Strands of Genius: Community Matters, Mental Immunity, The Triumph of Loneliness
Plus our thoughts on: cycling holidays and a request to weigh in on reproductive rights
WRITING FROM | Athens, Greece
WORKING ON | Finishing touches on our workshop ‘The Power of Play’ for tomorrow, and our keynote ‘Siren Songs: Sweet or Savage’ on Thursday
LOOKING AHEAD
Oct 25-28 | Athens, Greece
Dec 1-7 | Nashville, TN
Dec 7-15 | Beersheba Springs, TN
Dec 15-19 | Atlanta, GA
Dec 19-21 | Athens, GA
Dec 21-Dec 31 | Nashville, TN
:: WHAT’S NEW & WEEKLY GRATITUDE ::
We just finished an epic cycling trip and it’s pretty much all we can think about/talk about, and we’re already trying to find people who will come with us next year. You can read about our experience below and/or head over to Instagram to see the trip’s highlights and also Faris in his sexy cycling outfit.
(You think I’m kidding, but based on the number of comments I got on Faris’ outfit, we’re now closing down Genius Steals and starting a niche OnlyFans that only involves Faris wearing Borat-type-cycling outfits. Even his niece said, “Faris is very attractive to girls!” So anyway, if you know anything about OnlyFans, just lemme know because like… Getting rich quick off my husband’s looks sounds great.)
(Also: obviously I’m kidding. Unless you think we could really get rich quickly and in that case, you know how to get in touch with me.)
(Also, Faris: please don’t kill me when you read this newsletter, lol.)
We’ve just touched down in Athens, Greece for our final in-person engagement this year. We’re putting finishing touches on our workshop and keynote, and since we were on bicycles last week, we were a little out of touch with the news media. So, we’ve got some links that are some of our favorite blasts from the past. Still, these links are worthy of your time, so don’t discount them just because they’re not NEW new. Or scroll down a little further to read more about cycling.
This week, we’re especially thankful for:
Neil, Judy, Elea, who all celebrated October birthdays — happy birthday!, Alex & Collin and our upcoming Mexico travels, France, bicycles, big lunches in tiny towns, all of the rooms with views, ham and cheese sandwiches for breakfast, playing guitar in the park, all of the croissants, & YOU.
Weigh In :: Reproductive Rights
(For those identifying as womxn in the US)
Our friends over at LWS are doing some research into what benefits are available and how much a company’s perspective on reproductive rights impacts or influences career choices. Would you mind taking a few minutes to share your perspective here?
:: THE LINKS ::
WHY COMMUNITY MATTERS SO MUCH AND HOW TO FIND YOURS
Even though in the Western world we position spouses as the be-all end-all, you really can’t rely on one person to be your every-thing. Humans are social creatures and we have an array emotional and psychological needs. According to clinical and community psychologist David McMillan: “To be part of a community, you must feel a sense of belonging (membership), feel like you make a difference to the group and that the group makes a difference to you (influence), feel like your needs will be met by other group members (integration and fulfillment of needs), and feel that you share history, similar experiences, time, and space together (shared emotional connection).” Really interesting read on community and how to find yours. (Vox)
MENTAL IMMUNITY PROTECTS US FROM BAD IDEAS
Prior to reading this article, I wasn’t familiar with the concept of cognitive immunology (though reading about it immediately made me think of Rian Hughes’ The XX, which you 100% need to read if you like Sci Fi) Dr. Hannah England says, “People with a healthy mental immune system are more likely to detect misinformation. A strong cognitive immune system can also help spot bad ideas at an earlier stage, so you may avoid wasting time, energy or money.” More on cognitive immunology, as well as three ways you can strengthen your mental immune system. (Ness Labs)
THE FIERCE TRIUMPH OF LONELINESS
While bachelor pads are sometimes celebrated, “women who live alone are objects of fear or pity,” writes Helena Fitzgerald. She goes on to explore both the benefits of being alone and the benefits of living with someone else. Neither is without its faults, and yet both can offer us a unique perspective. It’s a beautifully written essay and you should absolutely give it a read. (Catapult)
Strands of Genius is currently read by more than 13,000 subscribers. Support us by becoming a member of The School of Stolen Genius, or encouraging friends or colleagues to subscribe. If you’re interested in sponsoring this newsletter, hit reply and let’s chat!
:: WHAT WE’RE THINKING ABOUT: OUR CYCLING HOLIDAY ::
Last week, we went on our very first cycling holiday. It all started at our friends’ wedding in Eygaliere, France, when we were cycling between villas and wedding festivities. (For the record, little Rosie could have never imagined she’d ever write that sentence.) When we were in NYC, we owned bikes and they were our predominant mode of transportation: to work and to parties, to steak dinners and Starbucks. But cycling in NYC is hectic. Faris said I looked frightened most of the time, ha.
Cycling in France, however, has a whole different vibe. We were cycling on streets that had very few cars, but epic views. Excitement was flowing through all our veins as we took to the streets in Egyaliere and we kept saying to each other “Why don’t we do this more often?!” (To be fair, it’s usually because when I see the city bikes I think about how I don’t have a helmet and am riding in an unfamiliar place, and how incredibly angry my mom would be if I died for a stupid reason like not wearing a helmet on a bike.) A little seed started to form.
August and September were tough, for a number of personal reasons and a couple of work-related reasons, and we knew we had an empty week in October that we could use for a ‘vacation’ of some kind. But it’s hard to plan a vacation when you’re already traveling, or justify the additional expense when you’re already somewhere cool. Our passion for biking, re-discovered while cycling, helped us narrow down our blue sky brief and I started to look into cycling holidays, to see if that was even a thing. Faris’ brother, Ramzi, is a huge fan of walking holidays and so we thought “what if we did that?” And then, “What if we did that…. but on bikes?!
We ended up booking a week-long cycling trip with a tour company, and they did all the heavy lifting. They provide you with the route, your hotels along the way, information about each town you pass through, and bicycles equipped with helmets, bike computers, saddle bags, bells, etc. AND, they organize your luggage to be transported to your next hotel so that you’re not having to deal with extra weight as you cycle.
The best part of the planning that they provided was the fact that the Roadbook, as they call it, gives you directions which sync up with your bike computer so that you mostly can avoid your phone. Sure, you can simply type in directions on Google Maps, but the Roadbook has been written to avoid major roads, so that you’re cycling through vineyards and farms and orchards and scenic views, without much car traffic. There’s even a casing that sits on your handlebars, waterproofed and everything, where your Roadbook can sit to guide you.
We cycled around 40-60km each day, and some days we walked our bikes for a little bit too. Because, well, it turns out that I’m not a professional cycler.
Quick backstory: When we were in Myanmar, we used e-bikes that didn’t even have pedals. As in you just turned the handle bars to vroom vroom around. Then, later, we were in Portugal, and we had pedal-assisted e-bikes. As in, there was electronic support, but only when you pedaled. So when I was booking this trip, they gave me an option of picking a hybrid bike… I assumed (incorrectly, obviously) that a hybrid bike was a pedal assisted bike. It turns out that our bikes had no electronic nature whatsoever, because a hybrid bike is not what I thought a hybrid bike was, but instead a combination between a road bike and a mountain bike. I mean, good thing I can laugh at myself, because laughter was a helpful antidote to the situation at hand!
To get to the view below, we had a 4 kilometer climb. Yep, 4 whole KM, all uphill.
In total, we cycled almost 200 miles from Vaison la Romaine down to Saintes Marie de la Mer. We cycled through vineyards and apple orchards and cherry orchards and olive orchards. We cycled up hill, and coasted on the downhill, reaching 38km/hr (40km/hr if you were Faris, but come on it’s not a competition!), and against 22mph winds, which was brutal, but then there were also pink flamingoes, which made the riding against the wind a bit less shit.
The best part about the trip, though, wasn’t the view, wasn’t the soundtrack, wasn’t the sexy husband’s cycling outfit, wasn’t the food, wasn’t the playing guitar in the park, wasn’t meeting friendly strangers… it was the quality time together, where we simply enjoyed the adventure, enjoyed each other, and barely talked about anything work related at all.
Typically, men connect over side-by-side activities - like, ya know, watching sports. Whereas women typically connect face-to-face. Faris and I often connect face-to-face but guitar playing, and now cycling too, offer us a chance to connect with each other, but over something else. I highly recommend it, y’all.
Every day, our sole mission was to get from one French town to another. We would wake up, eat breakfast, spend a few hours cycling, stop for a break for lunch and some views, and then continue on our way. At the end of each day, we would debrief on the experience together (yeah yeah, we strategists love our debriefs, ha!). There was something invigorating about knowing that it was up to us to make it to our next hotel. There was something almost primal or animalistic in thinking that our sole purpose for the day was to get from one place to another. And then there were also the shared obstacles that we had to overcome! From steep hills and brutal wind to French restaurants closing their lunch service at 1:30pm, ha. But like playing guitar in the park, it was a way to connect and be together without just relying on the face-to-face conversation.
Besides overcoming shared obstacles, we also had the endorphins that come from exercising for multiple hours in a day which were working for us! I kept thinking “damn, if I could spend 4 hours a day exercising in a fun way, that would be the dream!” (I mean, this is how celebrities are fit, right? They have the time to devote to just, well, being in great shape.) Faris was quick to jump in and remind me that if we did this all day, every day, it might be less fun…. and of course that makes a lot of sense.
BUT, all this to say that we’re riding high from this cycling trip, and already trying to figure out when we can do it again. You can find the highlights from our trip over here on Instagram.
Join a community of people looking to work smarter, not harder.
Enroll today >
http://schoolofstolengeni.us
If we can ever be of help to you, even outside of a formal engagement, please don’t hesitate to let us know.
rockON,
faris & rosie & ashley | your friends over at geniussteals.co
@faris is always tweeting
@rosieyakob hangs out on instagram
@ashley also writes for deaf, tattooed & employed
Know someone who could use some inspiration in their inbox?
Forward this email to them! We appreciate you spreading the word.
It's called Genius Steals because we believe ideas are new combinations and that nothing can come from nothing. But copying is lazy. We believe the best way to innovate is to look at the best of that which came before and combine those elements into new solutions.
Co-Founders Faris & Rosie are award-winning strategists and creative directors, writers, consultants and public speakers who have been living on the road/runway since March 2013, working with companies all over the world. Our Director of Operations is nomadic like us, our accounting team is based in Tennessee where our company is registered, our admin extraordinaire is based in Playa del Carmen, and our collaborators are all over the world. Being nomadic allows us to go wherever clients need us to be, and to be inspired by the world in between.
Hit reply and let’s talk about how we might be able to work together :)