Colin Wright's Blog, page 43

28 and 4 Years Later

Today is my 28th birthday, and I couldn’t decide whether to write something touching and meaningful, do some kind of list of things that I’ve learned over the years, or talk about how this project has evolved in that time. So I opted to do all three.

I started Exile Lifestyle about 4 years ago — April 19, 2009 — and if you look back at my earliest posts, they’re pretty rough. My voice hadn’t really developed and I spent a lot of time those first months trying to figure out where my sweet spot...

Social Contracts

As I walk along the sidewalk, I can afford to daydream.

I’m able to do this partially because of laws that say cars can’t drive on sidewalks, but also because we — as citizens of countries with governments that have traditions and folkways — have common goals that are best achieved by doing what we can to avoid harming each other.

This social contract is never officially signed, but it’s very real. Every time we stop at a red light or stand in a queue — despite there being no law-enforment offi...

Design is a Passport

Design, to me, is a way of looking at the world.

It’s often said that good design is invisible — that it presents the intended message without calling attention to itself — but to a designer, it’s that so-called invisible design that gives you the biggest thrill. Seeing creative work done well is a distinct pleasure.

Design isn’t invisible and it isn’t flamboyant: it’s exactly what you need it to be in a given moment. It’s art, it’s math, it’s discipline, it’s chaos. Depending on the goal, desi...

Intentional Titles

Many “minimalists” own very little because they don’t have the money to own more. Given the opportunity, they might go on a spending spree, or they might stay minimal. There’s no way of knowing, because the option isn’t available to them.

It’s not that this application of minimalism is a bad choice — it’s more that it isn’t a choice at all. An accidental minimalist is still a minimalist, but not in the same sense as someone who owns a yacht and decides to ditch it to live in a cabin. Calling a...

Afraid of Fear

There was a time in my life when most things scared me.

Dentists. Cars. Weather. The dark. Ghosts.

I would go to sleep each night and pray to whatever gods or spirits might be listening, asking them to protect me until I woke up. At that point — I imagined — I would be alert enough to start worrying again, giving me some kind of will-powered protection against the supposed threats I spent a great deal of my time fixated on.

It’s possible to get over fears, though I’m not going to tell you that t...

Bureaucracy

I’m terrible at hiding my disdain for bureaucracy in all its forms.

Because of bureaucracy, government officials who obfuscate the democratic process flourish over those who try to bring clarity to it. Businesspeople who are able to shake the right hands and manipulate the right paperwork succeed over those who bring real value to their customers and supply line. Defendants who are able to afford the right lawyers can dodge sentencing in perpetuity, while those who commit far less heinous crim...

Costs of Living

Costs of living vary greatly depending on where you choose to live.

Living in LA is very expensive. You can barely step out your front door without paying a Jackson for the privilege.

Living in Kolkata is incredibly cheap. You can live in a huge apartment one of the nicer complexes in one of the nicer buildings in the city for a fraction of what you’d pay for a run-down one-bedroom flat in Los Angeles.

There is a spectrum of such costs — living in Missouri is more expensive than living in India,...

Bending

We all have opinions and beliefs. Positions on things which we hold dear, and which serve as shortcuts to decision-making.

The unfortunate side-effect of having strong opinions and beliefs is that after establishing them, we’re less likely to question them. Sure, they may evolve in little ways, but to swerve greatly would require either acknowledging that you were wrong in the past or that you have changed in some significant way since your beliefs and opinions were initially established. Neit...

We All Dance

I’ve never really cared for country music.

Not until the last couple years, at least. I’ve hung out with enough country-lovin’ folk to understand who they are, what they value, and why there’s a twang to their favorite tunes. Meeting them — and experiencing their lifestyles for a short time — filled in the blanks I wasn’t able to fill myself. Country isstill not my favorite genre, but now I get it. I can appreciate good country music. I’ll dance to it, if the right situation arises.

I’m thankfu...

Responsibility

Life is difficult and full of pitfalls and hurdles. There’s no denying that.

But it’s also full of opportunities, big and small.

I have dreams that are achievable after a few hour’s effort. I have others that take days or months to achieve. Some are big successes I’m proud of. But the really big achievements — the monumental stuff, like curing a disease or colonizing another planet — take a very, very long time to come to fruition.

And the only way to achieve goals of that scale is to dream big...