Inspired by Derek Sivers, this is a now page. Updated January 23, 2024
Making sense of sensemaking
The political and social changes of the past few years have convinced me that we are amidst a profound, and still as-yet undefined, social and biological transformation. Social media and digital technologies are rapidly changing our brains and, as a result, shifting social patterns dramatically. Not all of these changes, however, are some kind of "natural progression" as a result of technologies emerging; our attention is deliberately being hacked and manipulated.
As many have said, there is a war on "sensemaking" right now; an assault on everyday people's ability to understand and make sense of the world. This is being done both for pecuniary interests, and as an outgrowth of new, emergent incentives that these technologies create for us.
I'm increasingly trying to understand the ways that we can fight back against this and reclaim not only our attention, but the political possibilities that are getting lost along the way.
Better defining my economic development practice
I've now worked in economic development for almost a decade now, first at at the Vancouver Economic Commission, then the City of New Westminster, and now at the Zero Emissions Innovation Centre (ZEIC).
At ZEIC, I have the distinct privilege to lead our entire practice on economic development and, building on what I have learned over the years, to define with my team and colleagues, what that practice means to us. In practical terms we are doing research, convening industry and other partners, and running capacity-building programs, but I want to go further.
I think the political malaise in many countries is not only a product of income inequality and other forms of economic injustice, but is also a recognition that structural forces within the economy (e.g., automation, immateriality) are changing the structures of how we exchange with one another. A more humanistic, sustainable, and beautiful economy is out there somewhere, and I want to find it.
Deepening my drawing practice and connections to the arts and culture community
Almost three years ago I took a fundamentals of drawing lesson at the Vancouver atelier, Canvas Method. Through amazing classes with Col Urrutia, Joseph Leivdal, and Henry Chan, I learned fundamentals, elements of portraiture, and figure drawing. As a lifelong street-sketcher, the more rigorous academic style of some of these folks has given me a new lens through which to see the world.
As a result of re-engaging with my artistic side, I'm also working on cataloguing all of the local arts and culture institutions around me and I'm publishing them in searchable Notion database online.