Great John Cena Podcast, Feminization in the Workplace, Underrated Power of Gratitude, and More

On Gratitude...

Gratitude is one of the most underrated virtues in both its value from a zoomed-out mindset or outlook perspective and from a pragmatic zoomed-in day-to-day emotional grounding perspective. Being grateful from the zoomed-out view encourages us to take the opportunities we are given, no matter how big or how small, very seriously and treat them with care and effort. Being grateful from the zoomed-in perspective is fantastic for bringing about peace and happiness within ourselves emotionally right now – it is hard to be both genuinely grateful for every little thing in your life and be upset at the same time. Try it now?

3 Cool Things

Fantastic Podcast Episode About Gratitude 🎧
Joe Rogan Experience #2423 - John Cena

Continuing on the theme of gratitude, John Cena is surprisingly one of the most virtuous, respectable men on the planet. His outlook on life can be summarized as 1) I just want to be involved 2) I'm incredibly lucky to be here 3) Thus, I'm going to give it everything I've got. This is in opposition to setting some big goal – he just wants to be involved, work hard, and the cards will fall as they may.

Article on Understanding Feminization in the Workplace 💼
The Great Feminization by Helen Andrews

This read caught me off guard with how important and spot-on it is. I found it useful for two reasons. One, women approach conflict and competition wayyy different then men do: "In short, men wage conflict openly while women covertly undermine or ostracize their enemies." This is a big deal. Two, for me at least, this overall feminization explains why a lot of office jobs feel so sad...? The feminized office feels very... sterile? It feels to me that feminized work culture prizes looking productive and avoiding friction more than pursuing deep, difficult, meaningful outcomes. The target feels slightly misaligned from what makes work feel purposeful.

Short About Social Networking Becoming Social Media 🎞️
Airbnb CEO vs Social Media...

Just a quick 1-minute reminder that the internet and social media is not your friend: "Do you ever notice that devices and screens are usually in your dreams? There's something about the digital realm that doesn't quite stick in your memory the way physical experiences do." Go make some memories.

Grow Your Network

Dr. Nic Herndon
cet.ecu.edu/csci/nic-herndon

This is the director of graduate studies for computer science at ECU, my research mentor during my summer program a few years ago, and kind of the entire reason I'm enrolled here at ECU at all really. I'm not sure how beneficial it would be to contact him (although I don't think he'd be bothered by an introduction email), but it may become beneficial to know of him one day down the line. He's probably my closest contact at the college.