grabbed coffee (and the literal worst pancakes i've ever had) with a friend while in nyc and we talked a little about what each of our ideal life scenarios would be as designers
lovefrom naturally came up. jony ive and that entire concept feels like a nearly unobtainable level of design practice. his life’s work is his craft and creative vision, and it’s almost impossible to imagine having that specific equilibrium of life, taste, work, and practice
that made me think more about the line between work and life
i think the best designers, technologists, creatives, etc. are obsessed with the work they do. their attention is permanently shaped by their work. they notice things differently. they collect references differently. they’re always metabolizing what they see into what they make
for certain people, it becomes hard to separate work and life in a meaningful way because they have an obsession. and i'd even go as far as to say an ideal life is one where you don't have to intentionally separate work from other areas of who you are
ideally, every person should be able to do what they love and love what they do, but i don’t think it's a common occurrence. most people don’t get to organize their life around curiosity. some are never able to be in an environment that makes those conditions even possible
software and technology are uniquely positioned to offer this to people who seek it. it’s not completely ungated, obviously. nothing is. but compared to a lot of creative fields, the distance between being intrigued and making something is unusually close
maybe that’s why we’re seeing so many unbelievably talented people emerge in our field at such a high frequency. the medium rewards obsession. it gives people somewhere to put their curiosity and apply themselves to
i think the goal, at least for me, is to build a life where the things i notice, care about, study, and make are not constantly at odds with each other