Strands of Genius: Re The Human Mind, There May Be No Time To Lose, But There’s Always Time For..., Vive La Pâtisserie!

Guest curated by Philipp Ries, Copywriter

Oct 24, 2024

:: A BIT MORE ABOUT GUEST CURATOR, PHILLIP RIES ::

LOCATION: Hamburg, Germany

Greetings from Hamburg! I’m Philipp, CEO of nothing (yet), and I had the pleasure of meeting Faris through this year’s Creative LIAisons. Once again, it’s been an absolute pleasure! Fast forward a couple of months, some good and not-so-good choices later, and here I am guest curating Genius Steals. Who would have thought, huh? TL;DR: hope you enjoy!

Editor’s Note (Genius Steals): We wholeheartedly agree with Philipp that treating oneself is essential! And what better way to do that than by actually doing something—something that brings you joy and often a delicious reward. Rosie and Faris love to learn new things, whether it's experimenting with a new recipe, gardening, bird watching, volunteering, or making pottery. Now that they're spending more time at home, they've prioritized these enriching activities in the time they would have spent traveling.

Faris especially enjoyed meeting Philipp in June and is excited to see what's next and of course keep making those croissants! You’ve inspired him to bake a cake.

How do you treat yourself? We'd love to hear how you prioritize joy in your day-to-day life!

:: THE LINKS ::

RE: THE HUMAN MIND

Earlier this year, I stumbled upon an essay that – as you can probably tell by me writing about it here – stuck with me. Not just because it’s well-written, which it very much is. Not because I’m interested in cruise ships (I’m very much not), or even because of the author’s spot-on observations, of which there are many. No, it stuck with me because, in “Crying Myself to Sleep on the Biggest Cruise Ship Ever,” Gary Shteyngart – the aforementioned author – made me think about a psychological concept that I think we should think about more often: cognitive dissonance.

Cognitive dissonance occurs when one’s actions don’t align with one’s beliefs. To resolve the discomfort that comes with this, we rationalize, downplay risks, find justifications. And just like that we are able to do things against our better judgment and/or knowledge. Sound kinda familiar? Then, like me, you’re probably working in advertising. Now, I honestly don’t know if I’m having a point here, but the next time you’re working on a campaign concept, a commercial, or anything at all, maybe ask yourself: am I making use of something I shouldn’t? And if you’re unsure, think about Gary on board the Icon of the Seas. (The Atlantic)

THERE MAY BE NO TIME TO LOSE, BUT THERE’S ALWAYS TIME FOR…

Short films! For the life of me, I cannot understand why short films don’t get more love from our beloved streaming services. Of course, they’re all about how much time we spend on their platforms, and short films, well, take only a short time to watch. But come on! Short formats have become the backbone of basically every social media platform there is, and I’m guessing that won’t change anytime soon. So whether you’re a creative or not, do yourself – and the creators – a favor and go watch short films! For example, “The Gunfighter” by Eric Kissack. Who knows, it might even inspire you to take a deep dive into the fascinating work of Ellen Langer. (YouTube; Magnetfilm)

VIVE LA PÂTISSERIE!

Last but not least, I’d like to talk about the subject of treating yourself – especially if your work-life balance is tipping heavily toward work. Now, if you’re rolling your eyes, first of all, let me say: rude! Second, just hear me out, all right? I’m convinced there’s a right and wrong way to do it. The wrong way is just to buy something. Cheap or expensive, it doesn’t matter – the good feeling won’t last long anyway. However, and this may sound contradictory, treating yourself works better if you put some work into it. To that end, I’ve recently started making pastry. It doesn’t really matter what you make, but I can recommend croissants. They’re A) kind of hard to get right and therefore shift your focus entirely, and B) delicious – once you get them right, that is. When I finally do, I’ll let you know. (MasterClass)

Looking for more from Phillip? Coming Friday, look for an interview from him in your inbox!

:: FAVORITE QUOTE (SO FAR) ::

Life is short, break the rules.

Until then, have a good one and take care of yourself!

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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 out of Washington, our company is registered in Tennessee, 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 :)

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