Issue.15 - 10.000 Impressions
and 302.800 characters later...
If there is one thing I learned about writing so far, is that it can only come with life experiences.
Every single author that walked on earth only had so much to say because they felt the urge to document their ideas and life experiences.
At a given moment, the calling comes to every single person that has the not yet known duty of carrying the Quill & Ink. It is relentless and undeniable.
Like time.
It’s been exactly 2 months since Issue.0
I made the math and these are the approximate numbers so far.
51.839 words and 302.800 characters.
Behooooold, the impressions!
If you have been following, you might remember Issue.2, “a character is a lead block with a letter engraved on it and dipped in ink so that it can impress letters on paper”, and “the character is only revealed when you apply pressure to it.”
Does that mean I impressed my character 302.800 times on Agency?
Maybe.
But I rather think I opened 51.839 doors.
Because I abide by the words I choose.
Every.
Single.
One.
Fairly because only I know where they come from.
In the same way, only you know where you come from.
So I input my words here so that they can talk with your history.
(Even though it is a monologue most of the time lol)
(Is the sentence above a monologue about monologues? Would that be a meta-monologue?)
Anyroad…
I call my words doors because they can introduce you to new ways of thinking.
As long as you are open to new doors of reasoning.
I also call my words doors because I don’t mind if people use them as a reference.
So.
If you ever quote something I said in a conversation or a text and hear something like:
“Whoa, slow down there, Captain Insanity!”
or maybe
“I think you've got a few loose screws in your brain!”
or even
“That's crazier than a sack of cats!”
You can always say “Hey, it wasn’t me who said it first, it was Thi”.
And I will take full responsibility.
Because I am Thi, and Thi means me.
And my words sometimes are pure insanity!
So what?
We can’t take life seriously all the time.
But absolutely nothing stops us from investigating it and making new discoveries.
Like a huge box of Lego pieces that are ready to be assembled in a Millenium Falcon by putting the right pieces together.
Listen, reader.
There is no better type of Agency (action) than the capacity of creating.
But in order to create, we need to have a direct line with our inner child.
Steve Jobs said it first.
“Stay hungry, stay foolish”
As in, keep dreaming and approaching life with naivety at all costs.
AKA, Bliss!
And now I feel responsible to open yet another door.
Because you can’t understand what your inner child has to say if you don’t balance your anima and animus first.
They are two archetypes proposed by Swiss psychologist Carl Jung: Anima refers to the feminine aspect present in the male psyche, while animus refers to the masculine aspect present in the female psyche. These archetypes are not based on biological sex, but rather represent a fundamental aspect of the human psyche that is present in all individuals.
Anima (in the male psyche):
Represented by feminine qualities such as intuition, emotion, and creativity.
Often associated with the nurturing and caring aspects of the mother.
Can appear in dreams or fantasies as a wise woman or an ethereal muse.
When not integrated, can lead to a man projecting his own unconscious feminine qualities onto women in his life, leading to unrealistic expectations and disappointment.
Animus (in the female psyche):
Represented by masculine qualities such as rationality, assertiveness, and ambition.
Often associated with the protective and decisive qualities of the father.
Can appear in dreams or fantasies as a hero, a wise old man, or a powerful warrior.
When not integrated, can lead to a woman projecting her own unconscious masculine qualities onto men in her life, leading to power struggles and relationship difficulties.
Long story short, nobody is less of a man for being sensitive, tender, and intuitive.
In the same way that nobody is less of a woman for being firm, tough, and brave.
Does this sound absurd?
What year is this? The 19th century?
This should all go without saying but I will conclude with one last piece of evidence because it is elementary to think critically about the information that people propagate.
If one is to read a recent translation of Genesis in the Bible, one is to learn that Eve was made from a rib of Adam.
I refuse that statement by applying some hermeneutics.
Because words carry power.
And saying that women were made from a tiny portion of a man can very much justify the subordination of women to men while supporting inequality through a patriarchal system of power.
This type of wordplay can result in misogyny.
“Then the Lord God made a woman from the tsela he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.”
Genesis 2:22
The Hebrew word “tsela” is only translated once as a “rib” in the whole Bible. But appears in other contexts throughout the Old Testament, and is sometimes translated as "side" or "chamber" instead of "rib".
In the context of the story of the creation of Eve in Genesis, "tsela" is traditionally translated as "rib" However, some scholars have suggested that "tsela" might be better translated as "side" or "flank" and that the reference to a rib may have been a later reinterpretation or mistranslation of the original Hebrew text.
It is important to bring equality to the table because then and only then…
All the inner children will finally come out and play.
Sometimes we feel the urge to start a project without really knowing the destination.
But for every edition that I publish, I can better picture the horizons behind the name “Agency”.
A problem can be identified by analyzing different parameters and variables of the present in context.
A solution can be implemented by filling the gaps and fixing the bottlenecks within a system.
But sometimes not even all the signals and alerts can help us predict how things will unfold in the future.
Regardless of lacking the capacity to truly predict the future, nothing stops us from preparing ourselves.
I used to think: “Hope for the best but be prepared for the worst”
“Hope for the best and be prepared to do your absolute best” reads better though.
And that’s Agency.
It aims to be, more than anything, a long-lasting bridge.
A bridge between Art (as in human expression) and Business (as in entrepreneurship)
For a long time, I used to think that these two words couldn’t go together.
Because something that we all learn when we dive into the corporate world is that it is important to avoid letting emotions and personal feelings cloud one's judgment and decision-making in business.
But for creative professionals, this is profoundly paradoxical because our raw materials are feelings.
And for a long time, I struggled with this because truthfully, we spend most of our lives working, and still, we need to be impersonal rather than intentional with our feelings when wearing our badges.
Like robots?
For the future years, I can only wonder how many people will keep on doing exactly what they are told to do, like a perfect factory worker, only to find out that they have been picked for a mass layoff or that they will be replaced by AI.
Listen,
True ideas and aesthetics don’t come from Excel spreadsheets.
Because humans are not machines.
And creatives are not AI.
And as companies around the world start automating more and more processes through AI for the sake of growth.
Some companies will understand the value of allying with art and creativity in order to develop and ship humanized brands, products, and services.
These companies will craft brilliantly inspiring endeavors that will stand out like a shooting star passing through a sea of synthetic, shallow, and robotically made things.
Would people ever watch Formula 1 if all cars were driven by themselves?
No!! Of course not, the human factor is necessary.
And I’m pretty sure that Agency will be here to help.
Need an Ayrton Senna to represent you in a race? Well, Agency got plenty.
In fact, Agency only exists because it started out as an artistic endeavor.
I never said this but I found Substack when looking for a platform to publish my novel online.
Once I experimented with Sentient Press I realized that this would be the perfect platform for a business and creativity newsletter.
3 months later and here we are, with 10.000 impressions!
And after all this talk I still haven’t thanked everyone who has been following, engaging, collaborating, and supporting Agency!
I feel truly grateful for what it currently is and what it ought to become.
So THANK YOU!
Peace and bliss my dear friend.
I hope we meet again soon.
