đ Reviewing: Perfect Days (2023)
Next time is next time. Now is now.
Upon seeing a man wake up, perform his morning routine, and begin his day with a can of Boss coffee from a vending machine, I was immediately transported to Tokyo. This was also my routine each day during my visit to Japan.
The man is Hirayama, an aging toilet cleaner in Tokyo who leads a meager and ordinary life. Beyond his structured rituals, he takes photos, savors music on cassette tapes, and immerses himself in books. Each day with Hirayama reveals how he takes pride in his work, makes time for a lunch break in the park, finds joy in everyday moments, and lives simply, speaking only when necessary. This intimate intentionality makes us feel like weâre there with him, fostering an immediate interest in his feelings.
To be an artist, you don't have to compose music or paint or be in the movies or write books. It's just a way of living. It has to do with paying attention, remembering, filtering what you see and answering back, participating in life. â Viggo Mortensen
While Hirayama doesnât make music, draw, or write, paying attention is his way of living. Itâs how he communicates with the world and those around him, even if he doesnât communicate much at all. Therefore, heâs an artist. Like Hirayama, I am also a noticer and excel in paying attention, filtering, and remembering. But unlike Hirayama, I donât naturally find peace and perfection in the everyday. Thatâs an art Iâm still practicing. âPerfect Daysâ is available to stream on Hulu.
đ§ Listening To: How to Win at Real Life
Games are a quick and fast way that we have figured out to encode different mental states and practical styles in a rule set, so you can just pick them up, and just like you can experience other peopleâs lives from novels, you can experience the world from completely different practical mindsets in games. Thatâs what makes them special.
The follow-up to âHow to Talk to Peopleâ and âHow to Start Overâ, âHow to Know What's Realâ is the latest theme of The Atlantic's podcast season. In this episode, host Megan Garber talks with C. Thi Nguyen, an associate philosophy professor at the University of Utah, to discuss how games (arguing that rock climbing and yoga are games too) encourage us to step back, question each other, and question ourselves.
As someone who used to design and publish games and traveled the country teaching them to thousands, I believe this is the best piece of media that articulates the pure magic and positive impact games have on the world. âHow to Win at Real Lifeâ is available to stream on Spotify.
𧱠Building: The Company
The Company is a membership-supported creative space in the LoHi neighborhood of Denver. A mix between a shared workspace, library, creative studio, and event space, itâs a place to meet, gather, celebrate, and build community.
I think weâve all read the articles, listened to the podcasts, and seen the infographics about how people are lonelier than ever before. While initially, a lot of the blame was directed toward screens, recently it seems the cause has shifted to the lack of third places.
Coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg in 1989, the term "third places" refers to informal public gathering spaces that are separate from the home (first place) and the workplace (second place). Examples of third places may include cafes, parks, pubsâor perhaps more notably, Cheers, Central Perk, and MacLaren's Pub.
But sometimes, after building community, a home, coffee shop, or public center may no longer accommodate a groupâs interests and activities. In that case, not only do you have to build community, but you also have to build space.
And thatâs what weâre doing at The Company. Weâve built a place to meet, gather, celebrate, and shareâa place where we can intentionally and explicitly form and deepen relationships. Relationships that are supportive, relationships that are resonant. The Company is officially kicking off on June 12th, and if youâre in Denver, you should come by to celebrate at The Opening.
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â Justin