TGC Newsletter: January 2024
- Tamar Gaffin-Cahn
- Jan 31, 2024
- 2 min read
Welcome to the first edition of The Growth Coach newsletter! In this monthly email, I'll share a few things circulating in my mind over the previous weeks. These emails will be short and sweet, providing thought-provoking insights and lessons about creativity, youth, career, leadership development, and more. I welcome your thoughts and reactions to the content in this newsletter.
Thanks for following along in this weird journey of life.
What I'm Reading
The root of inspire can be traced to the Latin word "inspirare," which literally translates to "to breathe into," and in early usage, the term's meaning evolved into "to draw air into the lungs." Metaphorically, this mirrors the inspiration process: We take inspiration from the world around us - "breathing it in" - and then "breathe it back out" through how we apply it to our lives.
From The science behind inspiration and how to design more of it into your life, by Minnie Bredouw
My question to you: When you take a deep breath, what did you notice or think about? What, if anything, changed in you?
What I'm Listening To
NPR's Throughline Podcast episode, No Bad Ideas?, a thought-provoking episode about original thinking, AI, and the history of creativity. This was one of my homework assignments for one of my graduate courses this semester entitled The Responsibility Ladder, People Power and Policy.
What I'm Doing
I'm taking everyday risks inspired by The Looking Glass: The Year of Everyday Risks by Julie Zhuo. Julie writes:
Everyday risks - the small actions that comes with a twinge of discomfort. Because of that twinge of discomfort, I haven't jumped to do them. And so they continue to remain a notion in my mind, rejected for being too silly, stupid, effortful, fraught, impractical, ego-bruising, exposing. They remain untried.
Everyday risks are an opportunity to be vulnerable. Do something a little scary (like talking to strangers) to create opportunities for something good to happen in your day. It's an opportunity to remember that our world has more good than bad. Examples include talking to the cashier, being silly when it's unexpected, or smiling at strangers on the street.
What's Moved Me
I think art is always answering to the threat of death. But you don't throw yourself into it. You just answer.
Helen Cixous from Jewish Currents: The Strangeness Inside Yourself
What I'm Wiggling To
Psychedelic Switch by Carly Rae Jepson
Stay Playful,
Tamar
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