Start cutting.
Start cutting.
“Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
There’s an old carpenter’s saying: “Measure twice, cut once.” It basically means that you should double-check your measurements before cutting a piece of wood, because once it’s cut . . . it’s cut.
That’s great advice if you’re dealing with a static plan, like building a staircase, but terrible advice for dealing with the dynamic world. Instead, find a problem that needs fixing, or an idea or cause that inspires you, and just start cutting.
Yes, measure before you begin. But you don’t have to obsess over it, because the future is immeasurable. Passion is what will move you and others forward, not plans. And circumstances will conspire to sustain you, just like what happened to Thor Heyerdahl, the protagonist in the film Kon-Tiki.
Heyerdahl set sail on a balsa wood raft from South America to the Pacific Islands to prove that Polynesia was populated with humans from Peru. And once he set his idea in motion, all sorts of unexpected factors cooperated with him.
The balsa wood expanded in the water and bit into the hemp ropes creating a tight seal, resistant to the stresses of the ocean waves. Every morning edible flying fish would land on the raft, providing nourishment for the challenging day ahead.
Yes, Thor measured and made a raft. But then he stopped measuring and made an act of faith. One that took him 4,300 miles in 101 days, and made his idea a reality.
Do you have faith? Is there something that you really want to do with your life? Then for heaven’s sake, stop measuring and start cutting. Because despite what Jerry Ragovoy wrote and the Rolling Stones popularized in 1964, time is not on your side.
Happy May!
🥀 Random information for the month of May
* Digital payments company Block (formerly known as Square) announced in a regulatory filing that Jack Dorsey had changed his title from CEO to Block Head.
* A piece of “invisible art” sold for $1.2 million. A receipt by French artist Yves Klein is being called the first NFT.
* Nike “CryptoKick” NFT sneakers are selling for more than $100,000. One pair of these digital shoes is selling for more than $500,000 (200 ETH).
* Mark Zuckerberg’s security detail cost $28.6 million last year.
* MIT engineers invented paper-thin loudspeakers. The film-like speakers are energy efficient and produce high-quality sound.
* Walmart is offering six-figure salaries to lure truck drivers. The US retailer will pay up to $110,000 a year to existing employees who want to transfer to deliveries.
* Scientists explained why twisting Oreos apart can be really frustrating. No, I’m not kidding.
* Plans for the world’s first floating city were unveiled at the UN. “Oceanix Busan” in South Korea will be a fully sustainable, floating community that can accommodate 12,000 people.
* Microplastics end up on the seafloor, where scientists have found 10,000 times more microplastics than on the water’s surface.
* Just 10% of US adults said they would support reviving the tyrannosaurus rex from extinction.
* The UK has its first World Surfing Reserve. The beaches of North Devon join a list of internationally protected surf spots that includes Malibu, California, and Australia’s Gold Coast.
* In 2014, Taylor Swift accidentally released 8 seconds of white noise for $1.29 on iTunes. It hit #1 in Canada before it was removed.
* Mushrooms appear to talk to each other. Scientists have cataloged a “vocabulary” of 50 electrical signals fungi exchange via underground tendrils.
* One out of every 15 points of light in the night sky will likely be a satellite within the decade.
* Burger King faced a lawsuit alleging that its Whoppers are too small. A class action suit accuses the company of deceptively making its burgers look “35% larger” in ads than they are in real life.
* The oldest customer complaint dates back to ancient Mesopotamia. In the nearly 4000-year-old cuneiform tablet, a customer claims he was sold inferior copper ingots.
* Gut bacteria have a direct line to animals’ brains. A study by the Institut Pasteur found evidence that gut bacteria can modulate appetite and temperature through molecules in the bloodstream.
* A Singapore startup is turning tofu wastewater into soy wine. The drink, made by SinFooTech, is called “Sachi” and contains 5.8% alcohol.
* The Weather Channel is the most trusted news outlet in America. It’s hard to argue with a chance of rain.
* Fear can have transgenerational effects. Sparrows that listened to a horror playlist of predator sounds were less likely to reproduce, and their offspring less likely to survive.
* A Native American tribe got its land back. The 465 acres at Virginia’s Fones Cliff were returned to the Rappahannock Tribe, which was displaced from the area nearly 400 years ago.
* Justin Bieber is driving sports fashion. The pop star collaborated with the Toronto Maple Leafs on a hockey jersey a whole lot of people want.
* Can seaweed save us? The supercrop is a high source of protein, can be more sustainable than other foods, and can even be made into plastics.
* A gorilla became addicted to a smartphone. Amare is currently having his screen time restricted so he can learn social skills again.
* Streaming services are adding tens of thousands of tracks a day. When only a small fraction can truly be called popular, it becomes a numbers game.
* The key to being more than a one-hit-wonder may be novelty. New research examined the difference between Blind Melon’s “No Rain” and Shania Twain’s consistently successful music catalog.
👁 Take a look
No, it’s not a beverage. It’s life!
And it’s amazing (see for yourself).
Try to remember that the next time you make a salad.
🧠 Think about this
“Silence is not the absence of sound. Silence is the absence of you.” ~ Wu Hsin
“Your mind, emotions, and body are instruments and the way you align and tune them determines how well you play life.” ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi
“If you’re going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire. Do it. Do it. Do it. All the way. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It’s the only good fight there is.” ~ Charles Bukowski
☝️ And don’t forget
I’d love to hear from you. (I read all messages, and try to respond.) Reach out to me with any recommendations, recipes, questions, complaints or comments, or simply to say hi: hello@tomasacker.com (or use the contact form).
Until next time, be bold and do your thing!
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