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- Playing With Networking (Weekly Recap July 12, 2025)
Playing With Networking (Weekly Recap July 12, 2025)
Creating Beyond Convention: From Melted Candy to Musical Protest
Matt Zeigler
July 12, 2025
Let's connect some dots from this week's notes...
This week's posts weave together a fascinating thread about creative courage, authentic expression, and the power of operating outside conventional boundaries. Whether it's finding art in street-corner candy or hearing protest in post-modern jazz, the connective tissue runs deep: the most meaningful work happens when we stop asking for permission and start trusting our instincts to create something true.
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On to the recap…
Sometimes the most profound creative insight comes from the simplest choice: deciding that something is art because you say it is. This post captures a moment of street-corner philosophy that opens up bigger questions about perspective, agency, and the democratic nature of creative expression.
Quote from the (Personal) Archive: (choosing to see art everywhere)
"The point is, it's a choice, and today I'm choosing to say it was art."
Building on the theme of choosing unconventional perspectives, this post dives into why breaking norms creates breakthrough results. The framework here is simple but powerful: normal execution creates normal results, period. The magic happens at the edges, whether through brilliant innovation or boring persistence executed in extraordinary ways.
Quote from the (Personal) Archive: (on the power of operating outside conventional boundaries)
"Bottom line, normal creates normal results unless you think or execute in some abnormal way. Think outside of the lines. It takes an outside act to have an outsized impact."
Voice and imagination - according to Jared Dillian, these are the only two things you can't teach in writing. But this conversation goes deeper into the spiritual necessity of creative expression and why authentic voice, even when it makes some people think you're a "schmuck," matters more than universal approval.
Quote from the (Personal) Archive: (on the necessity of creative expression)
"Maybe you can't teach voice or imagination, but you have to learn how to love yourself for loving what you love. It's the only way to have the habits that will nourish your life, and it's the only way to have a chance of your habits helping nourish the people around you."
The deeper dive into Jared's philosophy reveals three crucial frameworks: the power of 80% solutions over 100% paralysis, saying yes because "you never know," and treating daily creation as spiritual practice. These aren't just productivity tips - they're approaches to living that prioritize movement over perfection and authentic expression over external validation.
Quote from the (Personal) Archive: (on the imperfect creative process)
"I kind of write like I do dishes or feed the dogs. I know the purpose behind why I'm doing it, and then there's a standard I have to meet, but I'll be damned if I'm polishing spoons or plating diced up chicken tenders on kibble."
Bryan's insights about markets being fundamentally about psychology rather than models connects perfectly to this week's theme about operating outside conventional thinking. His approach to building through exclusion rather than addition, cultivating boredom as creative space, and understanding human behavior first creates a framework for both better investing and better living.
Quote from the (Personal) Archive: (on the power of quiet thinking)
"My dog walks are done without headphones or any device in hand. We have sidewalks in about half of our neighborhood. it's a total head clearing exercise at least 2 times a day. Next to taking a hike or a shower, it's the best creative pondering time I've got."
The week's most complex post weaves together musical protest, patriotic reflection, and the power of instrumental expression. Uri Caine's deconstruction of "Stars and Stripes Forever" becomes a meditation on how art can say what words cannot, and why sometimes the most powerful statements come from leaving the lyrics out entirely.
Quote from the (Personal) Archive: (on the power of expression beyond words)
"Now more than ever, we can use the reminder to open ourselves up to worlds beyond words. People are out there saying all sorts of things and the talk-noise is deafening. But, there's so much opportunity within other constraints."
Where Else I Showed Up This Week
Jack Forehand and I revisited our prior Excess Returns with Rich Bernstein to talk through our favorite clips (and for me to make a bunch of bad Berenstain Bears book jokes):
Personal Archive Prompts
What project are you not starting because you're waiting for it to be perfect?
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU DELIBERATELY CREATED SPACE FOR BOREDOM IN YOUR DAY?
What opportunity are you avoiding that you might regret not taking 20 years from now?
How might your work change if you started by mapping psychological barriers rather than technical features?
WHAT FORM OF DAILY CREATION WOULD FEED YOUR SOUL AND LEAVE SOMETHING BEHIND?
What would change about your long-term plans if you listed everything you definitely don't want first?
Where in your life are you choosing to see art that others might call trash?
As always, I did my part, now it's your turn to write some reflections in your own Personal Archive.
(then, be sure to let me know where you're keeping it, I'm in search of the others too)
ps. Claude helped me organize and synthesize these thoughts from the week's posts. If you are curious how I use AI, read this post: Did AI Do That: Personal Rules