Nice Khalid! I recommend Priya Parker’s book The Art of Gathering. It has some cool ideas for how to build meaningful gatherings—constraints being a key part to it
I’ve heard of The Art of Gathering but never got around to reading it...now I’m extra curious. The idea of constraints shaping meaningful gatherings has been interesting, especially since most of us start from the baseline more freedom = better. I'll def take a look but thought I'd ask, what’s something from the book that really stuck with you?
what strikes me about the book (I'm re-reading it atm) is how disputable you have to be about gatherings in order to make them meaningful and memorable. the best gatherings have a purpose that's not for everyone, they exclude some people based on that purpose, they have rules (constraints) that the gatherer must enforce militantly in order to protect the group, and the gatherer must maintain this control at all times (not just in the first 30 mins). it's surprising how much constraint plays a role.
but then again, it's not all that surprising given how i'm learning that configuring your constraints is a key strategy in creative work too. But that's something for another post ;)
the other day i was at the gym and while i had my headphones on, I interacted with a person working at the gym and afterwards I second-guessed myself, like why didn't I take off my headphones?! Granted, when I go to the gym, it's my time to check out and listen to music and exercise, but it felt unnatural and I need to set some limits on that. i think unabated access to tech can be limiting and not good in that regard and reminds me how everyone is plugged in to something when they travel or are in shared spaces. maybe the pendulum will swing back the other way some day...I think it'll take time and some intentional engineering to get there.
Very interesting! I remember how, when I was a kid, my parents used to have conversations with strangers on airpllanes. They always seemed so energized having talked to so many different kinds of people.
ooh i got a little goosebumps at the end there
Nice Khalid! I recommend Priya Parker’s book The Art of Gathering. It has some cool ideas for how to build meaningful gatherings—constraints being a key part to it
I’ve heard of The Art of Gathering but never got around to reading it...now I’m extra curious. The idea of constraints shaping meaningful gatherings has been interesting, especially since most of us start from the baseline more freedom = better. I'll def take a look but thought I'd ask, what’s something from the book that really stuck with you?
what strikes me about the book (I'm re-reading it atm) is how disputable you have to be about gatherings in order to make them meaningful and memorable. the best gatherings have a purpose that's not for everyone, they exclude some people based on that purpose, they have rules (constraints) that the gatherer must enforce militantly in order to protect the group, and the gatherer must maintain this control at all times (not just in the first 30 mins). it's surprising how much constraint plays a role.
but then again, it's not all that surprising given how i'm learning that configuring your constraints is a key strategy in creative work too. But that's something for another post ;)
Based low-optionality enjoyer.
based recognizes based
the other day i was at the gym and while i had my headphones on, I interacted with a person working at the gym and afterwards I second-guessed myself, like why didn't I take off my headphones?! Granted, when I go to the gym, it's my time to check out and listen to music and exercise, but it felt unnatural and I need to set some limits on that. i think unabated access to tech can be limiting and not good in that regard and reminds me how everyone is plugged in to something when they travel or are in shared spaces. maybe the pendulum will swing back the other way some day...I think it'll take time and some intentional engineering to get there.
Very interesting! I remember how, when I was a kid, my parents used to have conversations with strangers on airpllanes. They always seemed so energized having talked to so many different kinds of people.
This type of experience is WAY more rare for me.
Would you want to bring it back if you could?