Espresso Shots 10-19-25

It's that time again for my weekly update, which includes a short collection of noteworthy finds, posts that inspire, as well as a few reflections from the past week or two. I'll aim to land these in your inbox by the weekend, in time to pair with your morning coffee (or your preferred cup of inspiration).

The Latest Drippings ☕️

• Life Is a Game of Fetch. Been a big fan of Brad Montague's perspective on life, and his latest post on taking creative risks is a worthwhile read. 'It was the kind of audience who could go with me on this odd journey to land somewhere we couldn’t have arrived at otherwise. Because underneath the ridiculousness, everyone in the room knew the feeling I was trying to convey: the ache to make something honest and good, even when it costs you something. The uncertainty.' Curiosity to explore the uncertain is a theme that I need to write more about, as it's been a large driving factor to how I'm approaching Life 3.0.
• Programming Bowls. One of the most useful tools that I find I keep going back to is the 'art of subtraction' - 'Subtraction is beautiful: it creates space, time, clarity.'. While this article dives into Diogenes and his bowl, and the unnecessary complexity found in software engineering today, it's a great reminder of how we make life complex, and sometimes choosing less is a better path. I've discovered over the years that 'boring' is stable, and stability builds velocity.
• Five Short Thoughts. Too much good advice in this post to call out here, read it. Ok, here's one to remember: 'Very few decisions are 'rest-of-your-life' decisions' and that by adopting this type of thinking 'it makes it easier to commit, because it releases commitments from the unmeetable standard of you must be absolutely certain you'll endorse this decision years from now.'
• Ben & Jerry's Co-founder Jerry Greenfield Quits. Ben & Jerry's co-founder, Jerry Greenfield, left the company due to a dispute with their parent company, Unilever. Known for taking a public stance on social and political issues, Jerry felt 'silenced' by Unilever and decided to depart.
• How to Be a Good Explorer in the Lifelong Expedition to Yourself. One of my 2025 goals was to lean back into curiosity and exploration as a driving mindset, and this article really captured the feeling I was looking for. 'The spirit of exploration is something else altogether, requiring a total receptivity to experience — the mind uncaged from expectation and convention, the animal sensorium fully open to every channel of aliveness, the soul ready for the revelation of discovery.'
• Life is a Feast, Not a Recipe. A great lens on what's wrong with most business books, seminars, workshops, etc: '99% of business books inhabit: a discrete set of steps to get you from point A to point B. A proven system. A reliable recipe with endless lashings of certainty. The problem is, there are no recipes. Life isn't a cooking show, and success isn’t a fancy dish. What works for someone doesn't work for everyone.' A good reminder that 'the most important principle is to actually have them in the first place.'
• The Pit Is a Cartoon-Filled Newspaper About Swamps, Mommies and Ice Fishing. I've been leaning back into printed publications this year: The Onion, N+1, Mountain Gazette, Journal of the San Juans and The Southwester. I need to check out The Pit next.
• One Compliment. Something inside of me fires up when I get a random note or comment in passing like 'that one link you sent really helped me'. A wonderful post on the joy we introverts get when this happens. 'People want to be seen. Writing as an introvert, I can confirm the last thing I want is public recognition. I would prefer it if you slid a folded note under the desk where I am hiding. Make no eye contact. People are a lot of work for me. The reason I spend so much time writing it down is that I don't want to explain it to you face-to-face.'
• We Don't Need to Rely on AI to Break Up the Monotony. Another reminder that systems and outcomes are more important than random goals.
• Using Chaos to Communicate Order. How the company Automattic handles 'more than 1,500 people in 70+ countries work together without an office.' A look at their two core principles: Radical Transparency and Asynchronous by Design, and how they work in reality.
• Thank You for Being Annoying. An interesting perspective on why 'do what you love' is bad advice. 'The problem is that nobody ever tells you what it feels like to love something. Everybody thinks love feels like perpetual bliss. It doesn't. It mainly feels annoying. The right job is one that puts you in charge of the things that annoy you, allowing you to fix them.' Food for thought. 🤔
• Knowing and Doing Are Not the Same. 'The tough truth is that wisdom doesn't come merely from acquiring new knowledge. That's not enough. You have to go through something that humbles or excites you enough to motivate change.' Experience > theory, all the time.
• All Roads Lead Somewhere Worse (And That's Where the Fun Is). Speaking of experiences, some of the best adventures I've been on started by going down a different path from the norm. 'The best roads don't lead anywhere good. They lead to dead ends. To cracked motel lots lit by buzzing neon. To bars without names and bathrooms without locks. They lead you past your expectations, past your carefully optimized travel plans, past the version of yourself who thought they could read the signs. Also, remember always to put the FU in FUN. :)
• Two Kinds of Writing. 'There are two reasons to write: to perform or to think.' A good discourse on when, and if, you should use AI in writing.

Amor Fati ✌🏻