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Outside of my career as a designer, I'm a musician - my other passion in life. I've played jazz saxophone since middle school band (shout out to my fellow band kids - I know you're reading!).

As a part of my musical journey, I've had the privilege of attending a saxophone camp called Inside Outside Retreat a few times over the last years. There are many lessons from that experience (beyond the musical ones) that have stuck with me, and I'm excited to share them in future issues of How Kind. Today, I'm sharing one that is summed up in the photo above.

This one time, at sax camp...

The saxophone retreat takes place in the middle of nowhere, Tennessee, USA. Besides being a musical retreat, a big focus of the camp is on nature - getting us back to our roots (hehe) by making contact with the trees, animals, and sounds around us.

When arriving at the retreat, you'll eventually get off the highway and onto a dirt path, and after 15 minutes barreling down a nondescript forest area, you might begin to think you got turned around.

But then, when all hope might be lost (read: you want to triple-check your GPS), a literal sign comes into view: You are not lost. Keep going.

The way is through

If you're anything like me, there are moments every week or so where you feel lost. Like you're just going through the motions, feeling your way through the routines, and finding it hard to see any real progress (or, dare I say, see the forest for the trees? Eh?).

And especially with the non-stop talk of the "inevitable AI global takeover" over the last year, I've been asking myself whether the path I'm on is the right one.

  • What should I be studying right now?
  • Which skill or craft should I be honing?
  • What new tool should I adopt?
  • Should I try to go through an AI course? A graduate program?
  • Will my job become obsolete? Will I?
  • Am I doing enough?
  • Am I keeping up with my co-workers? With my peers?

Maybe some of these questions sound familiar to you. I personally know how hard it is to even begin to tackle them on top of your day-to-day responsibilities at work and home. How can we be asked to become experts in a new field over night?

I don't have a clear answer to this. But I want to acknowledge that you, or me, or your peers are not alone in feeling unsure. Feeling like imposters. (Hey, I gave a whole 45 presentation on imposter syndrome along with my best friend a few years ago. So you could say I have experience in the field of self doubt.) All I know is that the secret is just to keep going. You have to keep going. No matter how pointless, or silly, or disheartening it feels. Especially when it's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

The industry is becoming increasingly dependent on speed, on immediate solutions and returns on investment. The advent of instant assistance available at our fingertips, sourced from not-entirely-reliable LLM tools, is only making this worse. We are offsetting all struggle and inconveniences to these tools.

But I believe the struggle of the path, of feeling lost, is the way; the way is through. It's how we learn, how we allow ourselves to try, play, learn, grow, and hone our craft.

And I know it's one thing to say all of this - and it's another to face the stark, daily reality of struggling to find a job, to readjust after being laid off, to feel like you're falling behind the industry... I definitely acknowledge the pressures and rush that creates to get back on your feet. Everyone is entitled to stability and feeling safe.

I hope these words can at least remind us that we are not alone. I'm hoping that the more we can have these conversations and support each other, the more secure we can feel in our own paths.

You are not lost. Keep going.

📚 If you have a few more min...

Check out my newest long-form essay: You are an expert
A reminder that you're exactly where you need to be.
And a call to be critical of the narrative we're being sold.

👋 Before we go

Thank you to all the support on the first issue of How Kind last week. Can you believe we're already up to 50 subscribers? :') Thank you very much to each of you, from the bottom of our heart.

My mission is to make this a true conversation, so please share what's on your mind! Got a question for me? A burning topic on your mind? Thoughts on this issue? Comment below, share with a friend you think might find this interesting, or write me at howkind@mateusdasilva.com :-)

Kindly yours,
Mateus Da Silva

🎷This was issue #2 of How Kind, spreading kindness, one newsletter at a time. See the full archive here. Enjoying the newsletter? Consider subscribing for free (or upgrading to a paid subscription) or tipping me!