Deep breath in. We’re changing things up here. Cue the next season of Objectively, which I affectionately call expansion. The way I’m thinking about it, it’s like when you’ve just purchased a card expansion pack and rip it open right over the counter, hoping to find something special.
Before that! A brief recap. Beginning almost a year ago, season 1 was structured to make it easy to publish weekly and get the ball rolling. Objects as a gateway to a person. One person, three objects. It was go, go, go mode.
In March this year, I announced season 2,
We will have a peek into the inspiration behind [creative practices], and how their pursuits shape their lives and thinking. If you know me you know that I enjoy sharing stories about creative living, so it feels fitting that the project is heading in this direction.
Since then (with launching the Getting to know series), you might already realise that it’s not just makers and collectors I’m interested in. I’m looking to something bigger: people doing differently, inspiring others in their chosen paths.
So with season 3, what are we in for? While I’ll continue to interview creatives on the things they create and consume, I’m also excited to talk to people not necessarily within the maker realm, or so much focused on objects.
Coming up, there will still be Objectively-as-you-know-it features—with founders behind Rhythm Zero, Closet Children, Sarah Johnson…—that I’m so excited to share. But I’m also keen to talk to people like Sari Azout (Sublime), Annie Rauwerda (Depths of Wikipedia), Daniel Giacopelli (Mailchimp/Courier).
I’m interested in the whys and hows, and I want to keep sharing untold stories of inspiring thinkers and tinkerers. Whether they are shipping fast and building the next big (meaningful) thing in tech, or going back into the depths of Wikipedia to tell a story. Throughout that spectrum, their meaning-making, pushing boundaries, and reframing of perspectives are what I’m interested in.
Besides sharing these conversations, there are many things I’ve read, watched, and listened to that have made my life for the better, deserving a shoutout and more. So I’m going to share them here as my Open Tabs in case they spark something for you too. And… who knows what else to come (personal essays?!). I like to see Objectively as a safe space for mutual experimentation, discovery, and sharing—a refining of something that we’ll only be able to connect the dots of in the future.
So… this is where season 3 has taken us. I always feel like I’m bursting at the seams, wishing I could write this and share that. I hope this new season of Objectively brings me one step closer, in a way that allows me to share many more great ideas and stories with you.
As a teaser, here’s the first edition of Open Tabs—things I recently came across that inspired me.
Open Tabs
words that give me strength, small talk <> big ideas, and a film that crushed me
How to Take Risks in Times of Uncertainty, a talk by
. She shares her incredibly inspiring story of building , and then those of seven others each with a key takeaway. Lots of good nuggets, and the one that reframed everything for me: “Bet on yourself”.This Small Talk series. Always been a fan of all their outfits, and now we’re gifted their conversations too. Absolute cuties. Formulaically addictive.
formless by Typeform. A great use of AI. Just got access to its beta but not sure what I’ll use it for yet. Any other Typeform/formless fans here?
Boyhood intimacy. Finally watched Close a few weeks ago—it broke my heart in the best way.
Machine Forgetting. A talk by my friend Neef Rehman at The Conference, on the fallacy of time and the fallibility of technology, which ironically gave me momentary zeal for being more tech(nically)-savvy and made me miss academia. Every word hit.
A reaffirming quote by Joseph Campbell, as seen in
’s .If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, you know it's not your path. Your own path you make with every step you take. That's why it's your path.
Please! Do tell. Or comment for anything else.
That’s all, for now! Thank you for being here. Next week I’ll be sharing a conversation with Emmad Mazhari, a Designer working on one of my favourite platforms… none other than
.Deep exhale.