The Journey - February 3rd, 2023
A newsletter around learnings, experiences, creations and discoveries.
Hi all,
- friends, colleagues, coliving enthusiasts, and fellow human beings -
Every day, we come across incredible experiences, discoveries and learnings that would be so much worth sharing with others, but we don’t take the time in doing so.
Today, I’d love to launch a short newsletter to share golden nuggets that I encounter, and would love you to be part of it. If you don’t find any value, you can unsubscribe at any time, no questions asked.
Welcome to The Journey - a journey of life, where no one truly knows where it’s leading us, and yet walking its path is full of wonders.
Yours, Gui
Experiences
The most transformative experience I’ve ever done: a 10-day meditation retreat called Vipassana. It’s free (donation basis) and puts you into an environment a complete silence and introspection. Personally, it brought me from remembering the earliest childhood memories to starting the cure of my scorliosis and allowing me to feel inner peace like never before. Read more in my blog on how it works.
On the most sane thing I ever heard: I was sitting next to a stranger in a busride. He shared with me his crazy story: former Tunisian Judo national champion who fled to the US by boat, got captured and sent back to Spain, lived there for twenty years, becoming the owner of nightclubs before becoming a butcher, and the list goes on. When I asked him: so, what are your dreams now? His answer was simple: “To die in good health.”
How strong is the power of groups? I wanted to test it out and attended Alcoholic Anonymous meetings. While I’m not alcoholic, the point is that we all struggle with certain habits that don’t serve us. It was incredible seeing first-hand how sharing about a common problem keeps the healing upfront - and how people with chronic patterns are able to free themselves from it.
Creations
When you allow yourself to follow your passions: six months ago, I invested all my savings to by an electric harp. My friends thoughts I was crazy, and they’re right: it’s been the best moments ever to play with it above electronic music! And so with one of my best friends Renat Gabitov behind the camera, a drone and an epic sunset, we recorded this dope 1h deephouse set which can you now listen to 🎶
If you don’t create community within your own team, how could you in a coliving space? That’s the reason why I spent three days with the team at Cowool coliving and coworking, an amazing project, to help them to build their team spirit, internal processes and educating their community managers. Cowool is to me an example of a brand that from the start invested into community experience - and I have big hopes for its success. Learn more in this post I made.
What if you could partner up with the largest organization in your field and co-host your main event? That’s what we did: last week, I launched with Co-Liv the MIPIM Co-Liv Summit - the conference on shared living, in partnership with MIPIM, the largest European real estate conference. Golden nugget on top: it will be hosted in the Film Festival Palace in Cannes - purely gorgeous. Come and join us!
When you meet incredible people and just say yes to cocreating: recorded my first ever electronic harp track with Oscar from Underdog Music School. In the process, he also taught me music theory, which we captured in this video - helpful to anyone that wants to learn how to improvise!
Discoveries
Two things I’ve watched that marked me: Factory, a 30-min silent documentary about workers in northern Russia. Seeing the mechanical work in action makes you filled with a whole lots of emotions. And Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot - a film about an alcoholic that got into a car accident because of his consumption, and who through group therapy finds peace by forgiving himself.
On the coliving side: Cohere, a networking of coliving spaces. The GroundInn community design ebook. The HouseMonk coliving report. And a successful crowdequity campaign by Circles.
I’m been fascinated by social clubs: creating a physical space for people to come and connect. In contrast to coliving, you don’t need to deal with the logistics of eating and sleeping, while keeping the community aspect. I’ve gotten inspired by places such as Yayem (Portugal), The Commons (San Francisco) and OneThousandClub, a social club without space in Lisbon, connecting expats and locals. Social clubs are, in my opinion, the next wave of spaces to help foster a feeling of connection in cities. To be continued…
Quote of the Week
“Understanding is love’s other name.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
Wishing you a great end February ahead,
Gui
PS: You can connect with me on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.