A list of beautiful things #22
Stay right where you are
A lovely lesson on the beauty of mediocrity, from Kermit the Frog. Pay attention to the lyrics and the puppetry — how did they get Kermit to show such profound emotion?
Kurt Vonnegut’s writing assignment for a high school student is a lesson on how to make real art. Let me know if you give it a try.
This 28-minute Netflix documentary about a Chinese teenager who dreamed of studying Romanian poetry broke my heart. Find some time this weekend to watch it.
I spent a week thinking about this oil painting, The Hierarchy of Persistence, by John A. Sargent III. The tower of clouds is both optimistic and foreboding. There is a brewing storm below but also open sky above, with little daubs of colorful paint like confetti all around. I like to think of the painting as a metaphor for persistence. Pretend you are an airplane in a hurricane — keep flying through and eventually you will see the sun.
In this five-minute documentary, a man shares how he found his true calling. Lots of good life lessons in this one.
I’ve been trying to create a dupe of this bag all week.
Herman Hesse’s “prescription” for “breaking the trance of busyness and inattention” via The Marginalian: “Accustom yourself every morning to look for a moment at the sky and suddenly you will be aware of the air around you, the scent of morning freshness that is bestowed on you between sleep and labor.”
If this isn’t friendship I don’t know what is.
And some little things from me:
Love your writing and drawing!