etiquette, chivalry, and pressure hacking?
needed a catchy subject line...
Dear Friends,
Back home in Europe after two delicious months in Mexico. The country that keeps on giving. I share with you here our penultimate issue of the year and the final one before the holidays. As per usual, we will reflect on the year gone and share some fresh goods with you.
We migrated from Mailchimp to Substack. This was an impulsive yet long-in-the-making decision. The idea here was to focus on the content and not the frills of tracking.
We deleted our entire subscriber audience in one click (on Mailchimp)! Not ideal, but life goes on… thank you to those who re-subscribed!
We moved away from a set template and now I frankly just wing it every week. Kidding, sort of.
We met up with “fans” of this newsletter around the world… thank you for the little stroke of confidence that each of these encounters creates.
We started sharing our own thoughts through #coletakes, 15 Notes City Guides, and other musings…
In the spirit of the holidays, if you like what we are doing, please forward this email to 3 friends and tell them to sign up. Thank you and have a great holidazzzze.
Cole
p.s a holiday playlist for your yuletide gatherings 🎄🍸
what we are reading…
A Normies Guide to Becoming a Crypto (NY Mag)
You’ve managed to willfully ignore crypto for the past some-odd years, but all of a sudden it may feel as if the blockchain is closing in on you. Your 401(k) provider is rolling out a bitcoin option, your friend just made an NFT in Microsoft Paint and sold it for $14,000, and even your mayor-elect is supporting a citywide cryptocurrency. (And did Dad just say “NGMI” in the family group chat?) To an outsider, crypto may mostly seem like a bunch of Patagonia-vest-clad bros out to make a quick buck at the expense of the environment. (more)
Could Psychedelics & Technology Solve Our Mental Health Crisis (Maddyness)
Research into the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics like LSD, MDMA, and Ketamine dates back well into the mid-20th century. Yet for every step forward, there have been two steps backward, as governments campaigned to outlaw these substances and prosecute those who used them. We are at a critical turning point. We’re facing up to one of the biggest health crises for decades—a ballooning mental health crisis that’s taking a grip on society. (more)
How To Perform Well Under Pressure (Psyche)
Whatever sphere you inhabit, whether you’re a pro or amateur athlete, businessperson, teacher, full-time parent, or something else entirely, you’re bound to have felt the pressure of your own expectations and the expectations of others. Almost everyone must cope with daunting situations, in which they don’t feel they have the skills needed to succeed and meet the weight of those expectations. I’m a sports psychologist and I help teach my clients mental techniques to deal with this kind of pressure. I’ve found the same practical techniques and principles that I teach to athletes are also invaluable to my clients from many walks of life, including business and theatre. (more)
#coletakes
smoking etiquette: I’ve never been a smoker, but beyond the notion that it is “cool”, I have this sense that people smoke to avoid small talk. If they are smoking, then suddenly they can go outside and converse with whoever they wish. Secretly, I always feel like I am missing something (tobacco aside) when all the smokers go outside and I’m left at the table with the other “uncool” people.
intentional ambivalence: co-ed bathrooms on planes, chopsticks in takeaway packaging, friends sharing articles on Facebook.
opportunity for chivalry: in a world of growing political correctness and gender rights, I find it amusing how chivalry is lost in the conversation. What if we boarded airplanes “ladies first” instead of by group number?
Tech Efficiency Tradeoffs: I am an enormous fan of collecting digital music, but I will never be able to give up real books for a Kindle. It is quite an underwhelming reading experience. Newspapers I’m conflicted… there is a practicality to the day-to-day ease, but there is nothing like the crackin’ of a crisp morning paper.