In Conversation with Yaz
Bedtime stories with Yaz
Yaz is in San Francisco. It’s 2 pm there.
I’m in Dublin. It’s 10 pm here.
Yaz texted me, “Do you know some cool things to do in San Francisco? Call me.”
Talking to Yaz is one of the most enjoyable things I like to do. When we speak it is as if I’m browsing the internet and all these cool and interesting articles come up.
Today we spoke about the need for one-to-one conversations; those beyond the small talk and tickle the fancy of your mind. Conversations that make you so immersed that you loose a sense of time and forget where you are. I’ve had few of these in my life. Is it greedy of me to say I wish I had it everyday?
I’m a deep soul. Many have said that to me. Sometimes it’s not easy to be one. Not everyone wants to dive deeply at every encounter one has, however, it’s the balance that I strike: fun times and deep dives.
Curiosity: Embrace the Unpredictable and Engineer the Unexpected.
What connects Yaz and I is our natural curiosity for things. We met quite a few years ago in London and also went to Cannes Festival Together where we randomly ended up at a party and met Michael Jackson’s father, or in another boat party where we met a dude who was Playboy Magazine Owner. Funny things life can throw sometimes.
This got me thinking about the article I read in Fast Company that spoke about habits of people who’ve retained their sense of curiosity. These included:
THEY LISTEN WITHOUT JUDGMENT.
THEY ASK LOTS OF QUESTIONS.
THEY SEEK SURPRISE.
THEY’RE FULLY PRESENT.
THEY’RE WILLING TO BE WRONG.
THEY MAKE TIME FOR CURIOSITY.
THEY AREN’T AFRAID TO SAY, “I DON’T KNOW.”
THEY DON’T LET PAST HURTS AFFECT THEIR FUTURE.
Post News Era.
One thing that I’ve been pondering for a while now is what makes good news? Who do we trust when it comes to sources of information? What are the qualities and responsibilities for valued news.
So I asked Yaz on what makes good news and where he get his information from.
“I enjoy podcasts and long form articles.”
- Reddit I’ve grown to appreciate Reddit more in the past one year.
- The Daily Show with Trevor Noah — one of my source of news.
- Podcasts — NPR in the USA here
- Pocket — gives great long article suggestions that you might have missed.
- Launch of Alex Inc show here
Getting to Sleep
This week my mind has been preoccupied with many problem solving activities that kept me up at night. Yaz suggested a great tip for me to try out:
- Download Cast App.
- Turn your phone to Airplane mode and turn on wifi.
- Set a timer to 30 or 40 minutes.
- Turn your eyes off. :)
What did I learn this evening?
Never say no to chatting.
Stories.
Yaz mentioned this evening that resonated with me was that everyone has a story to tell. I asked if he thought that people would be comfortable speaking on Podcast where their voices are recorded.
Question is — would you? Are you comfortable with sharing your story and not knowing who will hear it or how it will be perceived? Or is it yours to keep? Not to be shared outside your sacred circle of a selected few?
Puzzle Pieces received:
- Alex inc show
- Book the Art of Communicating
- What is it like to be…
