cultures I've never been around before and going to try to be doing the same things, but I probably won't.
Jen: What would you have titled the last chapter?
Uri: The Book of Teo. I think that chapter started when I met you and there was a lot around how do we make our lives work together and like the pandemic and living inside a studio together. I learned a lot about how we work together as a couple.
And then it kind of like crescendoed with little baby Teo . And, now that he's one, and like, he's starting to understand the world, we're embarking on a new journey.
Jen: What do you hope to get out of it?
Uri: I want to solidify the idea in my mind that I am a citizen of the world and not... a Trinidadian, or an American, or a New Yorker, you know? I wanna feel like, I am part of the world. And, obviously there are places that won't accept me, because that's just their culture .
But I think that relationship is important still, you know, to say like, I'm not welcome here, but that's means that there's some relationship there. It's like, I exist so that you could not accept me, you know?
Jen: Why is it important to you to feel like a citizen of the world?
Uri: Because it's so tiny. The planet, it's just a rock in the middle of nowhere and everyone thinks these lines that we draw mean something and, you know, I tend to start feeling that, and I want to overwrite that.
Jen: What lines have you been feeling?
Uri: There's, how I identify; who I think I should be responsible to, for, from. And I phrase it that way because, I am Trinidadian, I was born there, I grew up there, I lived there until I was 21. I don't live there now. I probably share less and less with that culture, the older that I get. But I think my friends and family think I have a responsibility. I think they think I have a responsibility to them. So that's one line that I draw. Where do I belong?
My profession: I like to draw, I like to write , I like to build things, but ... I only get paid to write software, you know? So, that matters the most out of all the creative things that I do.
Jen: Why do you think I'm doing this?
Uri: You know, I haven't thought about this at all. And I don't know if it's because I just expect you to do it, or I want you to just have your own reasons to exist in the world? But, now that you ask me, I think you're doing it because... you like talking to me, and you want more people to talk to me, and I, I don't really talk to people that often. Ha, ha.
Why are you doing this, actually?
Jen: I don't know. Anytime I hear the word “fun” used in a sentence, my ears perk up and Mohammed, our doorman, when I told him we were traveling, he was like, "Oh, you should go to Africa."
And I was like, "Uri's never been, but I cycled from Cairo to Capetown". And he was like, "What? Why just for fun?" And so I've been thinking about that like “just for fun” and yes, it was fun and the easy, lazy answer is it's just for fun. The truth is I just felt like I had to do it.
Like I felt compelled to do it. I couldn't get it out of my head. And that's why I write sometimes. I just need to get the stuff out of my head. And I guess this is one of those things. Easier to do it than think about it all the time.
Uri: You know from the period of me meeting you to, I guess, Teo, I've done a lot more with my time, like non routine things and I think what I learned was that if I just trust you to go on an adventure, it's generally a good adventure.
And so I don't think about why you do things other than it's just going to be an interesting adventure.
***I’ve no intention of sharing this “podcast” with the broader public (not that anyone in the broader public would care to listen anyway ha), but I do hope to capture ~5 (edited) minutes with Uri each week that we’re abroad