Are you the spaghetti, paperclip or reed?

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Hello Reader,

The new year snuck up on me. I didn't do the usual reflection or writing. Instead, I wondered, what would be useful here? For me, and to share with you:

1. As a person with a bendy body and an overactive mind, I've been thinking a lot about stress, strain, and resilience. So the question I've been asking is this: What do I need to become more reed-like?​
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2. “I do it to myself—turning the volume knob of my own fullness, my own concentration, my own ability to contribute to any given situation down from an 8 or 9 to a 5 or 4. Because full presence not only feels hard, it feels painful. And I think that’s because the more present one is, the more present the world is within you. The more your eyes are open, the more they can ingest. And with the world in its current state, perhaps we all want to keep our eyes half-closed.” — Full Presence is Terrifying by P.E. Moskowitz​
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3. Every year, I torture myself with a challenge. In 2023, it was giving up alcohol. In 2024, I didn't buy clothes. 2025 was about not having goals. This year, I have no challenge in mind. But I keep coming back to this idea from Steph Ango: Being in good hands. That's the experience I want for myself and to offer others.

Today's unthinking link is perfect if you like the deep sea and fancy watches: take a dive! Thinking score: 3/10.

Extra Thoughts

Even if your ideas or intentions for 2026 aren't fully formed, what do you know already as you start out?

For me, the start of the year is a good time to curate, cull the list, or quiet the noise. I take huge joy in unsubscribing, muting, repurposing, and deleting.

And also in recommitting, refining, and drawing what I love closer to me.

And then there's the rest — all the stuff I can't deal with right now. It requires too much thought and presence. Or I'm just not sure. Those things can wait.

So please, feel free to unsubscribe (link at the bottom), or double-down (three options below), or do nothing and I'll see you here in two weeks!

​Attentively not bothered,
Kim

PS. Special thanks to Chris Pearse for his extremely useful spaghetti, paperclip, or reed concept from his book, The Broken CEO​

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Turn overthinking into expert thinking!

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