A Stressful Life is a Meaningful Life

Hey everyone,

European Summer might be over, but September to December is when all the real work gets done. Let’s get to it.

This is your Sunday Space, where I serve up the best ideas, tools and resources I’ve found each week as we explore the technology shaping the future.

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IDEAS
A Stressful Life is a Meaningful Life

The average person assumes stress is innately bad—something to be reduced, minimised or avoided altogether.

But what if our preconceived notions of stress are all wrong?

We can reframe stress simply by redefining it around “meaning”.

“Meaning” is a big, scary word if left to interpretation. Let’s define it as being created as a by-product of everything we care about:

• Family

• Career

• Health etc.

Stress, then, is the body’s response when something we care about is at stake:

• Your father is diagnosed with a terminal illness.

• You’re at risk of being laid off from your job.

• You’re struggling with an addiction.

Counterintuitively, the stress response should not be avoided in these scenarios.

It prepares us for the challenge. It’s our body’s natural way of saying:

“You’ve got this. Just focus on the obstacle, ignore everything else.”

Ultimately, “stress” drives meaning because it’s the most obvious indicator of what we truly care about. It's so obvious, in fact, that you’ll feel it viscerally throughout your body—physically and emotionally.

So next time you get clammy hands, your breath shortens, or your heart starts pounding, remember not to run away from the feeling. Embrace it—let the stress give you energy and drive action.

Because embracing a stressful life creates a meaningful one.

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INSIGHTS
1 Article

Midjourney opens its website to all users

Midjourney has opened its shiny new web platform to the world. Users with as few as ten generated images can access it, making it more inclusive for new creators. The web platform streamlines the image generation process, removing reliance on command-line style prompts in Discord. It also features a full image editor rounding out a platform that enhances creator workflows.

Luca’s take: Midjourney is my favourite AI image platform by far. The quality is superior in all aspects compared to other models, and the revamped web platform’s user experience is the cherry on top.

However, Midjourney’s position is far from stable. New image models like Flux.1, integrated into Grok-2, rival its quality. Midjourney also faces a class-action lawsuit alleging copyright violations for training on images without artists’ permission.

It feels like these types of challenges, relentless competition and legal pressure, are par for the course in creating a groundbreaking AI company in 2024.

1 Post

1 Video

THOUGHTS
Quote I’m Pondering

"To experience time travel, read. To achieve immortality, write."

— James Clear

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Thanks for reading,

— Luca

P.S. Elon to the rescue…