Strands of Genius: Work-Life Harmony, They (Who) Rule, The Defiance of Salman Rushdie

plus: Rosie fangirls over Tim McGraw's new single & asks for advice on her shoulder pain

WRITING FROM | Nashville, TN

WORKING ON | a strategic sprint for a media company, spring travel planning

LOOKING AHEAD

Feb 26-March 9 | Long Beach and New York, NY
March 9-20 | Nashville, TN
March 20-24 | Beersheba Springs, TN
March 24-April 6 | TBD (Chattanooga?)
May 1- June 9 | Seattle, WA

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:: WHAT’S NEW & WEEKLY GRATITUDE ::

Rosie here! Hiiiiiiii. I’ve got one of those ‘hard to google’ questions and I don’t have the following/audience that Faris does on Twitter, so I hope you’ll excuse the personal ask here, but I’m hoping I can get pointed in the right direction *before* I attempt to navigate what will surely be an infuriating experience with the healthcare system here in the USA.

I’ve had chronic neck/shoulder pain that I’ve been dealing with on and off for almost 10 years, and recently it seems to be getting worse? I mean, I know, I know, we’re all getting older — but like, I really hurt my neck again just by sleeping weirdly? It took a solid 3 weeks to stop feeling in constant pain. (And still, I had to take 3 days off of work to just lie with a heating pad and thank the scientists for muscle relaxers.) Traditionally, I’ve been able to heal myself through regular yoga and massages.

But the last time I went for a massage, it made things worse, not better. And I’m trying to step back up my yoga game, because I feel pretty good while I’m doing yoga, and in the hour immediately after. But by the evening, the dull pain has returned. If I wanted to pretend to be a responsible adult, what should my next steps be? Do I try to find a physical therapist? Someone in sports medicine? Do I get an MRI? I’m just really not sure where to begin and I’d love any insight that you would be willing to share, whether you’ve had an experience like mine, or know someone who has, or are part of the medical industrial complex and can shed some light!

Also: I know Google and asking strangers on the internet doesn’t replace the whole seeing a doctor and I just want to reassure all y’all that I do plan on seeking a proper medical intervention! Just trying to decide in which ways to engage with the medical system…

Thanks in advance for any pointers or advice you can share! (Just hit reply and let me know!)

This week, we’re especially thankful for:

cuddles from our Nashville niece and nephews, The Last of Us, Padma Lakshmi’s Taste The Nation, Shann & Marina, ramen & beers with Ask Dabitch Wappling aka the founder of Adland, brunch and walks and hangs and cuddles with Madison, a new chicken enchilada soup recipe that was so easy and souper delicious (see what we did there?!) & YOU.

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:: THE LINKS ::

THEY RULE - A VISUAL REPRESENTATION

• A note from the creators: “They Rule is an interactive visualization of the interlocking directories of the largest US companies. It shows that 87 of the top 100 US companies in 2021 were connected through shared directors on their boards. It allows visitors to browse through the board-room connections, and create maps which they can share with others. By clicking on the chair menu in the top left visitors can find links between companies and print out their maps.

  A few companies control much of the economy and oligopolies exert control in nearly every sector of the economy. The people who oversee these companies swap on and off the boards from one company to another, and in and out of government positions. These people run the most powerful institutions on the planet, and we have almost no say in who they are. This is not a conspiracy, they are proud to rule, yet these connections of power are not always visible to the public eye. They Rule offers a glimpse at these connections, it is by no means comprehensive, you can read more about why I think this matters here, and find more details on the resources page. (Berkeley)

THE DEFIANCE OF SALMAN RUSHDIE

• As soon as I started reading this article, I knew I had to include it in Strands. But it was one of those where I wasn’t sure there was a key takeaway to recap, or even a connection to the creative industry. And then, I read that Salman Rushdie got his start in advertising! So I got my ‘reason’ — and yet, this article, it’s not about advertising. It is about an author, and ideas, and how they spread, and the danger that we’re willing to put ourselves into for something we believe in, and also about grit and resilience. It’s a profile of a writer, but not just a profile of a writer. (The New Yorker)

HOW TO CRAFT A HARMONIOUS LIFE / DIVING INTO DRAMMA

• I’m always interested in reading about work-life balance, but I personally feel like life, and work, tends to comes in waves. This article, in Psyche, is about understanding and satisfying your psychological needs in order to find work-life harmony, a phrase I was introduced to at SoDA’s annual meeting in Greece last year, and which resonates with me more than the idea of work-life balance. Today, I learned about DRAMMA: an acronym, where each letter stands for one of six fundamental psychological needs:
  1. Detachment
  2. Relaxation
  3. Autonomy
  4. Mastery
  5. Meaning
  6. Affiliation
  I love framing through those six lenses, and I also think their time audit is something worth doing at least once a year, just as a way to check in with yourself. (Pysche)

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:: WHAT WE’RE THINKING ABOUT: STANDING ROOM ONLY ::

Tim McGraw released his latest single last Friday, though Rosie has been singing it for months. As she posted on Instagram, one of the best parts about being related to someone in artist management is getting to hear early cuts from an artist or album. But the flip side is that you have to keep your lips sealed! And when you love music, and the artist, and the gift of gab… keeping mum is hard! We jammed out to this album over the family Christmas and have been so excited about this single. It was written by Craig Wiseman, who also wrote Tim’s hit ‘Live Like You Were Dying’ and one of our other favorites by Tim, ‘Hard on the Ticker.’ (He’s also written approximately a bajillion other songs for plenty of country singers that you’ve probably heard.)

The full lyric video is below, but the line that really stuck with us was “I wanna live my life like a dollar and the clock on the wall don’t own me.” Close runner up was the line “Don’t wanna wanna be the guy too cool to laugh or too scared to cry.” We hope you’ll give it a listen!

Hugs and high fives to Tim and the entire team at Em.co!

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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

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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 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 :)