You are not your thoughts.
You might have heard this quote before and wondered: “what am I, if not my thoughts?”
There is the story of the two men at a beach. While one man sat there enjoying the view, the other man ran around, trying to hold on to the good waves and push away the bad waves.
Your thoughts are like waves on an ocean, sometimes big and scary, sometimes small and peaceful.
“We can’t control the sea, but we can learn how to surf the waves.” - Headspace
Reading Recommendations
Mindfulness in Software Development - By Jens Boje
"I’ve been on training for mindful coaching recently, and almost a day in, I started wondering on how to apply what I learned to coding. How could a team benefit from combining the two concepts? How could mindful coding help to ease the pains of building software?"
How the Application of Neuroscience in Design Can Separate Us from Artificial Intelligence
"Intuitively, most people can see a well-designed space and say, “Yes, that looks nice.” But what is it that makes us respond this way? Why do some spaces appeal to our senses better than others?"
My review: an interesting perspective on technology selection in software projects. Each technology choice we make that is not in our core-stack adds cost. And usually, the long term cost to operate an unknown technology is higher than the short-term benefits of using it. I do not fully agree with the article. I think it is useful to adopt new technology from time to time to expand my horizons and learn different ways to do things. But, I always favor limiting the number of new technologies in a project to one "big" and unknown technology.
Weekly Mindfulness Practice
Try to consciously make one breath every time you go through a door today. It's harder than you think, but don't be discouraged. Try it out, it's a fun little exercise in mindfulness.
End note
I tried something new this week and added a mindfulness exercise. This is an experiment, so please let me know how you find it and (if you tried it) how it went for you and reply to this email.
When this was interesting to you, there might be someone you know who will also like this. Please consider forwarding this mail to that person.
Have a great week
Simon
P.S.: If you found an article you think others might like and that fits this newsletter, I’d love it if you write me an email.