Mindful Matter
We get to do this.
A few weeks ago, I shared the news that my wife and I were expecting a baby any day now. Well, that day has arrived and I am happy to share that our family is now three. Shilo Bez Radparvar was born on July 12th at 9pm at a birthing center here in Amsterdam. We are filled with awe, wonder, gratitude, and of course, a bit of exhaustion as we adapt to his sleep schedule :-). One of my wife's mantras during the more challenging parts of her pregnancy was, “I get to do this”. It was a simple idea she picked up from author James Clear — rephrasing “I have to to do this” to “I get to do this” as a reminder of all there was to be grateful for. During these first few weeks of middle-of-the-night diaper changes, “I get to do this” has become a mantra for me as well. I don’t have to change his diaper, I get to. A reminder that every moment with Shilo, even the stinkiest ones, are moments I wouldn't trade for anything. Filled with love and likely covered in poop, Dave RadparvarCo-Founder, Holstee P.S. Here is a photo of Shilo: And here is my favorite video clip — it's one minute of him stretching and yawning after he woke up the other day. It’s minutes like these that energize me for the rest of the day :-)
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Q&A with Caren Kreger
This month’s art is by Caren Kreger, the Maker, Creator and Celebrator (not to mention, incredible hand-letterer and artist) behind Everyday Hooray. She hopes her illustration serves a reminder that "Passion comes from somewhere deep inside of us and often shows up only when we allow ourselves the time and space to let it rise up and take hold". For a little more about what inspired this artwork, her process, and her life, here's a short Q&A: Where is home for you? Livermore, California (SF East Bay) What was the inspiration behind this design? Passion comes from somewhere deep inside of us and often shows up only when we allow ourselves the time and space to let it rise up and take hold. This work was inspired by the bold simplicity of this statement and the bright fire that lights inside of us when we pursue something that we are truly passionate about. What is your definition of a successful life? Oh wow, this is a big question. For me, a successful life means that I’ve taken risks, stepped outside of myself and engaged fully with the world around me. How did you get into lettering and design? I have always loved to draw and had an appreciation for design but never gave it enough time to flourish. A few years ago I experienced an emotional trauma that forced the need for a creative outlet. I began drawing again and focused on lettering as a way to release some of the emotions that I was experiencing. Now I draw every day as a way to continue growing, learning, and challenging myself. Where do you find inspiration? I find a lot of inspiration in the people around me. I am fascinated by the way people engage with each other and the emotional exchanges that we make every day. I see much opportunity to share positivity and I love the opportunity to make someone smile. What's your dream project? I’d love to create cover art for a book by someone who I admire or who has influenced me in some way. Which designers or thinkers influence/inspire you? Brene Brown’s books helped me through some difficult times and urged me to begin creating as an emotional outlet. I also really, really love Elizabeth Gilbert’s book Big Magic and I tend to pick it up when I’m feeling creatively drained. At the moment, what is your favorite… Color: Mint Food: Is Wine a food? Song: Audiobooks Quote: “Your own reasons to make art are reason enough. Create whatever causes a revolution in your heart.” - Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic
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Writer’s block.
To date, we’ve written over 150 Reflections as part of this email series. As much as I love the opportunity to share and discuss these topics, I still find it daunting every time I sit down to write one. What to say? Where to begin? To help, I have these words of wisdom from writer Anne Lamott written in large letters across the top of my writing screen: “Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft.” This quote reminds me that I need to start somewhere — and that somewhere is likely a “shitty first draft”, as Lamott so perfectly puts it. As we explore the theme of Creativity this month, I am reminded of the importance of simply starting in order to get over a creative block. We need to recognize our resistance to the challenge and the discomfort that comes from trying something new and knowing that we might fail. Creativity requires us to face this fear of failure... and do it anyway. Because if we don’t start, we’ll never finish. To just starting somewhere, Mike RadparvarCo-Founder, Holstee
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Vuja De.
You have probably heard of Déjà vu — the feeling that you have experienced the current moment before, but what about the opposite? The concept Vuja De, originally coined by George Carlin during a comedy routine, caught the attention of author Adam Grant (who you may remember from last week's Reflections email) in his pursuit to better understand innovation and creativity. In his book, Originals, Grant says: “The starting point [of creativity] is curiosity: pondering why the default exists in the first place. We’re driven to question defaults when we experience vuja de, the opposite of déjà vu. Déjà vu occurs when we encounter something new, but it feels as if we’ve seen it before. Vuja de is the reverse—we face something familiar, but we see it with a fresh perspective that enables us to gain new insights into old problems.” Last week in our Online Member Gathering, as a group we discussed Vuja De and the ways it has helped us. One member described becoming aware of their white privilege, while another employed it to improve a relationship with a colleague, and a while back Dave shared his experience of really feeling music he had heard many times before. Another member observed that while Deja Vu tends to be passive, Vuja De requires you to be proactive and willing to expand your perspective. When was the last time you experienced Vuja De? To experience the world with fresh eyes, Mike RadparvarCo-Founder, Holstee P.S. This past Thursday, we announced the launch of our new Coaches Kit — a collection of several of our favorite products from the past few years, bundled together at a big discount for the coaches, facilitators, and gatherers in our community. Take a look — and if there’s anyone you think would appreciate it, we’d love if you could share it!
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3 Journal Prompts to Unleash Your Creativity
In a world with endless information at our fingertips, it can feel challenging to be original — to do things that are truly different, to be one-of-a-kind. In this month’s Creativity Guide, we share the research of Adam Grant, author of Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World. Grant writes that the people who champion originality are the ones who propel the world forward. But originals are not so different from conformists, he argues. They feel the same fears and doubts, but instead of succumbing to these thought patterns, they explore and take action on them. Below are three ways Grant suggests we can increase our own originality, each with a corresponding prompt from this month’s guide for you to reflect on (I’ve added links so you can journal your answers in Reflection.app (our new journaling platform), if you’d like!). 1. Question the default. Ask why things are done the way they are, and see what happens when you take the road less travelled. In what ways have you challenged the default option or chosen a different route? Journal your response → 2. Broaden your interests. With a wide range of interests, you have more places to find inspiration and make connections to build new paths. What are three of your interests and how do you explore them? Journal your response → 3. Procrastinate on purpose. Grant says, “Once a task is finished, we stop thinking about it. But when it is interrupted and left undone, it stays active in our minds.” While it may feel counterintuitive, this ‘incubation period’ is typically when our subconscious connects the dots, allowing entirely new ideas to take shape. What projects are you working on that could benefit from this form of purposeful procrastination? Journal your response → To embracing your inner original and unlocking creativity in your life, Mike RadparvarCo-Founder, Holstee
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Adventure = Curiosity + Bravery
“Be brave, be curious, be determined, overcome the odds. It can be done.” - Stephen Hawking In this month’s Digital Adventure Guide and in our Online Member Gathering, we discussed the equation of Adventure: Adventure = Curiosity + Bravery Curiosity: “I seek out situations where I gain new experiences without getting in my own or other people’s way.” Bravery: "I act on my convictions, and I face threats, challenges, difficulties, and pains, despite my doubts and fears." (Definitions from the VIA Institute on Character) It might seem that adventure has been put on hold lately. But when we look at an adventure as a time when we “seek out new situations and experiences” and “face challenges despite our doubts and fears”, it becomes clear that these last few months have indeed been adventurous — for many of us, in completely new and different ways. Sometimes we get to choose the adventure, and sometimes the adventure chooses us. How are you experiencing adventure and employing curiosity or bravery this month? Mike RadparvarCo-Founder, Holstee
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A wonder-full life.
I have some exciting news to share. In a few short weeks, I will be embarking on a very new type of Adventure as I become a father for the first time. My wife Jess and I are expecting a baby boy in early July and I am feeling all the feels — joy, nervousness, gratitude, excitement, curiosity, and so much more. Fortunately, as it has been for most of my life, my older brother Mike and sister Ramesh are a couple steps ahead of me so I have been able to learn from them both. Mike’s daughter Mala is now two years old. On a recent video call, they were outside doing one of Mala’s favorite activities — watering the plants. It’s incredible how much joy Mala experiences going from one plant to the next and carefully adding water to each one. She has turned this seemingly simple, even mundane activity into a beautiful ritual. Watching Mala reminded me of something I read in William Martin’s book, The Parent's Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for Modern Parents: “Do not ask your childrento strive for extraordinary lives.Such striving may seem admirable,but it is the way of foolishness.Help them instead to find the wonderand the marvel of an ordinary life.Show them the joy of tastingtomatoes, apples and pears.Show them how to crywhen pets and people die.Show them the infinite pleasurein the touch of a hand.And make the ordinary come alive for them.The extraordinary will take care of itself.” In my day-to-day, I usually view watering the plants as a chore, something to quickly check off my list so I can return to “more important” things. Mala’s love of watering plants is a welcome reminder to find wonder, beauty, and joy in life’s everyday, ordinary activities — knowing that “the extraordinary will take care of itself”. To building a wonder-full life, Dave RadparvarCo-Founder, Holstee P.S. Here is a photo of Mala doing what she love's most:
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The pandemic of racism.
The coronavirus has caused pain and suffering beyond belief. But recent events have brought to light another sickness that has impacted far more people in America than the coronavirus. It has lasted centuries, killed millions and continues to affect people today — most recently through the senseless murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Jamar Clark, Philando Castile, Dreasjon Reed, Botham Jean, Ezell Ford, Michelle Shirley, Stephon Clark, Laquan McDonald, Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, and far too many others. These aren’t just names, these are lives — Black lives, and they matter. And even when deaths aren’t involved, this sickness causes pain and suffering in the lives of millions every single day. The metaphorical sickness we are referring to, of course, is racism. Unlike most afflictions, the ones who are infected are not the ones who are most affected. The symptoms — income inequality, mass incarceration, police brutality, residential racial steering and displacement, exclusion from opportunities, voter suppression, segregation in education, unequal access to healthcare, the list continues... — disproportionately impact Black communities in America. Similar to the effects of racism, the coronavirus has caused suffering around the world. But unlike racism, the coronavirus is not limited by your race. It can infect anyone, including those with privilege and power. Maybe that’s why action was immediately taken to combat the coronavirus, with nationwide quarantines, trillion-dollar economic stimulus packages, radical changes to the way we work and how our schools run, major shifts in how we interact with each other, and personal behavior changes. In a matter of months, the virus set in motion a rapid shift in how the world works. This shift wasn’t easy, but it was necessary to ensure that fewer people would suffer from the coronavirus’ effects. If we are serious about addressing racism in America, we need to address it like the pandemic that it is. The path to peace, justice, and progress comes through the difficult but important work of digging up the roots of racism within this country, and within each of us. Only by understanding the pain this pandemic causes can we start making the radical changes needed for us to heal and grow together. Not sure where to begin? We found this curated Anti-racism Resource Guide helpful in our own journeys to learn more and take action. To doing the work, Mike and Dave RadparvarCo-Founders, Holstee
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Q&A with Daniel Neuman
This month’s art is by Nebraskan designer, Daniel Neuman. Daniel has a passion for creating hand lettering and illustration that tells a story. His inspiration behind this piece was "to create a scene inside a polaroid picture. Technology today is amazing and we have the ability to capture everything we do in unique ways. Nothing compares to the human experience though. Adventure is meant to be lived in the moment.” For a little more about Daniel, here's a short Q&A! Where is home for you? Physically home for me is in Lincoln, Nebraska. I feel the most at home though when I am traveling and exploring somewhere completely new. What is your definition of a successful life? Success for me is loving others. It’s the moments in life that can’t be bought with any amount of money. It’s living life to the fullest no matter what the circumstances are. Describe your perfect day. A perfect day for me would simply be adventuring somewhere new without any plans or obligations. Getting lost in the moment without being distracted by technology or the daily stresses of life. How did you get into design? I started drawing trees when I was about 5 years old and won an award for one I drew when I was 8. I have always loved drawing trees and outdoor scenes since I was a kid. When I got into high school I started to create posters and merch designs for a band I was in as well as other local bands. This sparked an interest in pursuing design as a career. Digital art class was offered during my senior year in high school and I stuck with design ever since. I went to college for graphic design and slowly started picking up freelance jobs here and there. My first job out of college was working as a designer at a screen printing shop. Currently, I work full time as the art director at a design agency called 877. I freelance on the side which has turned into another full-time job as well. I’ve been blessed to work with clients from all over the world and can’t wait to see where this career takes me. Where do you find inspiration? Inspiration is everywhere if you just open your eyes. I’ve been trying to be intentional about slowing down to recognize the inspiration I have in front of me every day. It could be a sign I see on a building or the colors on a tree. There are opportunities in every minute of the day if you allow yourself to see them. What's your dream design project? I’d love to design a mural for Patagonia or an outdoor/adventure brand like that. Which designers or thinkers influence/inspire you? I love being inspired by the designers and photographers I follow on Instagram. A few that come to mind are Noel Shiveley, Taylor Penton, David Rollyn Powell, Christian Watson, Abe Kislevitz, Kyle Fredrickson, Stefan Kunz, Dan Lee, Matt Carlson, Eric Nyffeler, Nick Frederickson, Eva Winters, Joshua Minnich, Michael Moodie, Maggie Ward, Andrew Lennon, Josefine Svärd. I could honestly go on and on, I love all of these designers and photographers so much! What was the inspiration behind this design? Adventure is about exploring something new from a different perspective. The idea was to create a scene inside a polaroid picture. I wanted the design to break the frame in a way that made it feel as if the moment was coming to life. So often now we don’t live in the moment and soak up the experiences we are in. We are too busy snapping photos and adding Instagram filters that we forget to be present where we are. You can’t go to a single national park without seeing hundreds of people with cameras taking pictures around every corner. Technology today is amazing and we have the ability to capture everything we do in unique ways. Nothing compares to the human experience though. Adventure is meant to be lived in the moment. At the moment, what is your favorite… Color: Brick Red Food: Indian Song: “I Don’t Wanna Go” by Chris Renzema Quote: “Good design is obvious, great design is invisible.” -Joe Sparano (one of my favorite teachers in college)
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