dangerouslydebonair

[dangerouslydebonair]

"Every event has two handles, one by which it can be carried, and one by which it can't." Epictetus

I'm new to design, but I'm building the muscle.

[dangerouslydebonair]

“Wherever you are, treat it like West Texas.”

That note stayed with me, scribbled during a trip to Marfa a few years ago with my sister. What’s special about small towns isn’t what they have, but what they don’t - or, more generously, what they make room for.

With just a modest network of streets, a few restaurants, and a handful of local shops, small towns shrink your world in a way that expands your sense of self. You feel less scattered, more still, and somehow, bigger.

This spaciousness is lovely, and you don’t need to move to the country to find it. It can be an attitude you tap into - a choice to notice what’s intimate and immediate, rather than chasing after what’s distant and detached.

When I “keep things local”:

I reconnect with parts of myself that I’ve been neglecting - the sides of me that want to learn about design, experiment with photography, and write music again. A fuller expression of who I am feels remarkably close, and I wonder why I haven’t released it.

I’m more willing to meet strangers and get interested in their stories (like Anna, the foreigner who welcomed me into her new hat shop with a plate of olive oil and cheese; or “Gus”, the old-timer who made money in real estate and now turns rusted metals into sculptures).

Time feels slower, because it isn’t so crammed. Without much to do, my body unwinds, my mind stops hurrying forward, and my heart opens. I sense there’s a lot of goodwill in the world, and I realize missing it might be a case of city routine and my being unimaginative.

[dangerouslydebonair]

Together, James Coffman 

[dangerouslydebonair]

I’ve been sketching ideas for a print about ambition - specifically, what I want to remember when it stirs in me. Two elements have come into focus:

The first is an outstretched arm paired with a firmly planted foot. Together, they capture the balance I’m pursuing: reaching for what’s ahead while staying grounded in presence and gratitude - a virtuous tension between rootedness and aspiration.

The second is a set of cuffs, with the letters “O” and “F” etched at either end. They serve as a visual shorthand for a thought from Nietzsche I come back to often: “You cannot be helped towards your true happiness so long as you are bound by the chains of Opinion and Fear.”

[dangerouslydebonair]

Renaissance. The word conjures images of cathedrals, masterworks, and the height of human flourishing. Yet at its heart, a renaissance isn’t confined to history - it’s an attitude. It’s about choosing to see the world as rich with potential and nurturing a personal revival of curiosity, creativity and hope.

[dangerouslydebonair]

“So few grains of happiness measured against all the dark and still the scales balance.”

The Weighing, Jane Hirshfield

theinneract.com

[dangerouslydebonair]

the inner act, a newsletter

‘unhappiness stems from having only one perspective to play with.’

dear readers,

the most important lesson life has taught me is that there’s always another way to see things. whenever we’re feeling off or not quite right, there’s always a healing thought available. sometimes it’s nearby and easy to access; others, it’s harder to find.

the purpose of this project is to ask and answer:

what might help us here? how can we summon up our best ideas when we really need them? can we create tools to encourage our own better natures? is there an imaginative way to remember?

of course there is. there’s a hundred ways. throughout this newsletter, i'll share a series of notes on what I call “the inner act” - the practice of reaching for, holding onto, and acting from our highest thinking.

what i have to say isn’t new (everything is a remix), but my expression is original. like a musician opposed to genres, my delivery includes essays, letters, sketches, fragments, formulas and other experimental compositions.

as a final word, let me say that i too am in a state of learning and becoming, not in a state of knowing and having become. my intention is simply to put ideas on display and invite you to look at them on your own way up the mountain.

happy browsing,

j.t.s.

[dangerouslydebonair]

when i woke up, the window was open and she was standing on the balcony. i watched her without saying anything, ready to close my eyes if she turned toward me. as if she knew, she looked up and smiled.

(i) in moments like these, it’s easy for me to be romantic. it’s easy for me to forget about my work, my philosophy, my practice, my routine… and simply want to be here. i’m effortlessly tuned in; i take her - and this little scene - in completely.

(ii) i’m attracted to her rosy cheeks, her light hair, her sleepy eyes (now lit up beautifully, full of expression), her charming, playful manner, and to things she evokes and makes me nostalgic for - the summer, the smell of the sea, my youth.

(iii) another day, at this hour, i might be meditating, listening to a lecture, or sitting at my desk reading something new. today, here, those labors seem hollow, as if thinking too much - my general attitude of analysis - would ruin a perfect morning.

(iv) i used to consider this a weakness (‘you can’t afford distractions!’). now i see it as a skill, as a maturity (‘what distractions? this is it.’). it’s what lin yutang meant in 'the importance of living': if you spend so much time studying life that you forget to enjoy it, what’s the point?

(v) i choose to maintain a here-and-now focus, to relate a-historically with her. there’s no need to investigate each other’s past history or the versions of ourselves we were before arriving at this one. my attention is on the current moment, on being here, on what i feel.

[dangerouslydebonair]

when i woke up, the window was open and she was standing on the balcony. i watched her without saying anything, ready to close my eyes if she turned toward me. as if she knew, she looked up and smiled.

(i) in moments like these, it’s easy for me to be romantic. it’s easy for me to forget about my work, my philosophy, my practice, my routine… and simply want to be here. i’m effortlessly tuned in; i take her - and this little scene - in completely.

(ii) i’m attracted to her rosy cheeks, her light hair, her sleepy eyes (now lit up beautifully, full of expression), her charming, playful manner, and to things she evokes and makes me nostalgic for - the summer, the smell of the sea, my youth.

(iii) another day, at this hour, i might be meditating, listening to a lecture, or sitting at my desk reading something new. today, here, those labors seem hollow, as if thinking too much - my general attitude of analysis - would ruin a perfect morning.

(iv) i used to consider this a weakness (‘you can’t afford distractions!’). now i see it as a skill, as a maturity (‘what distractions? this is it.’). it’s what lin yutang meant in 'the importance of living': if you spend so much time studying life that you forget to enjoy it, what’s the point?

(v) i choose to maintain a here-and-now focus, to relate a-historically with her. there’s no need to investigate each other’s past history or the versions of ourselves we were before arriving at this one. my attention is on the current moment, on being here, on what i feel.

[dangerouslydebonair]

when i woke up, the window was open and she was standing on the balcony. i watched her without saying anything, ready to close my eyes if she turned toward me. as if she knew, she looked up and smiled.

(i) in moments like these, it’s easy for me to be romantic. it’s easy for me to forget about my work, my philosophy, my practice, my routine… and simply want to be here. i’m effortlessly tuned in; i take her - and this little scene - in completely.

(ii) i’m attracted to her rosy cheeks, her light hair, her sleepy eyes (now lit up beautifully, full of expression), her charming, playful manner, and to things she evokes and makes me nostalgic for - the summer, the smell of the sea, my youth.

(iii) another day, at this hour, i might be meditating, listening to a lecture, or sitting at my desk reading something new. today, here, those labors seem hollow, as if thinking too much - my general attitude of analysis - would ruin a perfect morning.

(iv) i used to consider this a weakness (‘you can’t afford distractions!’). now i see it as a skill, as a maturity (‘what distractions? this is it.’). it’s what lin yutang meant in 'the importance of living': if you spend so much time studying life that you forget to enjoy it, what’s the point?

(v) i choose to maintain a here-and-now focus, to relate a-historically with her. there’s no need to investigate each other’s past history or the versions of ourselves we were before arriving at this one. my attention is on the current moment, on being here, on what i feel.

[dangerouslydebonair]

what does it mean? what’s so good about not showing what things look like? the intention in abstract art is to get directly to emotion. words can feel clumsy. this is more elegant. one might say to a close friend: ‘inside, it feels a little like this.’ and they would understand. ⠀⠀⠀ 🎨: “untitled” #cytwombly 1968

@foryou.from

[dangerouslydebonair]

we grow up too fast. we’re nostalgic for moments that happened long ago. but to live is to age, and to age is to live. vitality can’t be timetabled. ⠀⠀ 📷: “down on the corner” hugh holland 1975

@foryou.from 

[dangerouslydebonair]

on #beauty: ⠀⠀ we love the things we find beautiful, but we are inarticulate when we try to communicate this love. this is a pity. not only because we wish to let others know about the things we most like, but because in understanding our own attraction to things, we may perhaps strengthen their influence on us. ⠀⠀ a brief thesis: ⠀⠀ (i) #stendhal: ‘beauty is the promise of happiness.’ ⠀⠀ (ii) #nietzsche: ‘what do we desire when we look at beauty? to be beautiful ourselves.’ ⠀⠀ (iii) beauty acts as a bridge from the physical world to the psychological. different people are attracted to different things, because we each have our own individual visions of happiness. understood this way, beauty is a reminder of absent values and virtues. ⠀⠀ (iv) #design matters. though we struggle to explain why and how, beauty is a deep dimension of human nature. making useful things beautiful makes them - and in turn, makes us - better.

material ecology, neri oxman 2020 @ moma

[dangerouslydebonair]

‘what am i in the eyes of most people - a nonentity, an eccentric, or an unpleasant person - somebody who has no position in society and will never have; in short, the lowest of the low. all right, then - even if that were absolutely true, then i should one day like to show by my work what such an eccentric, such a nobody, has in his heart. 

... that is my ambition, based less on resentment than on love in spite of everything, based more on a feeling of serenity than on passion. though i am often in the depths of misery, there is still calmness, pure harmony and music inside me. i see paintings or drawings in the poorest cottages, in the dirtiest corners. and my mind is driven towards these things with an irresistible momentum.'

vincent van gogh, 1882

[the-suit-man]

[dangerouslydebonair]

Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another.

Carl Sagan

[dangerouslydebonair]

[paris2london]

[dangerouslydebonair]

In the space between yes and no, there’s a lifetime. It’s the difference between the path you walk and the one you leave behind; it’s the gap between who you thought you could be and who you really are; its the legroom for the lies you’ll tell yourself in the future.

jodi picoult