Strands of Genius: William Gibson on Future Fatigue, Everything You Need to Know About Billie Eilish, Why There Are (STILL) So Few Women in Tech
plus: our thoughts on routines and rituals, french breakcore with a twitchy animated music video & some wisdom from Billie Eilish
WRITING FROM | Greenville, SC
WORKING ON | contracts & proposals for 2020
LOOKING AHEAD
Jan 1-Feb 3: Greenville, SC
Jan 18-20: Charlotte, NC (Rosie)
Feb 3-17: Nashville, TN
Feb 4: AAF Super Bowl Ad Breakdown | Nashville
Feb 17-28: Beersheba Springs, TN
Feb 29-March 15: Nashville, TN (Rosie)
March 1-15: London, UK (Faris)
March 4-6: London, UK | Big TV Festival
:: WHAT’S NEW & WEEKLY GRATITUDE ::
Well, our weekend plans were de-railed when our hoverboard didn’t arrive as expected. (We didn’t know we needed a hoverboard until we tried one, at which point it became perfectly clear.) And so we did not spend the weekend hoverboarding around or trying to figure out the go-kart attachment. But we’re looking forward to some child-like delight when it finally does get here.
This week, we’re especially thankful for:
Greenville yoga, ribs and roasts, quick flow water bottles, Airpod pros, a relief from rain, communal living & cohabitation, Rachel & Mike, Stella & Chase, Aquaphor chapstick (that sh*t is the best!), MarioKart, face masks, Making It (Amy & Nick, we love you!), a trip to the movie theatre to see the new Star Wars (finally), and Picard.
:: THE LINKS ::
TEN YEARS ON, AND THERE ARE STILL SO FEW WOMEN IN TECH. WHY?
The amount of women employed in the digital workforce has hovered around 17% — for the past decade! And think about how many conversations have been in the public discourse about gender diversity. So why has growth remained stagnant? In part because of the lower numbers of girls taking STEM to an advanced level, but also because of the ‘toxic bro culture’, and ‘male domination of the tech world’ for those who do break into the industry. What can be done? Maddy Cross, from VC firm Notion, says it’s all about the men already in positions authority — who can play a big role in changing attitudes and culture. (The Guardian)
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BILLIE EILISH
Last night, Billie Eilish, the 18-year-old rocker, swept the four big wins at the Grammys. She won album, record, song of the year as well as best new artist - and did we mention she’s the youngest artist to record a theme song for a James Bond movie? Working frequently with her brother Finneas, her breakout track “Ocean Eyes” was recorded for a dance class she was taking. “Along the way, Eilish has developed into a much stranger, more unique artist than initially promised. Though her voice is pure, her lyrical themes are angsty and bleak — serial killers, domination, monsters under the bed — and on her new album, she favors wobbly beats, jarring turns and creepy sound effects, which flow seamlessly with her visual aesthetic on social media and in her videos.” Here’s everything you need to know about the artist Faris has been listening to on repeat since this time last year. (Who Is Billie Eilish, USA Today & Billie Eilish Is Not Your Typical 17-Year Old Pop Star, NY Times)
FUTURE FATIGUE
William Gibson thinks that the future “has been a cult, if not a religion”. His whole generation was seized by “postalgia”. This is a tendency to dwell on romantic, idealised visions of the future. But that has ceased to be the case, which might even be a good thing. The Pew Research center showed that 44% of Americans are pessimistic about the future of the country and only 4% of Brits think things are improving. But research also suggests that this kind of pessimism could be misguided. A great read, especially for those dealing in future forecasting. (The Conversation)
If you’d like to sponsor a future edition of Strands, and reach 9,000 creative thinkers around the world, shoot us a note - hello@geniussteals.co - and let’s talk.
:: WHAT WE’RE THINKING ABOUT: RITUALS & ROUTINES ::
When we first started our nomadic existence, we struggled with the constant movement. We talked to a therapist, and she suggested we needed more routine in our lives. But it would be impossible, we argued, for our lives to have routine. And not just that, but if we were to set a routine and then failed at following it (which we would inevitably do), we would feel guilty about what would otherwise be natural ebbs and flows in our lives. We didn’t end up continuing sessions with that therapist, but a couple of months later tried talking to someone else. Her first suggestion? You guessed it. Routine. I barely let her finish before explaining why it wouldn’t work.
“Let me reframe it,” she began. She pointed out how our problem with routine stemmed from our constant travel with pesky time zone changes and work commitments at odd hours. And then she suggested an alternative to routine: ritual. We didn’t need to set a time of day, or frequency, or even settle on a single activity - but to create a commitment to something that would ground us.
We started using the meditation app, Headspace, meditating for a minute one day, two minutes the next, building ourselves up to a full 30 minutes. And we started going to yoga, beginning with a commitment to do yoga once a day for 30 days (a minimum of 20 minutes) and writing about how we felt at the end of each day. While we only did the lite-journaling for that first month, seven years later yoga is the ritual that we use to give ourselves and our always-chattering minds some time and space to breathe.
Sometimes we fall out of practice. We’ve gotten better at staying places for longer and managing time zones, but occasionally we have to trade ritual for life’s ebbs and flows, and that’s OK, too. Instead of giving ourselves a hard time, we acknowledge that we miss it, and pledge to give ourselves that self-care when our schedule will allow. Or we find a compromise: Instead of an hour yoga class, we’ll do a 10-minute meditation.
A ritual could be a gratitude practice (name 3 things you’re thankful for each day, or trade texts with a friend if you want to have some accountability); it could be a mantra or meditation; it could be listening to a song that puts you in a good mood; it could be taking the time and cooking a meal for yourself, or even taking a bath. When we’re trying to build an additive habit, we opt for alarm reminders and/or an app like HabitBull. (And when you’re first starting out, focus on one thing at a time, for at least a month on its own before adding in something else.)
:: AND NOW… MEDIA MADNESS & THOUGHTS ON ART ::
French breakcore with an equally twitchy animated video.
IGOORR VERY NOISE Dir. MEATDEPT
And, a reminder that art is not supposed to be easy:
“Everything could be easier if I wanted it to,” Billie Eilish said. “But I’m not that kind of person and I’m not that kind of artist. And I’d rather die than be that kind of artist.”
If we can ever be of help to you, even outside of a formal engagement, please don’t hesitate to let us know. Getting to meet like-minded folks is one of the best parts of living nomadically, so please let us know if you see if we'll be in a city near you :)
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? Send ‘em our way!
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 :)
SPEAKING
We're currently booking speaking gigs for the year.
Check out full descriptions and key learnings from our talks on here:
http://bit.ly/TalkDescriptions2019