The Future of Marketing Is Bespoke Everything (especially for wellness) – The Atlantic, June 11, 2019
Thanks to advances in manufacturing, data collection, and the direct-to-consumer nature of online shopping, personalization is becoming the hot new thing at much more accessible prices—especially in the wellness space (whether customized vitamin cocktails or face serums). This trend taps into something powerful: the idea that we’re all special enough to have something made just for us. The problem with personalization: When it works, competitors (i.e., the big brands) do it.
You Are Doing Something Important When You Aren’t Doing Anything – The New York Times, June 21, 2019
As this op-ed argues, protecting and practicing “fallow time” is an act of resistance against our always-on work culture dominated by constant accessibility and obsessed with productivity (“If you aren’t visibly producing, you aren’t worthy”). Fallow time is not boredom—it’s about resting, reading, reconnecting; “it is the invisible labor that makes creative life possible.”
The Yale Happiness Class, Distilled – The Atlantic, June 25, 2019
Psychology professor Laurie Santos delivers the “shortest possible crash-course version” of the university’s most popular course ever.
Don’t Tell Me When I’m Going to Die – The New York Times, June 23, 2019
We are living through an explosion of personalized information and now have the ability to scan our entire bodies for the tiniest irregularities. The authors of the forthcoming book A Beginner’s Guide to the End: Practical Advice for Living Life and Facing Death explain why prognoses are more of an art than a science and why sometimes it may be better not to know when we are going to die.
Why Walking is the Key to Being More Productive – GQ, May 16, 2019
The case for moving slowly and thoughtfully in an age of speed and convenience is becoming increasingly relevant and essential. This is an interview with Kagge, an explorer who walked the three poles (North, South and Everest). Go for a walk: You’ll feel better; you’ll think better.
A Striking Stat:
The Crowded Skies
International air travel is forecast to skyrocket to 1.8 billion passengers by 2030—a 50 percent increase from 2016.
Source: UNWTO data
