1.21.2021

The 33 Project

It’s Thursday and we have a new president! How thrilling. How gratifying. How calming. I’ve found the transfer, the transition, has created a noticeable calming effect. The tension has dialed down a bit. Thankful for that.

Onto this week’s recs:

1/ This was such an interesting read about renting a person who does nothing. It’s not the typical rent-a-person story. I think intuitively one would assume you “rent” a person to fill a need, to help with something or answer to something. But in this case, at least for this rentable human, it’s to “do nothing”. The entire ethos of his business is to remove any driving need or assumption of action. Pretty interesting concept. And affordable (?), he rents himself out for less than $100.

“Shoji Morimoto who rents himself out to other people “to do nothing,” is seen standing near Nakano Station in Tokyo’s Nakano Ward. (Mainichi/Mei Nammo)”

2/ I found this piece about commune-style living to be a nice read. It was a recommended read from a friend in college as she’s one of the characters in it! The story is about how living in a shared space with an obvious sense of community and built-in support, especially during challenging times, has improved the writer’s life. I love anything about community building and found this to be a meaningful addition to the story.

3/ Finally, this piece on cold water swimming really resonated. It’s a great take on trying something hard, sticking with it for certain reasons, and releasing all…