“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Oh but sweetie, that’s not for people like you…

Let’s start by stating something we all know to be true: everyone has a “vibe”.

The “tech bro” vibe, the “artsy fartsy” vibe, the “dorky” vibe, a “gamer” vibe, a “sporty” vibe, a “boss babe” vibe, and the list goes on. 

We had certain associations as kids maybe. 

Perhaps you were the kid who got straight A’s, and your family pinned onto you their hopes and dreams of raising a future doctor. 

Maybe you were a rebel, and sculpted your identity around denim and black nail polish. 

Were you “not good at math” or “not sciencey”? Did teachers chuckle condescendingly when you announced your dreams to travel the world and backpack across Asia?

Some of us didn’t do intense extracurricular sports as kids, so for the rest of time immemorial, we are simply “not athletic”. A decade later, when you start training for a marathon and taking creatine, the peanut gallery is alive with chatter.

We struggled with a single physics class in college, so gave up on becoming engineers. The whole class was white males with vitamin D deficiency anyway. You have melanin and XX chromosomes. Is it a sign?

Once, when frying an egg, you set the fire alarm off, so you decided “I’m just not a good cook”. Someone ate your innocent first attempts at some “easy, 30-minute” casserole a lady on Instagram made, and everyone thought it was too salty. 

So you put away your apron and never stepped foot in the kitchen again. It’s just not “your thing”.

Don’t change your mind.

But what happens when you decide that despite almost failing Algebra I, you want to build a rocket ship? 

Yes, you burnt that egg once when you were thirteen, but now you want to make a frittata to impress your snobby friend who only cooks recipes from the New York Times.

The “vibe” that once seemed almost predetermined- that seemed so entrenched in how other people saw you that it became you for a bit- becomes a prison. 

But Sofia, you’re a writer!

This is what happened to me. 

I have always been a writer, a crepuscular moody introvert whose creative juices come alive between midnight and 3am. 

Guess which ungainly middle schooler with a skirt down to her ankles once made her short stories about murder, betrayal, and “no-one-understands-me”-ness?

Yeah, it was probably (always) me. 

Ever since I was little, this was simply how I made sense of the world. 

It was not through human conversation, but through effusive journal entries, a pile of unfinished drafts in my Google Drive, and reading books way past my bedtime.

So naturally, the societal algorithm destined me toward either law, journalism, or eclectic writerly isolation. 

As such, my loved ones were perplexed when I started talking about nanotechnology, coral reefs, seagrass, and mycelium bricks. 

It didn’t fit my “vibe”. 

I was an error message everyone rushed to debug. 

“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.” -Henry David Thoreau

In Denial

How does one reckon with being naturally interested in all the wrong, mismatched things?

Well, usually it’s through denial. 

So I swung around, leaning into different molds I thought would satisfy my curiosity and leverage my skills, feeling more and more like I didn’t quite belong anywhere. 

In fact, it took years until I finally found the right balance between my interests, and became comfortable with resisting the prison of other people’s assumptions of what you “should” be. 

Now, I have no problem with being both the scientist and the artist, with being a Renaissance woman, with being at the intersections, with defining my career from the ground up. 

What I Learned From Having Mixed Vibes

#1: There are ways to say “I don’t know” without sounding like a loser. 

When I was in high school, at that stress-induced time when everyone was applying for university and announcing their ambitions to proud (or disappointed) audiences, I felt utterly stuck. 

When everyone around me seemed to have a simple, digestible 5-year plan for their life, I was caught in a web of indecision, overwhelmed by the fact that I simply had no idea what to do and where to go. 

There was this rush to get to that enlightened point of certainty, to have an answer people would be impressed with. 

Fast forward several years later, when all those same people with shiny aspirations have now changed their major seven times, paused their degree for a gap year, or doubted and questioned themselves many a late night.

Now, there is something I know with certainty: none of us really knew. 

We wanted so desperately to have a plan. Our parents wanted us to have a plan. So they told us to study something “safe” like medicine or engineering. 

The lady from down the street asked about the plan too, and told us we should really consider studying AI because it’s all the rage.

Our teachers advised a plan (“Oh Sally, you would be a wonderful candidate for studying French. You would absolutely love it!”). 

But that doesn’t change the fact that you still don’t know. 

Now I’m halfway through college, and while I know more, and have significantly more clarity about my future than I did then, there are still lots of questions. 

What’s the difference?

Now I know how to say “I don’t know” with confidence and authority. 

I say “I don’t know, but this is what I’m thinking…” or “I don’t know, and this is what I’m doing to get closer to an answer.” 

#2: You don’t need labels. You need data.  

Let’s talk about how we’re all lazy but desperate and insecure egomaniacs. 

I mean, let’s be honest, it’s kind of fun to go home for holidays and to nonchalantly throw around phrases that make it sound like you have your life together. 

It’s reassuring to talk about your super-committed, always-romantic “green-flag” boyfriend who makes six figures and volunteers at the animal shelter every weekend. 

We would love to talk about how we landed that coveted Google internship, and like Elle Woods, act like it was no big deal (What, like it’s hard?). 

On the other hand, it can feel discouraging to be the single, not-yet-sure, maybe-maybe-not one with horror stories in place of victories. 

But actually, taking your time can be an incredible strength, and land you in a way more aligned decision in the long-run. 

When I took a gap year, it was easy to feel behind as my friends raced ahead and settled into college. Meanwhile, I took the year to try out different passion projects, jobs, internships, courses, and athletic challenges. 

It was the pause before the next chapter of my life, and it made all the difference. 

Having the space to fail, to test, to messily realize both what I didn’t know that I thought I knew, and what I knew that I thought was a mystery, gave me the confidence to use my time in college to get even more narrow. 

I learned to not simply ask what I would like to do, but to instead consider what I’m already building/learning/exploring, and why it works or doesn’t. 

Then, with that information, I find new ideas to test, curating these options based on my interests and skills already.

#3: Your dreams set the scale. 

I used to think mood boards and “manifestations” were a bunch of fluffy nonsense…until I tried them.

Giving myself permission to imagine my dream life, dream career, dream love, dream home, and more, made me realize that none of it was actually out of reach. 

This changed my mindset about success completely. 

I realized that half of “succeeding” is giving yourself permission to pursue. 

It’s about giving yourself permission to go for it, even if the “thing” you’re going for is wildly ambitious. Often, we shut ourselves down before even considering the logistics.

The answer is simple: allow yourself to imagine that “impossible” life, the one you stopped believing in because someone told you it wasn’t “realistic”. Don’t stop yourself when the “what if…” thoughts roll in. 

“I realized that half of ‘succeeding’ is giving yourself permission to pursue.”

It might be geographical: “What if I lived on the beach and had seventeen dogs?”

It might be entrepreneurial: “What if I owned a coffee shop that was also a pottery studio?”

Maybe it’s about a creative project or an educational pursuit: “What if I directed a short film and went back to school to study medieval poetry?”

 Let yourself dream again, and let those dreams exist in your mind long enough for you to actually treat them seriously. 

#4: Most decisions aren’t binary.

You contain multidudes.

So I’ll be the first to assure you it’s not a problem to be fixed, but rather a strength to be nurtured. 

Sometimes you think you have to choose between two sides of yourself, and you actually don’t.

I thought I had to choose between a “sciencey” path and an “artsy and humanities path”, and I found I could have both in my life, at just the level I wanted them. 

I realized it’s not a choice between being either a starving artist or a creatively-repressed robot who never produces or creates anything. 

There’s a gradient. 

You can also be: an artist with a day job, an artist who also does freelance work, a hobbyist, someone who starts out with a day job and transitions to being an artist full time. 

Personally, I’ve made the decision that I don’t want my art to be my main income source. I simply don’t want financial pressure on my creativity. 

That said, I still take my creative pursuits seriously even if it’s not how I plan to make money.

In reality, when it comes to career paths, it’s usually not a choice between “do” or “don’t” but more so a question of “how” and “to what extent”.

“When it comes to career paths, it’s usually not a choice between “do” or “don’t” but more so a question of “how” and “to what extent”.”

#5: Your education is only as good as how you keep learning. 

Going to college for me is about learning how to self-educate once I’m done. 

It’s about learning how to think, conversate, read, how to study and pursue opportunities.

College teaches me how to engage with peers and people who are experts in their field, and about what I want to learn more about and to what extent.

We live in a world that places a huge emphasis on pieces of paper that say what you did, when, and with what institution. 

But once you have those pieces of paper, what really gets you across the line is those skills you actually acquired. 

So yes, degrees are useful tools, but what affects you most over the course of your life is how you independently develop knowledge and wisdom. 

I Gave Up The Search.

The biggest misconception I had about building a career that blends, and diverges, and takes its own unique shape, is that I had to “find” it. 

The truth ended up being that a career isn’t something you find; it’s something you build. 

How do you build it?

With the small decisions to pursue a project or not, to apply for a certain role or not, to reach out to a person in a certain field or not. 

It’s about finally giving yourself permission to define what a dream job can be, and then being bold enough to make it a reality.

“If God had wanted me otherwise, He would have created me otherwise.” -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Thought to Action

1. Treat Your Life Like a Lab: Reframe one uncertainty as an experiment instead of a decision.
2. Shorten the Feedback Loop: Ask: how can I learn something in a week instead of a year?
3. Document What You Learn: Keep a simple log: what I tried, what happened, what surprised me.
4. Detach Outcome From Worth: Let experiments succeed or fail without meaning anything about you.
5. Practice Staying in Motion: When something doesn’t work, don’t restart. Adjust and continue.

Sources

No external sources were used for this post. 

The post When Your Vibe Gets In The Way Of Your Heart appeared first on Green Also Green.

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”— Marcel Proust, French novelist, literary critic, and essayist

Back when I played just to play… 

When I was a little girl, there was a random assortment of hobbies I pursued when I played (and how foreign the concept of “play” becomes when you’re taught about “productivity”). 

I used to orchestrate grandiose story lines for my Barbies to act out. I would imagine entire worlds and characters for each. 

When my cousins came over, we would spend part of the time scheming about how we would convince our parents to let us sleep over, and another part putting on plays.

I had a little garden, just my own, with basil, mint, lavender and a blueberry bush. It was in a big wooden container with wheels and brakes, and I could push it around- in the shade or in direct sunlight, all at my own discretion.

With all my heart, I loved my little garden tenderly. In fact, I felt genuinely heartbroken when my basil would grow long and woody, or when my mint would turn brown. 

What play looked like as I got older.

As I got older, the stories I would write got more elaborate, and my experiments with the plants got more…interesting. 

One time I sprouted a bunch of pepper seeds in my room, growing at least a dozen little pepper plants in my room in discarded pots of yogurt. For one of my birthdays I got a hydroponics kit, and eventually convinced my parents to help me build a hydroponic system from scratch. 

You would think, from the outside, that maybe one should take these kinds of interests into consideration. Maybe these are those “signs” people always talk about. 

I mean, who is digging around in the trash for pepper seeds and yogurt containers, aspiring to turn her room into a jungle?

But for whatever reason, I ignored these quirks. 

I felt like I didn’t know enough yet to “settle” on what I naturally loved to do. 

…and yes, there was also a fair dose of peer pressure and feeling the need to prove myself.

How I translate play from childhood to adulthood.

Now I’m 2 months away from turning 21, and I can confirm a few things.

One: I’m still a writer, and am finally learning how to take that side of myself seriously.

Two: I still love plants, and soil, and dirt, and asking questions about the natural world. 

Three: By insisting on properly testing out different interests, I have found ways of applying those things I’ve always loved in a way that feels way aligned with the adult I’m becoming rather than the child I used to be.

Allow me to explain. 

The Balance: You know what you know, but you don’t know what you don’t know. 

Maybe, like me, after some introspection, you know what are the constant threads that have carried on from childhood into adulthood- those things that people might look at you with a sigh, and say, “yep, you haven’t changed one bit.”

Pay attention to those things. 

Lean into them. 

And then here’s what you do: explore. 

You explore not to dismiss your interests (which was my initial reason for exploring), but to refine them and incorporate them even more deeply. 

Finding every way I didn’t want to write.

For example, writing.

I love it, but there’s so many ways to apply it. So I tested it out.

I “combined” science and writing by trying science communication for a bit- contributing to science blogs and steering myself toward nonfiction. 

It didn’t hit the same as writing weird emo short stories at 3am.

Then I tried ditching that completely. 

Nope. 

So I’m back to writing weird emo short stories at 3am.

Exploring the natural world beyond hydroponics and pepper plants.

On the plants side, I tried marine biology, and it felt close, but not exactly right.

I tried materials science out by volunteering in a lab at Berkeley, and over my gap year I learned some AutoCAD.

Not quite there, but also some part of it felt good.

Back to earth sciences. 

Now we’re exploring geochemistry. 

So far, that feels good…

The Squiggly Process Of Exploration Through Play

The point is to identify what fits and what doesn’t, and each new experiment you do to test yourself is new information.

You are just growing a bigger and bigger body of evidence to use when you make decisions about how you spend each day.

The process is 100% a messy nonlinear squiggle that will confuse and overwhelm you.

Make no mistake.

But it’s also incredibly rewarding when you find key components to feeling like you are really pursuing something you care about, are good at, and that sustains your livelihood.

I know it’s hard because I’ve lived the squiggle. 

My life has been a squiggle for years.

So I wanted to share some musings that I’ve gained so far. Maybe they will help you find a little piece of yourself along the way.

#1: Tiny experiments. 

Am I the only person who hates that phrase “I just knew”?

Maybe it’s that I have never “just known” anything, or that when I “know”, it’s not a “just knowing” it, but rather a “knowing, but…”

For me, knowing is laced with doubt, and I find myself going back and forth in a game of existential table tennis all the time. 

“I know I like X, but what if once I experience Y, I like it better?”

The eternal struggle of a chronic overthinker. 

Instead of the impossible advice to “trust my gut”, I create a portfolio of irrefutable evidence. 

I test the possibilities in small ways and scale commitment to that option accordingly. 

Then, my decisions don’t dwell in the realm of hypothetically what I would prefer to do, or what I would prefer to spend my time on. 

It’s actually based on the actions I have already taken. 

Before you commit to spending your life in a particular field, ask yourself, “Do I even like to learn about this?” Would you enjoy listening to even a single podcast on it? Do you want to get better at the skills involved?

Then, would you independently pursue experience by starting a passion project there or pursuing an internship in this field? 

(If the answer is probably no, but you still find it interesting to learn about passively, you’ve got yourself a new hobby!)

Scale your commitment alongside the evidence that what you’ve chosen actually fits. 

See it as many tiny experiments, not a decision you make overnight. 

#2: Learn to play again. 

I have an embarrassing secret: I forgot how to have fun. 

Somewhere along the way, everything I did in my free time had to be “justified”, connected with this singular thread of profound purpose. 

It doesn’t have to be that way, though. 

No…really. Listen to me. It doesn’t have to be that way. 

You can actually just play to play, laugh to laugh, and enjoy for enjoyment’s sake. 

So whatever it means for you, go out there and play. 

Does it mean taking yourself out for ice cream and choosing horrendous flavors you only enjoy in secret? Maybe it means learning how to roller skate and falling on your face?

No, don’t look up “cardiovascular benefits to…” or “how to start an etsy shop selling…” before you decide. 

Make fun a good enough reason.

This is how I learned my own passions as a child, not by thinking about productivity, but by thinking about what actually felt good to do.

Play is natural. 

That’s why kids are so good at it.

It’s growing up when we unlearn it, and in the name of being “practical” we actually end up sacrificing all the things that bring us the most joy.

Let yourself go back to the basics. 

Play is where we meet the rawest version of ourselves, and only in knowing the rawest version of yourself can you make those more “serious”, “adult” decisions about how to spend your life.

Ah, the beauty of paradox.

#3: Finish what you start. 

I’m a strong advocate for quitting, with one important caveat. 

Only quit after you’ve given that book/person/sport/ice cream flavor/music genre/game a fair shot. 

Try learning how to code before deciding with certainty that software engineering isn’t for you. 

Travel to new places before deciding you never want to live outside your home town. 

Read at least the first 10 pages before deciding to put down the book. 

When we decide to give up, we often do it when we face friction. 

It’s when the romance of a new pursuit wears off and we actually have to work, that we decide with dramatic exhaustion that we’ve had enough. 

The climb is too steep. 

Our legs are too tired. 

The task is just too hard. 

Instead, know you can do it regardless of the friction, and finish what you started. 

Then decide, once you have conquered the mountain, finished the race, read the first few pages, or listened to the first 30 seconds of the new song. 

Do the thing you thought you couldn’t do.

Only then will you have enough information to truly know whether you’re quitting because you felt overwhelmed in the moment, or something actually doesn’t resonate. 

Discouragement because it’s hard right now does not equal misalignment forever. 

#4: Listen to your jealousy.

Let’s not pretend you haven’t felt it too- the sting of a fake smile when you’re trying (and shouldn’t we get credit for trying?) so hard – soooo hard- to be happy for someone else when you feel like a complete loser.

No really, how can you not feel jealous? 

When you feel more single than the number 1, and you’re so poor you have -$7 in your checking account, what are you supposed to feel about yourself when others succeed?

Good?!

Please.

It sucks to be left behind, and when we are all on different timelines, there always manages to be someone ahead of you in some way.

Either it’s that you’re single and they just met the love of their life. 

Or it’s that you just got fired but they got into grad school.

They got a promotion and you got fined $500 when you can barely afford groceries. 

It’s a normal feeling, yet we all try to swallow it shamefully. 

But jealousy is also information, and it’s very important information.

We get jealous because other people have something we want, something we don’t feel we have already.

So you need to listen to it.

What is your jealousy telling you? How does your life need to change so that you can feel happy for others instead of annoyed?

Once you know what you want, you can actually work towards it.

So start listening. 

#5: Have the courage to admit you don’t know.

There is a quote attributed to Peter Seeger, the American singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist known for singing “Goodnight, Irene”.

It goes, “The first step in solving a problem is admitting there is a problem to be solved.”

In a similar vein, the first step to finding that perfect intersection of skill, salary, and societal need we call ‘ikigai’ is to acknowledge that you haven’t found it yet. 

There is so much pressure to know, to have a plan, and to carve out certainty in a world that thoroughly denies it. 

However, when you say you don’t know, you get bombarded with unsolicited advice, pity, and disappointed frowns. 

Now let’s be honest, there is no way to avoid the way people respond to your (totally justified) lack of certainty. 

Maybe you cannot control it if part of being an interdisciplinary iconoclast is letting people down in the moment. 

That’s why it takes courage to admit what you don’t know.

It takes courage to bravely test the uncharted waters that might just be exactly right for you. 

Yes, you will have to stray from everyone else and face the doubts head on. 

It will feel lonely sometimes.

But don’t let that dissuade you! 

Once you find that uncharted territory where being your exact flavor of weird makes perfect sense, saying “I don’t know” will not be shameful, but liberating. 

It will be your license to explore, your passport to designing your life with ruthless precision. 

Pay attention to what you pay attention to.

It’s so easy to dismiss the things we naturally lean towards. 

I used to think everyone could nerd out over a monthly issue of National Geographic. Obviously, all my friends would find that one Scientific American article fascinating. And of course they would rather get lost hiking on an active volcano than sit in a dark room watching cat videos. 

(On that note, please see this Scientific American article about a team of scientists who invented a smart underwear that can count how many times the average person farts per day.)

However, realizing I had unique interests that weren’t shared universally ended up being one of the most liberating epiphanies of my life. 

After zooming in on the things I wanted to learn about already, and the skills I wanted to get good at, I found that I could make a living out of all the activities I already saw as “play”.

In the end, we don’t have to torture ourselves, squeeze ourselves into a mold that someone else came up with and presented to us in a PowerPoint in high school. 

It’s actually not as simple as “doctor, engineer, lawyer… and everything else”. 

In fact, it’s not even as simple as choosing only one thing. 

Your life is a canvas that you get to fill with exactly the colors and shades and brush strokes that perfectly suit you. 

The only question that remains is whether you’re going to be holding the brush, or whether you will hand it to someone else. 

Thought to Action

1. Track Energy, Not Interests: For one week, note what gives you energy and what drains it. Patterns reveal more than labels.
2. Run a Passion Experiment: Choose one small action that tests a curiosity (not a career decision). Give it a deadline.
3. Separate Skill From Identity: You don’t need to be “good” at something for it to matter to you.
4. Design a Tiny Version of the Dream: Ask: what would the smallest, cheapest version of this life look like right now?
5. Let Passion Be Built: Treat interest as something you cultivate, not something you wait to discover.

Sources

No external sources were used for this post.

The post 5 Easy Ways To Turn Play Into Your Dream Career appeared first on Green Also Green.

“Simplicity carried to an extreme becomes elegance.” -Jon Franklin, American author and Pulitzer Prize winner

Design is small tweaks over a long time.

For several months, I have been staring at my laptop screen, knowing I had to talk about evolutionary biology and design, but not knowing exactly what shape to make the words and what angle to enter into the topic. 

I first got the inspiration to write about it when completing an assignment for an evolutionary biology class. As part of this project, I had to conduct a phylogenetic analysis, using software to construct a sort of “family tree” of related species, called a phylogeny. 

Through it, we could see how species have evolved, where they branched in the evolutionary tree, and when certain traits adaptively radiated. 

It was fascinating, with lots of crossover to how ideas evolve, or how etymology shapes, or even how culture spreads across geography. 

But nowadays, we seldom make the link between biology and other domains. 

So I thought about this. For months. 

Then, as I munched on a bag of highly addictive caramel popcorn, it hit me: design is not about the idea coming to you all at once. 

It’s about riffing, iterating, and building something better than what you had before. 

And guess what?

That’s also exactly how design works in biology. 

Much like in evolution, it’s not about starting out perfect. It’s about making many small tweaks over a long period of time until you arrive at an end product you’re proud of. 

#1: The Underrated Power Of a Terrible First Draft

The idea of being struck by a bolt of lightning and suddenly having a stroke of creative genius is a widespread myth that afflicts millions of perfectionists and overthinkers worldwide each day. 

We are tormented by the fact that we will somehow blasphemize the idea in our head by putting it out into the world, and realizing it isn’t that great in real life. 

It’s the fear that we will turn potential into actuality, and in doing so, be confronted with so many mistakes and imperfections.

 And these mistakes? 

They will have the final say over what we are capable of on a deeper level. 

The sappy poem you wrote about your crush in seventh grade? Definitely nowhere near Jane Austen or Maya Angelou level. So your literary career is over. 

The lumpy scarf you knit three Thanksgivings ago, where you messed up the pattern and ran out of yarn? Yeah, you better give up knitting now. 

If you make that “cringe” post about that incredible passion project you’ve been working on, your cousin’s friend’s sister will not be impressed. 

And who are we if our cousin’s friend’s sister doesn’t approve of us?!

Maybe no one will care. They might think you’re being “performative”. 

Evolution doesn’t work this way. 

It throws out so many terrible first drafts it would make you dizzy. It leaves so many of its genetic “ideas” behind.

And yet?

And yet. 

Look around you. 

There is life everywhere, in the most impossible niches (check out this magnetic bacteria I heard about recently). This life is designed impeccably. Why? Because of those terrible drafts that paved the way. 

#2: Random Mutations 

The irony is that as much as we are creatures of habit, we are also built on randomness. 

While a lot of the traits we have as humans seem to make sense, they are also the product of random differences in our genetics being passed on because they help people survive and perpetuate the human race. 

But random mutations aren’t just biological. 

They also apply to the design process, where we not only ideate, but also iterate and test. 

For example, if you’re inventing a new pasta recipe, you might add some of the more “classic” ingredients (marinara sauce, cheese, basil…). 

Then, you separate the pasta, and decide to test out some ingredients you have never added before. For one bowl of pasta, you throw in some edamame beans. In the other, you add some chopped spinach. The last bowl gets some broccoli. 

You have tried something completely random that in all likelihood will end up tasting either neutral (i.e. you don’t mind whether it’s there or not) or worse (i.e. you will never add it to your pasta again).

However, if you do this enough times, you will also get the third outcome: realizing that your random new ingredient makes this dish taste better. 

After trying potatoes and corn on pizza (I condone it!), a flavor unique to audacious Japan, I have come to realize this is a tried and true approach to generating masterpieces. 

Creative genius isn’t about just knowing to put potatoes and corn on your pizza. 

It’s about having the courage to try pizza with a bunch of other weird toppings, knowing eventually, you will stumble across a great combination. 

#3: Steady Rivers Cut Through Immovable Mountains.

This is the age of doing everything all at once.

You must cram every big life milestone into a 5-year plan. Log it in your bullet journal. Post about it with a “candid” (but also totally staged) photo with a caption that reads “#blessed”.

We are in the “instant coffee”, “instant results”, and “instant progress”  world. 

Evolution doesn’t work that way. 

Instead, evolution makes the smallest changes you could imagine, but compounds them over millions, and even billions, of years. 

This act of compounding and iterating on tiny mutations is what has produced some of the best designs we know to occur within life. 

Consider the eye, which first evolved only as a light-sensing organ, and later developed the lens, retina, iris, and more. 

Across the animal kingdom, eyes take all sorts of weird and wonderful appearances. 

One of the common traits among all of them, however, is that they sense light, and have been knee-deep in the evolutionary design process for millions of years. 

So take it slow.

Small consistent changes will get you way farther that sporadic drastic steps.

#4: It’s not the strongest or smartest, but the most adaptable…

There is a beautiful quote attributed to Albert Einstein that goes, “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” 

Isn’t that such a relief?

Maybe in second grade you did not always ace your spelling tests, and in third grade you weren’t the first to learn your times tables. 

In fact, maybe right now, you feel like kind of an idiot because you cracked an egg in a way that made the yolk break. You turned all your white clothes pink because one red sock snuck into the washing machine. Maybe you accidentally clicked “send” on an email before actually adding the attachment. 

If you have ever felt stupid, or weak, or incapable, or unworthy of success, there is good news: you don’t have to be perfect; you just have to be adaptable. 

When climate change strikes, or human beings destroy yet another vital habitat, the way species perpetuate is by adapting to change. 

If there is an extinction, they fill the empty niche. 

New mutations occur, and the old species adapt to the new habitat, food sources, and conditions. 

Evolutionary biology says that when Life (yes, with a capital ‘L’) happens, you adapt. 

Design should adapt the same way too.

Design is dynamic. 

The unifying theme connecting evolutionary biology with design thinking is that, contrary to what we might think about both domains, they are dynamic and evolving.

Both design and evolution are about responding to change and to need. 

Design is the space between stimulus and response where we decide what the next iteration will look like. 

It means saying “this next draft won’t be perfect, but it’ll be closer than what came before”. 

Thought to Action

1. Lower the Stakes on One Creative Act: Make something deliberately small, unfinished, or silly. Let it exist without optimizing it.
2. Feed Your Imagination Intentionally: Consume one strange or delightful input today—a poem, a walk, a conversation, a Wikipedia rabbit hole.
3. Create Without Explaining: Make something you won’t post, monetize, or justify. Let curiosity be the reason.
4. Keep an “Idea Garden”: Write down half-formed ideas without judging them. Growth likes space.
5. Practice Creative Permission: Before starting, say: “I’m allowed to explore this.” Then begin.

Sources

No external sources were used for this post. 

The post The 4 Design Secrets From Evolutionary Biology That Unlock Results appeared first on Green Also Green.

“The soil is the great connector of lives, the source and destination of all. It is the healer and restorer and resurrector, by which disease passes into health, age into youth, death into life. Without proper care for it we can have no community, because without proper care for it we can have no life.”

-Wendell Berry, American novelist, poet, essayist, environmental activist, cultural critic, and farmer.

Our Connotations With “Dirt”.

What do you think when you hear the word “dirt”?

Does it conjure an image of your mom crouched in the grass with a giant sunhat on, planting brightly-colored flowers in your front yard?

Maybe it evokes that smell, geosmin, the “earthy odor that comes with rain”.

Do you imagine worms? Manual labor, and then contemplating your efforts over a cold glass of lemonade?

Maybe you see your dog, tracking little pawprints of mud all through the house, unaware of all the hard cleaning he/she has goofily undone. 

Turns out, we have history…

Our tie to the earth, to the soil, to the dirt, to the ground that holds us up as we walk, goes way back. 

You can see the hints of this in our language. 

The word “human” derives from the Latin humus, meaning soil or earth, and shares the same root (pun intended) as words like “humble” or “humanity”. 

This connection even has biblical roots. 

We see the notion that all of us come from dust, and “to dust we shall return”, in Ecclesiastes. 

And then there’s Adam, the biblical name of the very first human being, founder of the human race. This very name comes from the Hebrew word adamah, meaning ground. 

If you enjoy staying alive…

So our tie to the soil goes way back, with clear spiritual and etymological roots.

But it is also absolutely vital for our survival right now.

We rely on soil to feed us (agriculture), and to create a global climate that is actually hospitable for human beings. 

On top of this, we rely on soil to store carbon and support most of the world’s terrestrial ecosystems. 

Why is no one talking about this?

Herein lies the issue: Dirt is in big trouble, and you only just found out right now. 

And I’m willing to also bet that a lot of your friends also haven’t heard about what our good friend, the soil, has been going through lately. 

My latest obsession. 

After reading Dr. Jo Handelsman and Kayla Cohen’s (a Minerva alumnus!!) book A World Without Soil, I became kinda obsessed. 

I started to wonder what on earth was going on with our dirt, why we don’t hear so many people talking about it, and what can be done to help the situation. 

The more I learned, the more I felt you would probably like to hear the answers to these questions too. 

So here goes. 

What’s the deal with dirt?

#1: Soil is disappearing faster than it can regenerate. 

If you want to not run out of money, we generally agree that it’s wise to not spend more than you make. 

However, when it comes to soil, that’s exactly what we’re doing…and it doesn’t bode well.

How does soil actually get “used” up though?

That boils down to how we define “soil health”. 

According to the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils, soil health is “the ability of the soil to sustain the productivity, diversity and environmental services of terrestrial ecosystems”.

So essentially, much like how people who never get enough rest tend to burn out, soil that is constantly overworked will become infertile, and thus erode. 

Now here’s an alarming statistic to start your day off terrified:

As of October 2025, the world’s soils have lost 133 billion tonnes of carbon since agriculture first emerged 12,000 years ago. 

To give you a rough idea of how much that actually is, a million tonnes is roughly the weight of 5 fully loaded cargo ships. 

A billion tonnes is 1,000 million tonnes. 

So imagine 5,000 cargo ships worth of soil. 

Here’s another way to look at it: 

Imagine you went into your backyard, filled a single coffee mug with dirt, and dumped it onto a degraded field. 

If you did this for every hour of your life (avg lifespan being 80 years), day and night- no sleep, no bathroom, nothing else but dirt and coffee mugs- it would take you 250 million lifetimes just to replace a single year of global soil loss. 

Oh, and by the way, there’s 11,999 years’ worth to go!

#2: Modern farming is degrading soil, making it erode even faster.

Ah, so remember that bowl of oatmeal you and I both had for breakfast this morning? 

Maybe you had some eggs or bacon. Dare I say, you even had a sip of coffee?

Yeah, so all of that was farmed somewhere, and if it was an animal product, it was likely from an animal that was grazing on a field, or fed on another crop. 

This is all brought to you by soil… with a twist! 

How we grew and harvested your breakfast also played a role in degrading the soil too. 

In fact, scientists now describe a little over one-third of all the world’s agricultural land as being “degraded”, an alarming predicament for someone like me who rather enjoys having food to eat.

That’s about 1.66 billion hectares, another incomprehensibly huge number. So let’s throw another creative analogy into the mix. 

1.66 billion hectares is basically 1.66 billion international soccer fields. You could probably walk from one end to the other in 1 or 2 minutes. 

Now imagine this: you start walking at birth. Every single minute, you cross one hectare. You never stop to sleep. You never get tired. You never even stop for a bathroom break.

By the time you reach the end of a long human life of 80 years, you would have walked across only about 42 million hectares.

To cover 1.66 billion hectares, you would need to live about forty lifetimes of nonstop walking.

Now try to wrap your head around that. 

That is how much land is at risk here. 

Why? 

In large part because of modern modes of agriculture, like monocropping, over-tilling, heavy machinery, and synthetic pesticide and fertilizer use which degrade soil through overgrazing, contamination, and erosion. 

#3: Soil is one of Earth’s biggest carbon sinks, but damaged soil releases carbon instead of storing it.

A little known super power of soil is carbon sequestration. 

This happens in various ways, but mostly takes place when plants convert CO₂ into organic compounds like glucose through photosynthesis, or when dead plants and critters are decomposed (shoutout to the amazing fungi that carry this out!!).

In an interview with Carbon Brief, Dr. Helena Cotler Ávalos, an agronomic engineer at the Geospatial Information Science Research Center in Mexico, remarks, “Life in the soil always starts by introducing organic matter.”

So naturally, with all this taking place in soil, over time, it accumulates a bunch of carbon. 

This is great for us humans, because it means we get to do a bunch of cool stuff, like breathe. 

Thanks to soil, our atmosphere has been able to accumulate the exact right proportion of oxygen for us to exist. 

However, like we mentioned before, since the dawn of agriculture 12,000 years ago, a lot of this soil has been degraded, and a lot of the carbon stores in only the top 2m of the world’s soil have been lost. 

To be more specific, that is about 8% of the total global soil carbon stocks.  

When the soil gets degraded, the carbon gets released, and it goes into our atmosphere, where it can contribute to things like climate change, acidification, and so on. 

#4: Soil loss threatens food security, which leads to more problems.

Around 95% of the food the world consumes is produced either directly or indirectly from soil. 

This means that when you combine the above problems with the fact that one of the things we need most to survive is food, you get a more urgent challenge: food insecurity.

And when you get food insecurity, a lot of ugly things follow: civil unrest, poverty, war, malnutrition, and overall disaster. 

I don’t think I need to really explain why food is important, but it’s worth throwing it out there:

If you like food, you should really love dirt. 

What can interdisciplinary misfits like us do to save the dirt?

Okay, so that’s all a huge bummer. 

The upside is…we have you! 

If you’re a big thinker looking for a meaningful passion project, career pivot, or obsessive new hobby, this goes out to you. 

And by the way, I’m not just talking to farmers, gardeners, scientists, and policy folks. 

I’m also looking at the entrepreneurs, architects, entrepreneurs, data nerds, engineers, and artists in the room!

It will be people with unique backgrounds, skillsets, and interests like yours who can tackle these sub-problems with success. 

So here are some of my ideas. 

#1: Measuring & Monitoring Soil Health (Data Science + Geochemistry + AI)

Do you love data and dirt? Well, this one’s for you.

We need better global soil monitoring, cheaper soil sensors, and AI models that can predict soil degradation before it gets bad. 

Make it cheap and scalable. Make it easy to use. 

After all, you can’t fix a problem when you can’t even define what is going on. 

This one is great for: data scientists, engineers, remote sensing specialists, and GIS designers.

#2: Making Regenerative Farming Scalable & Profitable (Agriculture + Engineering + Business)

Okay, if you have binged as many YouTube videos as I have about alternative farm techniques, this one will excite you. 

We need not only regenerative farming methods, but actually scalable regenerative farming methods. 

These are crop rotation systems, low-cost composting tech, soil-friendly machinery, and business models that don’t push farmers to compromise soil health in exchange for profit margins. 

The trick here isn’t exactly coming up with something new, but bridging the gap between solutions we already have, and business incentives to use them on a larger scale. 

How can we make regenerative farming work on a huge scale, so that big corporations see profit without compromising soil fertility?

Experts who would be great for this one: systems engineers, agricultural economists, product designers, ecologists, entrepreneurs. 

#3: Design Cities That Promote Soil Biodiversity (Architecture + Urban Planning + Engineering)

Loving dirt is also about loving the critters that live in the dirt.

This means not only protecting the dirt in remote forests and grasslands, but also the dirt in your city! 

We need architects, urban planners, and civil engineers to think about building “green cities” also as promoting soil fertility in cities. 

Right now, cities seal soil beneath concrete, preventing water absorption and carbon capture. 

Addressing this could mean incorporating more permeable pavements, green roofs,  and “living walls” into design. Similarly, additional regulations for “soil-per-square-meter” minimums could be beneficial.

#4: Treat Soil Degradation As A Public Health Issue (Medicine + Epidemiology + Nutrition + Agriculture)

When we think about the system which food moves through globally, it can be easy to forget that while soil is on one end of the system, our bodies are on the other. 

What goes into our bodies falls under the domain of public health. This is doctors, epidemiologists, and nutritionists.

Soil degradation reduces the micronutrients that end up in our food, impacting immunity, development, and mental health. 

That means the apple you snack on today is actually less nutritious than the apple your grandparents snacked on 50 years ago. 

We need public health professionals to invest in research linking soil mineral content and human disease, to conduct routine clinical screening for nutrient depletion, and really highlight to policy makers that  “healthy soil = healthy humans”. 

#5: Soil Insurance For Farmers (FinTech + Economics + Agriculture)

As it stands, farmers take on all the risk when transitioning to regenerative practices. So currently, they simply don’t have strong incentives to actually do so.

This is why we need actuaries, bankers, and economists to work on insurance products for soil restoration periods, micro-insurance for small farms, and risk-pooling models for climate-damaged land. 

Don’t wash the dirt off your hands. 

We should pick our battles in life. 

Choose whether to argue with our family at Thanksgiving. Ask if it will accomplish anything meaningful. Decide whether to leave an angry comment on a Facebook post. Consider whether to donate to yet another charity. 

Here’s why the problems with our dirt are different: it really is, in a very real way, a matter of life and death. 

The demise of soil, and therefore of agriculture, biodiversity, and the precisely calibrated conditions we need to stay alive, means the demise of us. 

This is then tempered with the fact that for every single person on the planet, there is an interaction with the soils, whether it’s by the foods you eat- taken from the soil- or what you throw in the trash- what inevitably goes into the soil. 

So when it comes to dirt, there is a call to action for everyone. Yes, varying levels of call to actions, but call to actions nevertheless. 

Ultimately, the future of the ground beneath your feet depends on these choices we all make. 

What will you choose?

Thought to Action

1. Set One “Next Try Intent”: Choose one thing from your failure archive and decide a small, doable step you’ll try next quarter — no perfection, just continuation.

2. Pause and Write Your “Failure Archive”: List three things you tried that didn’t go as planned this year. Don’t fix them. Instead, just name them and how they made you feel.

3. Reframe Effort as Evidence: Track one kind of effort for two weeks (reading time, daily creative minutes, meaningful talks). Let the action be the metric, not just the outcome.

4. Create a “Growth Pause”: Pick one thing you’ll do less of (doomscrolling, chores as avoidance). Put a boundary around it and note what space that creates for something nourishing. 

5. Rediscover Joy in the Small and Slow: Read one short piece of writing without pressure—no speed goals, no expectations.

Sources

DeLong, Catherine, et al. “The Soil Degradation Paradox: Compromising Our Resources When We Need Them the Most.” Sustainability, vol. 7, no. 1, 13 Jan. 2015, pp. 866–879, https://doi.org/10.3390/su7010866.

Dunne, Daisy. “World’s Soils Have Lost 133bn Tonnes of Carbon since the Dawn of Agriculture.” Carbon Brief, 25 Aug. 2017, www.carbonbrief.org/worlds-soils-have-lost-133bn-tonnes-of-carbon-since-the-dawn-of-agriculture/. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.

Ellis, Hattie. “Is the Source of 95 Percent of Our Food in Trouble?” BBC Food, www.bbc.co.uk/food/articles/soil. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.

FAO. “FAO Knowledge Repository.” Fao.org, 2026, openknowledge.fao.org/items/dd568913-8938-4705-96c4-3f0ebb2a22b6. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.

—. ITPS INTERGOVERNMENTAL TECHNICAL PANEL on SOILS towards a DEFINITION of SOIL HEALTH # 1. 2020.

Handelsman, Jo, and Kayla Cohen. A World without Soil : The Past, Present, and Precarious Future of the Earth beneath Our Feet. New Haven, Yale University Press, 2021.

IPCC. “Summary for Policymakers — Special Report on Climate Change and Land.” Ipcc.ch, Special Report on Climate Change and Land, 2019, www.ipcc.ch/srccl/chapter/summary-for-policymakers/. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.

Kopittke, Peter M, et al. “Healthy Soil for Healthy Humans and a Healthy Planet.” Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, vol. 54, no. 3, 30 June 2023, pp. 1–12, https://doi.org/10.1080/10643389.2023.2228651.

Quiroz, Yanine. “Q&A: The Role of Soil Health in Food Security and Tackling Climate Change – Carbon Brief.” Carbon Brief, 29 Oct. 2025, www.carbonbrief.org/qa-the-role-of-soil-health-in-food-security-and-tackling-climate-change/?utm_source=chatgpt.com. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.

The post A Love Letter To Dirt & What To Do About The World Disappearing From Beneath Our Feet appeared first on Green Also Green.

“I am not a little bit of many things; but I am the sufficient representation of many things. I am not an incompletion of all these races; but I am a masterpiece of the prolific. I am an entirety, I am not a lack of anything; rather I am a whole of many things. God did not see it needful to make me generic. He thinks I am better than that.” – C. JoyBell C.

Where do you belong?

We are always trying to decide where we and others belong. 

As humans, we are wired to put each other in boxes. Even if they don’t fit, even if they’re simplistic. Even if the box is actually a really complicated place whose “hereness” and “thereness” is not even clearly definable. 

But even on top of putting other people in boxes, we are often driven by a need to categorize ourselves.

Why?

Because in categorizing ourselves, we find where we truly belong. 

Exclusion hurts, so we’re hungry to belong. 

If you think I’m making this up, check out the work Dr. Matthew Lieberman has done with brain imaging, corroborating what most of us already know to be true: being left out hurts. 

In fact, these findings even suggest that social rejection activates the same neural pathways as physical pain.

Ouch. 

When you don’t belong anywhere. 

So what am I getting at?

It was always a question for me- “where do I belong?”

Born American, I grew up in a Hispanic household with Cuban-born grandparents and American-born parents who raised me up on a steady diet of fluent Spanglish. 

In elementary school, after completing my homework, I would plop myself criss-cross-applesauce on the floor of my great grandmother’s room. There, I’d watch telenovela after telenovela. It’s how I learned to speak Spanish. 

I didn’t know how to say “laundry” until I was at least ten (I would just call it ropa sucia).

But then I would go to school (the site of many acute traumas, sadly). There, the extent of my Hispanic-ness was called into question. I simply wasn’t “Hispanic” enough to be considered “the real thing”.

Well, but I wasn’t not Hispanic either. 

I was American, and I was Hispanic…right?

Enter: England. 

As if it wasn’t complicated enough, at 13 I got what felt like devastating news for any Miami girl. We were moving to England. 

It felt like the world was ending. 

England?! 

Of all the places, why did I have to go live in the cloudiest, rainiest, grayest, windiest country imaginable? And what would happen to my teeth???

(What would happen is my dentist was horrified. Too much tea turned my teeth yellow for a bit.)

I had a hard time with vitamin D for the following years, but turns out, the weather was the least of it. 

I discovered that outside the US, being American is not seen with such star-spangled admiration, so I carried around this part of myself like a big ugly birthmark I couldn’t get rid of. 

The British Girl. 

But a strange thing happened. 

When I was in the UK, everyone outside my family saw me as the American girl. Then, when I came back to Miami for the summers, everyone saw me as British. 

I was often defined by where I had been rather than who I was. Still, I wondered where I truly belonged.

Was I just a human cut into thirds- one third Hispanic, one third American, one third British? 

Or was it more complicated?

The Watered Down Identity 

Now I’m 5 months away from turning 21, and I have lived in 3 different countries and 5 different cities.

Sometimes I wonder if that means my identity becomes that much more watered down. I wonder why it bothers me when others don’t mind the same thing. 

To me, it boils down to belonging. It’s cool to have kinship with strangers, to know that you are united by language and history even without knowing each other personally. It’s fun to talk to someone and realize “oh, so your family does it the same way too!”. 

When you live at the intersections of cultures, it’s hard to find that, because you’re not 100% “in” any group. 

Instead, it’s like you’re just half-dipped in several cultures. 

The Gift Of Being Your Own Category 

So being a cultural hybrid-halfling is definitely isolating at times, and can feel like a life-sentence of failed connection. 

However, there is another side to the story. 

I think of it like the origin story of a superhero- someone different from everyone else, who dreams to conform but steps into their power by finally embracing their uniqueness. 

#1: You’re the ambassador.  

When you exist between cultures, you’re something of a myth-buster. 

An American who travels? An introverted Latina? A British student with good teeth?

You get to challenge stereotypes, and represent a nuance that changes the way other people engage with your culture. 

Sometimes, it means defending where you come from, and sometimes it means apologizing for the atrocities of your country’s history. 

Whatever it is, the control is in how you respond. 

#2: You don’t take beliefs and customs for granted. You think seriously about what to embody, and what to leave behind.

When you have been immersed in British culture as well as Miami culture, you have a large array of choices to make. 

In lots of ways, these are two opposite ends of the cultural landscape, so it can feel like a shock to go from one to the other. 

However, in knowing both worlds, you get to choose for yourself.

Personally, I have tried to let go of the superficial attitudes of Miami, as well as its terrible conception of punctuality (expect everyone to run 15 minutes late always). 

That said, I really admire how people in Miami have such passion for life. It’s a city full of art, music, food, and overall adventure. I want to live a life rich with all those things!

Similarly, I try to let go of the British tendency to diminish and brush under the rug. British culture is frustratingly indirect, asking questions which should be statements and leaving those who don’t know the “code” to guess what they mean. 

However, I hold deep respect for British pragmatism, and the keen focus on what is “sensible”, which includes the (what I, as a Miamian, would consider) crazy proactiveness to plan holidays over a year in advance. 

#3: You know how to adapt.

When your life consists of regularly shifting among geography and culture, you start to become really good at building back your community, support network, and sense of belonging. 

You become proficient at picking up bits and pieces of new languages. 

You learn how to recover from the inevitable faux pas with grace. 

It’s no longer awkward to make new friends or scary to go on public transportation alone. Now, you are an antifragile cultural explorer who is unfazed by clicking “reset” time and time again. 

The amazing part is how this then translates to other parts of your life. 

You start to see microcosms of nuance in other people, and learn how to walk the line between warmth and assertiveness regardless of the professional, personal, or geographical context. 

Most noticeable is the confidence you develop knowing that no matter where you are, whether there is signal, whether you speak the language or not, you will be able to fend for yourself. 

Moreover, you can find stability in knowing yourself, and isn’t that the greatest treasure of all?  

You get to decide where you belong. 

The reward of wrestling with my sense of belonging all my life has been to finally see that belonging is an artificial construct. 

When the lines between “us” and “them” are clear, we let other people decide where we belong, which is comforting, but not empowering. 

Having other people deny my sense of belonging has challenged this natural tendency to let the world decide which box I fit in. 

But being denied belonging also taught me to fight for it. 

It has taught me that when people say, “Your Spanish is not good enough for you to be a ‘real’ Latina”, I am allowed to not believe them. 

(And let’s face it- most South American Latinos don’t know a single word of the hundreds of endangered indigenous languages that existed on the continent before Spanish ever did). 

Ultimately, it is up to you to determine your cultural belonging, and to explore your history with openness and curiosity like the microcosm of nuance you are. 

In doing so, you will not only unlock resilience, you will also unlock peace.  

Thought To Action 

1. Draw Your Connection Map: Write down five people or communities—old friends, classmates, mentors—you’d like to reconnect with or better understand. Choose one and take a small step (message, coffee invite, honest hello).
2. Practice a Micro Habit: Pick something meaningful you stopped doing (writing, hiking, reading quietly). Commit to just five minutes a day — it’s the momentum that matters.
3. Turn Discomfort Into Question Curiosity: Instead of “Why did I fail?”, ask “What did this effort teach me about what matters?”.
4. Document Your Slow Wins: Keep a tiny journal of weekly wins — not outcomes, but efforts that felt worth doing (like choosing mindful reading over passive scrolling). Let this remind you how small actions accumulate meaning.
5. End With Gratitude + Intention: Close your reflection session with gratitude for the effort you showed, then set a gentle intention for the coming week.

Sources 

No external sources were used for this post.

The post What To Do When You Don’t Belong Anywhere appeared first on Green Also Green.

“Doubt never announces itself with loud footsteps or broken doors; it slips quietly into the room, carrying the dust of old memories, unfinished healing, and fears you believed you’d already outgrown. It knows precisely where you’re tender, exactly where to press, and how to make you question the very ground you stand on.” – Cyndi Stuart

When you’re a kid, you can be anything.

When you’re five, it’s cute if you want to be a doctor, artist, mom, Arctic explorer, and rock star. It’s one for each weekday, and then you can take the weekends off, right? 

All it takes to make new friends is to show them what you just pulled out of your nose.

It’s okay to say things like “I don’t know”, or to change your mind. One day, you can want to be a Michelin chef, and another day, an astronaut. 

You have freedom, encouragement, and options in abundance. 

In fact, when I was still in pre-adolescence, I remember feeling the same way. 

And why not?

I loved to write stories, put on plays with my cousins, tend to my own little garden after school, and “rescue” bugs that had fallen into my grandparents’ swimming pool.

Enter: the corruption of adolescence. 

Then something happened, and I suppose it happened gradually. 

As I started to move from my pre-teen middle school years into high school, people started to ask the “what do you want to do when you grow up” question a lot more seriously. 

Now, it wasn’t cute to have five answers. It was actually an existential problem. 

Now, I had to choose classes. I had to write college applications that indicated my future plans. Most intimidatingly, I had to have an answer for everyone who asked me these questions. 

Oh, and if the honest answer was “I don’t know”? You better believe I was about to have an entire audiobook’s-worth of unsolicited advice dumped on my already-overwhelmed head. 

The overwhelm made me shrink.

I have no problem now diagnosing my seventeen-year-old self as a diehard people-pleaser. 

Ultimately, my grades were fine (and actually kinda good if I do say so myself), but I was still afraid I had fundamentally not done enough over the years. After all, I hadn’t cured cancer, gone to the moon, or the like. 

I was struggling with making big decisions. So the pressure of “reality” forced me into feeling like everything must have its justification in my life. 

Why was I studying?

To get good grades so high-ranking schools would accept me. 

Why was I pursuing X extracurricular?

Because “clever students” pursue it, and I need to show I’m one of them. 

Et cetera, and so on. 

I asked the “why” question about creative writing too. However, for this thing that had been a passion since I was a mere pipsqueak, my justification was too weak. 

“Because it’s what lights my soul on fire and cures all my heartaches” wouldn’t cut it for the college essays. 

Well… that was stupid.

Ever since I was a little kid writing stories about my grandmother’s dog and tending to the plants in my garden, I was an artist. 

There are no “if”s or “but”s about it. 

It’s who I was at my very core, and for some reason, I sought to deny it so I could turn myself into someone I thought the rest of the world wanted. 

What I thought I should be is still unclear, but it mostly involved not doing the things I actually liked because I thought the friction of pursuing things that didn’t “set my soul on fire” would somehow make me more worthy of success. 

#1: Choosing to suffer didn’t make me more worthy.

Since that time in my life, I have been on the slow, humbling path of creative recovery, gradually growing back what I tried to squash during those years with the help of figures like Rick Rubin(The Creative Act: A Way Of Being) and Julia Cameron(The Artist’s Way), and learning so much about myself in the process. 

The biggest lesson for me, however, has been to stop choosing suffering for suffering’s sake. 

With some introspection and willingness to explore different options, it’s entirely possible (some might even say inevitable), to eventually stumble upon that much-coveted ikigai. That is, you will find the convergence of what you love, what the world needs, what you can be paid for, and what you’re good at. 

#2: Listen to your jealousy.

Now, this path was not paved with good intentions I’m sorry to say. 

In fact, a lot of times, I find change is fueled by feelings like anger and jealousy, which tell us “something is missing here”, and “they have what I’m missing”. 

Being an artist is really about how you live your life, and prioritizing creativity regularly. 

If you find yourself jealous over the extent to which others are able to publicly express themselves creatively, or jealous because they actually have creative projects they’re working on, then maybe you should start working on something too. 

Your jealousy is telling you what you want your life to look like. 

Listen. 

#3: There doesn’t have to be a “point” for you to start exploring.

Of all the best things that have happened in my life, few emerged from a clear “plan”, in which there was a predetermined “reason” for every minute spent. 

In fact, I think that kind of spontaneity is part of what makes life beautiful. 

“Wanting” to write a short story, “wanting” to wear your clothes differently, “wanting” to try a new recipe, “wanting” to listen to a new genre of music, and even “wanting” to try out a life in which you are an artist is enough. 

It doesn’t always have to be about how much money you will make doing it, or how “aesthetic” it will look on your Instagram story. 

Do it because you want to. Wanting to is enough. 

The Courage To Be Like A Kid Again

There is a quote attributed to Deepak Chopra that goes, “The most creative act you will ever undertake is the act of creating yourself.” 

It means that to be an artist, you also have to live like one, and apply that creativity to embodying the identity of who you want to be. 

For me, that has meant tuning into those expansive, hopeful dreams of Little Me, and asking, “Wait…how can I make her excited about the life I’m building?”

In doing just that, I have been pleasantly surprised to find that a life of a scientist-artist-author-explorer actually is possible for me. 

In fact, it’s a lot more accessible than I once imagined. 

Thought To Action 

1. Pause and Write Your “Failure Archive”: List three things you tried that didn’t go as planned this year. Don’t fix them. Instead, just name them and how they made you feel.
2. Reframe Effort as Evidence: Track one kind of effort for two weeks (reading time, daily creative minutes, meaningful talks). Let the action be the metric, not just the outcome.
3. Create a “Growth Pause”: Pick one thing you’ll do less of (doomscrolling, chores as avoidance). Put a boundary around it and note what space that creates for something nourishing. 
4. Rediscover Joy in the Small and Slow: Read one short piece of writing without pressure—no speed goals, no expectations.
5. Set One “Next Try Intent”: Choose one thing from your failure archive and decide a small, doable step you’ll try next quarter — no perfection, just continuation.

Sources 

No external sources were used for this post. 

The post How To Stop Asking For Permission To Be An Artist appeared first on Green Also Green.

“Go as far as you can see, when you get there you’ll be able to see further.” -Thomas Carlyle

Here Are Your Options.

When you’re an interdisciplinary misfit, there are a few piercing milestones you inevitably experience as you fumble through the standard list of options.

There’s the class selection when you’re in high school and college(“Take math- it keeps the most doors open”). 

Then there’s the “You like science? Have you considered medicine?”, and if that doesn’t suit you, please consider engineering. 

If you’re literary and philosophical, your well-intentioned loved ones will push you towards law school.

Anything else? We will cram you into corporate life (product manager, anyone?). 

Now, don’t get me wrong. These are all fulfilling careers, if you actually choose them. 

But most of us don’t. 

We think “these are the options if I don’t want to be destitute”, and then we meander along, somewhat aimlessly, thinking we made the best decision we could. 

Careers For Interdisciplinary Misfits

I think you know where I’m going with this…

It’s all a big lie!!

The career world is full of options, and, much like dating, a lot of settling on the right career comes down to actually knowing there is something out there that will fit you perfectly. 

So today I’m talking to the person who has decided to explore, experiment, and find something that actually resonates. 

I’m talking to the interdisciplinary misfit who is committed to honoring the divine gifts within them. 

I’m talking to the person who wants to live without being tethered to a single arbitrary job description. 

…And not just because it makes life more fun, but also because when you step into your unique superpowers, you are even more equipped to make the world a better place. 

So let’s get started!

How To Go Through The List Of 75 Interdisciplinary Jobs

As you go through this list, I want you to read with intention and use it as an opportunity to reflect on what really speaks to you. 

Even if you find nothing that makes you want to change your trajectory, the jobs that tug at your heart could still provide a useful insight into ways you can live more in alignment with your own interests and gifts. 

To help you with this, I put together the following questions, which you can consider as you go down the list:

1. Would I enjoy this even if no one thought it was “impressive”?
2. What skills would I be excited to practice for years?
3. Do I enjoy working with people, systems, materials, or ideas?
4. Would I rather work independently or collaboratively?
5. Do I want a job that changes daily or one with routine?
6. Am I motivated by care, creativity, justice, sustainability, or discovery?
7. Would I enjoy being a lifelong learner in this field?
8. Am I okay with freelance, project-based, or emerging roles?
9. Does this career reflect who I am now—or who I want to grow into?

#1-15: Interdisciplinary Jobs In Science + Art + Design

Using scientific knowledge to create aesthetic, expressive, or experiential works.

#1: Bio-Artist: Uses living materials like bacteria or plants to create art that explores biotechnology and ethics. 

#2: Scientific Illustrator: Combines biology and art to produce accurate yet beautiful depictions of scientific phenomena.

#3: Solar Infrastructure Artist: Integrates solar panels into aesthetically pleasing public art.

#4: Sound Ecologist: Records and analyzes natural soundscapes to monitor ecosystems or create immersive experiences.

#5: Biomechanical Artist: Creates wearable or kinetic sculptures that move with the human body.

#6: Sensory Designer: Designs multisensory experiences combining neuroscience, design, and storytelling.

#7: Perfumer (Nose): Blends scents scientifically to craft perfumes and fragrances.

#8: Moss Gardener: Designs and maintains living installations made entirely of moss.

#9: Mosaic Artist: Creates art using stone, glass, or ceramics in complex designs.

#10: Color Consultant: Advises on color choices that influence mood and perception.

#11: Miniature Artist: Builds intricate, small-scale worlds for collectors or museums.

#12: Calligrapher: Turns handwriting into fine art and custom lettering.

#13: Robotic Performer: Uses robots as collaborators in live theater or dance.

#14: Algorithmic Musician: Composes generative music using code and machine learning.

#15: Interactive Installation Engineer: Builds art installations that respond to human presence or movement.

#16-29: Interdisciplinary Jobs In Technology + Psychology + Human Experience

Designing digital or physical systems centered on cognition, emotion, and behavior.

#16: UX Neuroscientist: Studies the brain’s response to digital interfaces to optimize user experience.

#17: Voice UX Designer: Merges linguistics and tech to make voice assistants sound more natural and empathetic.

#18: AI Companion Developer: Creates emotionally intelligent digital entities for support or companionship.

#19: Death Doula: Provides emotional and spiritual support to the dying and their families.

#20: Poetry Therapist: Uses poetry and creative writing for healing and self-expression.

#21: Adventure Therapist: Uses outdoor activities like climbing or rafting to support mental health.

#22: Virtual Reality Therapist: Uses VR environments to treat phobias, PTSD, or chronic pain.

#23: Dance Therapist – Uses movement and dance as therapeutic tools to support emotional, physical, and mental health, blending psychology with creative expression.

#24: Professional Cuddler– Offers platonic, consent-based physical comfort to clients, focusing on emotional support, boundaries, and stress reduction. (This is not prostitution, I promise.)

#25: Interactive Narrative Designer: Creates branching storylines for games, apps, and VR experiences.

#26: Cognitive Ergonomist: Designs systems and tools that align with human mental processes.

#27: Gamification Designer: Blends psychology and game design to make education, health, or work more engaging.

#28: Dream Research Technologist: Develops tools to study, record, or influence dreams.

#29: Animal-Assisted Therapist – Uses animals like horses or dogs to aid emotional healing.

#30-45: Interdisciplinary Jobs In Biology + Environment + Sustainability

Working with living systems, ecology, food, and sustainable futures.

#30: Waste Material Innovator: Develops new products or art from industrial or biological waste.

#31: Space Botanist: Studies how to grow plants in extraterrestrial environments.

#32: Lavender Farmer: Cultivates and harvests lavender, managing soil, climate, and distillation processes to produce essential oils, dried flowers, and wellness products.

#33: Avian Trainer – Trains birds of prey, parrots, zoo birds.

#34: Coral Gardener: Restores damaged coral reefs through underwater planting.

#35: Genetic Counselor for Pets: Helps pet owners understand their animals’ DNA and inherited traits.

#36: Urban Wildlife Manager: Balances city design with ecological needs of urban animals.

#37: Eco-Fashion Designer: Merges materials science with fashion design to create biodegradable or upcycled clothing from innovative new fabrics such as mycelium or seaweed. 

#38: Animal Behavior Consultant: Helps owners or zoos understand and correct animal behavior.

#39: Bee Sommelier: Tastes and classifies honey based on floral sources and terroir.

#40: Charcoal Maker – Produces charcoal by carefully burning wood in low-oxygen conditions, balancing traditional techniques with modern quality control for fuel, art, or filtration uses.

#41: Microbial Fuel Technologist – Develops energy systems powered by bacteria.

#42: Foraging Guide – Teaches people to safely identify and harvest wild edible plants.

#43: Insect Farm Operator – sustainable protein, science meets agriculture.

#44: Volcanic Tour Guide – Leads scientific and adventure tours around active volcanoes.

#45: Citizen Science Coordinator – Connects scientists and the public to collaborate on large-scale research.

#46-58: Interdisciplinary Jobs In Technology + Culture + History

Preserving, studying, or reinterpreting human culture using modern tools.

#46: Meme Archivist: Studies and preserves internet memes as cultural artifacts.

#47: Food Historian: Recreates ancient recipes or explore cultural food evolution.

#48: Deep-Sea Archaeologist: Explores and documents submerged ancient sites.

#49: Glacier Archaeologist: Studies artifacts and bodies emerging from melting ice.

#50: Art Conservator: Restores and preserves paintings, manuscripts, and artifacts.

#51: Bookbinder: Creates or restores hand-bound books using traditional techniques.

#52: Papermaker: Crafts handmade paper using natural fibers and ancient methods.

#53: Digital Heritage Conservator: Uses VR, AR, and 3D scanning to preserve historical sites.

#54: Digital Anthropologist: Studies how humans behave and form cultures in online spaces.

#55: Restoration Mason: Rebuilds historic stone structures and sculptures.

#56: Cultural Festival Curator: Designs festivals that showcase folk traditions, art, and cuisine.

#57: Historical Reenactor: Performs in period attire to educate about historical events.

#58: Travel Ethnographer: Documents disappearing cultural practices and rituals.

#59-75: Interdisciplinary Jobs In Engineering + Performance + Applied Craft

Hands-on, technical roles blending making, engineering, and live or applied contexts.

#59: Kinetic Architect – Designs buildings or sculptures that move or adapt dynamically.

#60: Tea Blender – Crafts custom tea blends by balancing aroma, taste, and culture.

#61: Cheese Affineur – Ages and perfects cheeses for optimal texture and flavor.

#62: Space Architect – Designs habitats for astronauts on the Moon, Mars, or orbital stations.

#63: Pet Food Taster: Assesses pet food for smell, texture, and appearance (and sometimes taste), ensuring products meet quality, safety, and palatability standards for animals.

#64: Scientific Research Subject: Participates in controlled studies by following research protocols, helping scientists gather data on health, behavior, cognition, or technology.

#65: Taste Tester: Samples food and beverages to evaluate flavor, texture, aroma, and quality, often providing detailed feedback to improve recipes or ensure safety standards.

#66: Tactile Storyteller: Designs narratives through textures and materials for visually impaired audiences.

#67: 3D Food Printing Engineer: Uses engineering and culinary art to print edible creations layer by layer.

#68: Wearable Tech Designer: Integrates sensors and electronics into fashion and performance art.

#69: Special Effects Makeup Artist – Applies a blend of chemistry, sculpture, and design to do make up for characters on movie sets and theme parks.

#70: Set Builder for Film/TV – Applies carpentry + design + problem-solving to build sets for film and TV.

#71: Voice Actor Specializing in Unusual Roles – Acts as the voice for creatures, ASMR, and characters in TV and film.

#72: Theme Park Prop Technician – Maintains animatronics, costumes, effects.

#73: Cryogenic Engineer – Designs systems for storing and preserving biological or space materials at ultra-low temps.

#74: Forensic Botanist – Solves crimes using plant evidence like pollen or leaf fragments.

#75: Dialect Coach – Trains actors or speakers in authentic accents and regional speech.

Interdisciplinary Experiment, Interdisciplinary Experiment, Interdisciplinary Experiment.

No matter what this list made you feel, there is one clear next step: experiment. 

When putting it together, I found myself tempted by many potential rabbit holes.

From kinetic architecture to scientific illustration, I kind of got a bit lost, both excited and overwhelmed by the potential. 

Can’t I just do them all? I wondered. 

Actually, yes. 

Take one, and test your initial interest in a small, noncommittal way. Watch a video. Read a book. Listen to a podcast. 

If you’re still interested, consider taking a free online course or doing a short video chat with someone in that field. 

At every stage, you are testing your interest at a slightly higher level, until you get it right. 

Yes, you can test out as many career ideas as you want, and yes, you can also press “reset” whenever you feel like it. 

Remember, you’re in the driver’s seat here.

So go ahead…make the list of things you want to try, and watch the answers you’ve been looking for finally unfold.

Thought To Action 

1. Map the Impossible: Write down three “too big” ideas you’d pursue if fear, money, or skill weren’t limits. Circle one. Start with the smallest visible step.
2. Use Tech Intentionally: Schedule a daily “digital audit”—10 minutes to check what tools you actually use to create versus to consume. (See this guide to mindful tech habits).
3. Build an Independent Study Track: Pick a theme you want to master this year (creativity, AI, storytelling) and design your own syllabus—books, podcasts, projects, mentors.
4. Pair Reading with Doing: For every chapter you read, add one experiment to test the idea in real life.
5. Reflect in Reverse: Once a week, ask: “What did I not do because I underestimated myself?”—then do one of those things, badly but bravely.

Sources

No external sources were used for this post.

The post 75 Weird But Cool Interdisciplinary Careers No One Told You Existed appeared first on Green Also Green.

“Look at a tree, a flower, a plant. Let your awareness rest upon it. How still they are, how deeply rooted in Being.”

– Eckhart Tolle

Insights From Mt. Takao

Of all the weird natural systems on the planet, I thought I was over mushrooms. I really did.

Turns out though, we’re back in love. And yes, today I will subject you to that obsession. 

On a strictly academic mission, I climbed Mt. Takao, and got to have a lot of fun drawing different geological features and eating sweet treats (it’s a hard life, I know). 

From that trip- one of the best homework assignments I have ever had to do- I gained some random insights, as many silly backpackers do when swearing off mainstream society and disappearing into the woods.

If you’re wondering about the deep theme of these insights, don’t bother, because there isn’t one.

Rather, I decided to draw from my favorite moment on the trip: the oyster mushroom. 

Me sitting on the forest floor, drawing a mushroom

#1: Systems thinking

It was when I started to see mushrooms cropping up everywhere, and eventually sat on the cool shaded forest floor to draw a few by hand, that it really struck me: this cute little mushroom, right here before me in its dark non-plant-non-animal glory, was part of a huge planetary system that made the perfect conditions for it to end up before me. 

I mean, stop and think about this: mushrooms require particular soil conditions, particular temperatures and moisture, and it’s even larger systems that manufacture these conditions. 

You can zoom out and zoom in, and on all different scales, you can explain the simple presence of a mushroom on the ground. 

Then I thought about it some more, crouched there as one with the little white oyster mushroom, and felt it was a tragedy that when we think about the world around us, it’s often easy to forget about the systems things are made up of. 

Be a systems thinker. 

So what is there to do? 

Try what I did. Choose one object- an apple, an ear bud, your half-eaten sandwich…

Zoom out to the biggest force you can think of that brought that single thing to where it is now. 

Now zoom in. How was your sandwich made – from the bread to the seedling that ended up creative that tomato slice?

#2: Fast-track to replenishing creativity. 

There is nothing like a long train ride followed by a long hike to really clear your head. 

On my way to Mt. Takao, I enjoyed this uninterrupted hour of time on my Kindle, reading about plant leaves and atmospheric gases in David Beerling’s Emerald Planet as my friends napped in their seats. 

It was peaceful, quiet, and I got to let my mind wander along different trains of thought. 

On the trail, it was the same. 

I marveled at the trees, stopping every five steps to take yet another photo of a ravine, towering cedar tree, or translucent spider web. 

But, once again, I had hours upon hours of time to just think. 

No music, no notifications, no to-do list besides keep watching until you reach the top. 

By the time I got back to Tokyo though, I had several new notes on various projects, random tangents, and interesting questions to look up when I got home. 

Make time to think uninterrupted. 

One of the best systems, I realized, to create emptiness in which to nurture the baby seedlings of your creative garden, is to do something where the emptiness is a natural byproduct. 

Hiking is like that. Showering is like that. Reading is like that. Sometimes, even household chores are like that. 

When you do something where you mind can detach from the nagging expectations of a looming Google Calendar block, your creativity will step in and have a play. 

There are probably already tasks like that for you, and you might not even notice it. 

Next time, pay attention as your mind wanders. Savor the creative play. 

#3: Nature is therapy. 

In the deep cavernous well that is my camera roll, there lies a meme. 

On one side is a gray-skinned, sleep-deprived cartoon with bags under their eyes, asking Jesus, “Is this it? Is this the hardest test you have for me?” Jesus replies, “You literally just have to put your phone down and go outside.”

It’s funny, but accurate. 

Why are we always surprised that when we hide from the sun and spend twelve hours a day in front of a screen, we also happen to feel miserable and depressed?

Truth be told, humans weren’t designed to stare at screens. We were made to hike through forests, draw tiny mushrooms, and gaze in wonder at a deep green range of mountains. It’s what humans have been doing for millions of years. 

Nonetheless, I am still impressed at just how rejuvenating it feels to have a day outside, my phone tucked away at the bottom of my backpack, where the Notification Bird can’t get to me. 

Put down your phone and go outside. 

It’s hard to get away from screens- whether it’s your phone, or the laptop where you work all day. 

Still it’s worth making a deliberate effort, because your stress, worry, and constant existential dread will melt away. 

To make it more fun, take someone adventuring with you. Make it fun and easy. Bring a notepad. 

Maybe, like me, you will end up crouched in front of a mushroom, amazed at the multitudes it contains. 

Thought To Action 

1. Map the Impossible: Write down three “too big” ideas you’d pursue if fear, money, or skill weren’t limits. Circle one. Start with the smallest visible step.
2. Use Tech Intentionally: Schedule a daily “digital audit”—10 minutes to check what tools you actually use to create versus to consume. (See this guide to mindful tech habits).
3. Build an Independent Study Track: Pick a theme you want to master this year (creativity, AI, storytelling) and design your own syllabus—books, podcasts, projects, mentors.
4. Pair Reading with Doing: For every chapter you read, add one experiment to test the idea in real life.
5. Reflect in Reverse: Once a week, ask: “What did I not do because I underestimated myself?”—then do one of those things, badly but bravely.

Sources

No external sources were used for this post. 

The post 3 Secrets A Mountain Mushroom Taught Me About Creative Focus, Systems Thinking & Inner Peace appeared first on Green Also Green.

“What is now proved was once only imagined.” – William Blake

Training myself to think bigger.

After reading more about neuroscience this year, and developing greater intention with how I visualize my success, I discovered something crazy: I was used to thinking small.

This thought has driven me toward a long, winding road of daydreams, journaling prompts, and award-deserving mood boards. 

It has all given me a great sense of excitement and enthusiasm for life, and it’s all rooted in one question:

What if?

So many of us go through our day-to-day lives accepting everything exactly as it is. Let’s start there. 

What if you could make X better? What if you could read the book you’ve been meaning to start for 6 months? What if you didn’t have to feel Y or worry about Z? 

This exercise goes beyond personal development though, and can even make for a fun creative exercise in other tasks. 

Allow me to share some of the items on my own “what if” list now:

• What if I learned more about ethnobotany?
• What if I increased my time to action?
• What if I bought a bunch of land to turn it back into natural habitat? 
• What if I bought e-waste and found a way to deconstruct it while preserving the quality of the materials?

The Enduring Power Of “What If”

#1: Deepen your understanding. 

In adding items to my “what if” list, I have learned the skill of asking increasingly more obscure, random hypothetical questions. 

Exploring their answers often reinforces fundamental concepts that are tangibly applicable in my life. 

For example, in studying geochemistry, I got to thinking, “why isn’t there silicon-based life on earth?” Like carbon, silicon is what you would call tetravalent- it has just as many valence electrons as carbon, and thus, you would imagine, just as much opportunity to bond. In fact, most minerals on earth are silicon-based. 

After asking around and exploring this idea, one of my peers shared some papers he wrote on the subject, which I got to enjoy reading. 

In the end, asking a “stupid” question allowed me to make connect with others while deepening my own awareness of key concepts within geochemistry and evolutionary biology. 

#2: Challenge your assumptions. 

Let’s talk about “what if”’s favorite cousin, “why not”. 

For most of my life, I believed the narrative of choosing one career and using that end goal to make all my decisions. 

It was: if you want to be a doctor, read chemistry books. Wanna be a lawyer? Read about philosophy. And if you like both chemistry and philosophy, just pick one for crying out loud!

For a long time, it was tormenting to be the kid who simply liked everything. I was overwhelmed by the infinite paths I could take, and simultaneously saddened by the fact that they all seemed to lack the crazy diversity I dreamed about. 

Then I asked a question: Why not cultivate my unique portfolio of skills and interests? Who says I can’t design a career perfectly suited to what I’m good at, interested in, and hoping to get out of life?

When I asked this question, I realized that the answer to this “why not” boiled down to two things: fear of uncertainty and not wanting to put in the effort to discover the life that would truly fulfill me. 

Most of us do not realize how much we take for granted- intellectually, in our relationships, in the way we live our lives. 

So start asking yourself “why not”, and you might be surprised by the answer.  

#3: Realize your big dreams are attainable.

Here is some tough love: you’re not special. 

Throughout the course of human history, millions of people have also faced heartbreak, loss, financial ruin, and uncertainty. Many of them have also come out of those things with the reinforced determination to have crazy amazing lives. 

So what if there was a way to chart the path from exactly where you are to the amazing world, life, or career you envision?

What if you are not limited by your circumstances, but instead by your creativity?

We tell ourselves certain things are impossible for us, but when we ask “what if”, we realize an unsettling but reassuring fact. Actually, there is no real reason why someone else in your position could’ve gotten/done that thing and not you. 

When I do this exercise for myself, it can be disheartening. I realize that the responsibility to create what I want is fully up to me, and in a lot of ways, I fail at it.

Yet after that stark realization, there is also a glimmer of hope- yes, it’s up to me, but also, I have every power to fix it. Why? 

Well, why not?

What if it works?

Go and see for yourself. 

Open a new “Note” on a note-taking app, and title it “What If List”. 

Write one question. Make it crazy. Make it unhinged. 

Let’s see where it takes you. 

Thought to Action

1. Start a “Future Self” Journal: Write one page from the perspective of your dream self—what are you building, learning, wearing, prioritizing? Use this to guide daily decisions.
2. Identify Your Personal Design Criteria: What makes a task or project feel deeply worth it to you? Make a mini checklist. Use it to evaluate new commitments before saying yes.
3. Create a “Someday Stack” of Ideas: Start a list of crazy, impractical, or ambitious project ideas that you don’t have time for yet. This becomes your personal innovation vault.
4. Study Someone Whose Job Didn’t Exist 20 Years Ago: Look up someone in a role like climate designer, circularity strategist, or biofabrication artist—and reverse engineer how they got there.
5. Fuel Up With Fiction That Thinks Ahead: Read a sci-fi or speculative fiction book this month. Start with something weird. It will stretch your imagination more than any TED Talk ever could.

Sources

No external sources were used for this post. 

The post Use This Secret Tool To Build A Crazy Imagination appeared first on Green Also Green.

“We can’t just consume our way to a more sustainable world.” – Jennifer Nini

Please steal these ideas. 

After spending a year diving deeper into the world of materials science and nanotech, one thing has become clear: sustainable materials are the future, and the future might make you rich. 

However, before we get ahead of ourselves, there are a few problems scientists, entrepreneurs, and manufacturers need to solve, and today I want to talk to you about those exactly. 

Where can we get leverage?

How can we scale up?

And who will be first?

#1: We don’t dispose of bioplastics effectively. 

We think a lot about how well materials can be used for one exact task: Can your grocery bag carry your groceries to the car and into the kitchen? Does your plastic shoe sole carry you very far? Will your eggs be cracked in their plastic container? 

Yes, that’s all very important, but there is still a big chunk we’re missing: what happens after?

In the surge of work done on biomaterials, we see an inspiring focus on using biodegradable materials like mycelium or algae. 

So, if they happen to end up in the compost, they will not release microplastics- which is great. 

But there is still a gap between (1) getting these materials to break down faster without compromising their main function, and (2) getting consumers to actually dispose of them correctly.  

#2: Plant-based materials can be too weak for high-stress applications.

There is good news and bad news for everyone looking to get rich on bio-plastics. 

The good news is research suggests it could be easier to improve the mechanical strength of the current family of bioplastics than it would be to make more “recalcitrant” plastics more biodegradable. 

(Don’t ask me who decided to call all the other plastics “recalcitrant”, as though they were a gaggle of rowdy teenagers. But they are.)

The bad news?

Well, we aren’t quite there yet. For a lot of more high-stress applications, petroleum-based plastics still perform better. 

Perhaps though, this is good news, because it means there’s an opportunity for anyone ready to innovate. 

#3: Recycled plastic is not valued as highly as virgin plastic. 

Okay, let’s take a break from talking about bioplastics, and talk about those “recalcitrant” petroleum-based plastics we all know so well. 

You know, the ones that are causing all these problems we keep hearing about. 

Specifically, let’s talk about recycling. 

Now, I have already ranted about this in another post, but to sum it up: just about the biggest issue with plastic as they exist now is their end-of-life management. 

That is to say, what happens after you’re done with plastic. 

We want to believe recycling is saving a lot of our plastic, but unfortunately even the majority of trash you choose to recycle doesn’t end up getting repurposed. 

And the lucky minority that does?

Well, in industry, recycled plastic just isn’t valued as highly as virgin plastic. 

Of course, there are reasons for this that boil down to the purity (or lack thereof) of recycled plastic, and the fact that we just can’t easily remove other additives to turn it back into its raw form. 

But ultimately, this fact acts as a huge disincentive for manufacturers to actually use our garbage as a raw material. 

#4: There is a lack of sustainable construction materials that meet safety requirements. 

One of the industries with a silently high carbon footprint is the construction industry. 

Many materials, such as steel and concrete, are incredibly energy-intensive to produce, but have not seen promising alternatives on the market. 

Some are emerging, such as Carbicrete, but there is still room for other alternatives that also match the performance of concrete and steel while also meeting safety requirements.

#5: Almost nobody is designing sustainable materials for circular disassembly.

We keep building objects that can’t be taken apart easily.

What’s the problem with this?

Well, to design without keeping disassembly in mind is to deny the materials you’re using another lifetime. 

I’ve also discussed this in other posts, but it bears repeating. 

When we design for disassembly, we create a circular economy instead of just adding to landfills. 

Furthermore, we open ourselves up to a whole new realm of raw materials that we initially wrote off as “trash”.

The materials of the future that will make you rich. 

There is a well-known quote from Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” that goes, “We are such stuff as dreams are made on.”

No, he wasn’t talking about materials science, I know. 

But still- we can think of this as another way to describe the bridge between reality and fantasy.

When you take your dreams, and turn them into the world around you, what is that world made of?

Who gets to decide?

If you walk away with one thing, just know, it doesn’t have to be someone else getting rich off the innovations of the future. 

It could be you.

Thought to Action

1. Ask “What If” Every Day: Start or end your day by writing one bold “What if…” question. What if your shoes were edible? What if your routines were designed for joy? These questions open space for unexpected insight.
2. Do a 5-Minute Redesign Challenge: Pick an object you use daily (a water bottle, backpack, phone case) and sketch or describe how you’d redesign it to be more circular, comfortable, or creative.
3. Make Space for Creative Input: Commit to one hour a week where you absorb inspiration—watch a documentary, visit a museum, or read outside your field. Creativity is fueled by unexpected collisions.
4. Redesign Something That’s Annoying You: Find one product, system, or space in your life that bugs you—and reimagine it. You don’t have to fix it in reality, just give yourself permission to sketch possibilities.
5. Start Your Future Job Library: Curate a mini reading list around your dream career or project. Not sure where to start? This post will show you how to learn from curiosity, not credentials.

Sources

https://response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DAnaerobic_degradation_of_bioplastics

https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/13/13/2155

https://pdf.sciencedirectassets.com/271345/1-s2.0-S0144861723X00125/1-s2.0-S0144861723004393/am.pdf?X-Amz-Security-

https://www.erda.dk/vgrid/JJKK/pdfs/jjkk_38.pdf

https://www.mdpi.com/2313-4321/6/4/76

“Cradle to Cradle”

http://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/62965/1/1205.pdf

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