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Maintenance is everything

I don’t expect most of the opinions that I hold now to have the same shape in 10, 20. years. I don’t think any of us is the same person every day, identity shifts with every tiny experience, so it’d be a silly thing to suggest or expect.

But one that I think might stick, the thing that might last if I ever wrote a manifesto: Maintenance is everything.

Bikes, physical health, mental health, roads, relationships, furniture, websites, clothing, parks, plants, sewers.

If it’s worth creating/buying/doing in the first place, it’s usually worth maintaining. And I love maintenance, fixing things, so that’s lucky! (Don’t like cleaning so much, which is another major part of physical maintenance, but I’m working on that.)

The problem is that new/shiny is a lot more lucrative than old/broken (more on this). How do we shift that mindset?

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“These things I believe”

Might be at a turning point in my career. A lot of my friends are expressing similar feelings. I think it has something to do with working for nearly 10 years.

This frame of mind has made me really interested in manifestos. Not anything strident really, more purpose-driven lists that can help guide everyday decision-making. Here are a few manifesto-y links I’ve identified with recently.

  • These things I believe from “Not the user’s fault”. I think this is Jono Xia’s blog from when he was part of the Mozilla Labs team. I’ve tried to find him elsewhere on the web but haven’t found him anywhere so far. He raises some really good points about software design and development.
  • The Recurse Center’s Social Rules. Such a good, concise set of guidelines for public discourse. “No well-actually’s, no feigned surprise, no backseat driving, no subtle -isms”.
  • Immaculate Heart College Art Department Rules. Also available as a free tear-away poster at the Corita Kent: Power Up exhibition (8 Feb – 12 May 2019) at the House of Illustration.
  • GitLab’s Remote Manifesto. SB and I try to implement a lot of this, though we’re definitely not strict enough about it! We also strive to work this way with clients and collaborators, even those that live in London. Face-to-face IRL meetings are great, but it can be tough to squeeze them in when it takes an hour to get anywhere in this city.
  • Daniel Eatock’s manifesto, particularly “propose honesty as a solution”. See also the Scratching the Surface episode with Daniel Eatock from last September. Off the back of the Corita Kent exhibition, SB and I were talking about the lack of irony and cynicism in her work, about how refreshing that feels even though a lot of it is from over 50 years ago. He mentioned this podcast episode, that Eatock touches on this topic in relation to his kids, how kids just don’t perceive irony. I need to have a listen.

I’ll try to add more here as I come across them. Who knows, maybe I’ll add my own some day.

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Simon Lamb on his practice

I believe that a worthwhile clinic must have a purpose to compliment its existence; not only the everyday purpose it was designed for, but beyond that, a practice must improve the quality of the field it belongs to and the athletic community it works for.

A little while back, Sam showed me a video on BBC sport with runner Simon Lamb about how running has helped him manage his mental health problems. He then showed me Simon’s blog, Six Seconds High. Though I’m not a runner (and unfortunately probably never will be due to knee stuff), I really liked reading his thoughts about running, sport, mental health and how he runs his sport therapy clinic.

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Ken Garland, First Things First

Look in to Ken Garland’s First Things First manifesto, particularly his reflection on its impact over the years, how it has or hasn’t been misinterpreted, the original signatories I’m not familiar with. I think there’s a bit of information about this around page 40 of Ken Garland: Structure and Substance by Adrian Shaughnessy. Haven’t yet had the pleasure of reading the book, but read a few extracts last night after Garland’s (great) talk and book launch last night at Sheffield Hallam. The Garland exhibition in the Cantor Building gallery is on until 9 November. 

Incidentally, the electric doors at the main entrance to the Cantor building sound like dubstep. Cannot be unheard…