Even the Experts Can’t Agree - WISER Newsletter

What to do After you’ve Heard Both Sides of the Story

January 14, 2023

Welcome to this issue of the WISER Newsletter!

This is the newsletter where you’ll receive Wise Insights Shared by Email Regularly.

I’m glad that we can get WISER together!

🤦‍♂️ Even the Experts Can’t Agree 📷

To share today’s nugget of wisdom, I first need to share with you another passion of mine: analogue photography.

For those of you that don’t know, analogue photography is essentially using a non-digital camera. If you’ve ever used a disposable camera, that’s a form of analogue photography!

My favourite cameras are my Leica M5 or Mamiya RB67, and fun fact: I use to have a fully-functioning dark room in my bedroom!

In 2018, you’d regularly find me strolling the streets of Oxford, taking photos of anything that allowed me to embrace my inner Henri Cartier-Bresson.

I adored Cartier-Bresson because he shot some of the most striking black and white photos. He’s recognised as one of the Godfathers of street photography.

You can view some of his work here:

Henri Cartier-Bresson • Photographer Profile • Magnum Photos Magnum Photos

Another photographer heralded for pioneering street photography is Joel Meyerowitz. He does wonderfully vibrant colour images featuring almost intrusive images of the eclectic people from streets of New York.

You can find some of Meyerowitz’s photography here:

Joel Meyerowitz on Instagram: "New York City, 1963"

Joel Meyerowitz shared a post on Instagram: "New York City, 1963". Follow their account to see 1219 posts.

Both Cartier-Bresson and Meyerowitz are undeniably deserving of the respect people have for them, but these 2 wouldn’t have seen eye-to-eye on how one should do photography.

Why?

Let’s take a look at a quote from each of them:

“Colour, for me, remains painter’s domain.” - Henri Cartier-Bresson

“If the world is in colour, then why shoot it in black and white?” - Joel Meyerowitz

So here we have two of the greatest street shooters ever, and one tells you to only shoot monochrome, and the other says only in colour. Which one should we listen to?!

I believe the wise answer is both. We should listen to both, but we must recognise that:

🙅‍♂️ There’s often not an objectively right answer - especially in art. ✍️

The example I have referenced above for this point is about photography, but we can apply this logic to other areas.

How come Cristiano Ronaldo swears by Nike but Messi wears Adidas?

Zildjian are the cymbals that Travis Barker (Blink-182’s drummer) uses, but Eric “E-Panda” Hernandez (Bruno Mars’ drummer) only uses Sabian cymbals.

Granted these examples probably also come down to money, but it’s important that we recognise that in some areas of life, there are preferences at play.

I’ve been reflecting on this a lot as I’ve had some differing views to other visual creators of late, and initially I took the mindset of “I’m right, they’re wrong”, but actually it’s just that we have:

  • Different views

  • Different lived experiences

  • Different goals

  • Different purposes

Now I’m trying to take an approach that’s more open-minded. I’m summarising this mindset as:

👂 Always listen.

🙇‍♂️ Always learn.

😊 But always authentic to me.

So yes, the experts might try to tell you that you should like this style of music, or you should only use that type of camera, but they can’t tell you what to like.

Art is subjective. Listen to the experts, but enjoy it the way you like it.

A huge caveat to this thinking is that this is not applicable to everything. I think it’s appropriate in areas like art, music and sport, but we need to be really careful that we don’t just always do our own thing.

The defence that “the heart wants what the heart wants” is incredibly dangerous and often used to defend inappropriate actions. It is almost always wise to adhere to law, scientific or health experts. Please exercise this mindset with common sense.

❓ Well now you’ve listened - what do you think about all this?

  • Do you often trust the expert’s opinion more than your own?

  • Do you think there’s other areas other than art, music and sport that this might be relevant to?

  • Do you disagree with my mindset on this? If so, I’d love to hear why!

✍️ Consider journalling through the above questions yourself.

💬 Also, if you want to chat about this, email or DM me! I’d love to hear from you!

✍️ What I’m Working On

Last week I launched the WISER Newsletter Instagram account! My new content strategy has been so energising! I’m really enjoying it. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it. You can follow that account here:

WISER Newsletter on Instagram: "It’s week 2 of 2023 and it’s important that we recognise that momentum matters. Did you start the year strong? If so, how can you make last week’s success drive you even further forward? It’s a matter of looking at what went right, and replicating that in this week. Keep that momentum going! If last week didn’t go to plan, why not? What went wrong? Just like how momentum helps positivity to compound, it can also help negativity to compound. That’s why we need to stop it before it it grows into something even worse. Stop that momentum as soon as you can. This means learning from last week and putting the failures behind you. This week is a new week, and whatever you’re building upon, you’re going to make the most of this week. I believe in you. Let me know what you’re hoping to achieve this week in the comments! 👇"

WISER Newsletter shared a post on Instagram: "It’s week 2 of 2023 and it’s important that we recognise that momentum matters. Did you start the year strong? If so, how can you make last week’s success drive you even further forward? It’s a matter of looking at what went right, and replicating that in this week. Keep that momentum going! If last week didn’t go to plan, why not? What went wrong? Just like how momentum helps positivity to compound, it can also help negativity to compound. That’s why we need to stop it before it it grows into something even worse. Stop that momentum as soon as you can. This means learning from last week and putting the failures behind you. This week is a new week, and whatever you’re building upon, you’re going to make the most of this week. I believe in you. Let me know what you’re hoping to achieve this week in the comments! 👇". Follow their account to see 13 posts.

I’m still working on the Journalling e-book that I’m making for you all. Last week I announced that is was going to be called The Wise Guide to Journalling. I can’t wait to get it out for you this quarter!

And if you have made it this far, I have one small favour to ask of you…

SEND ME AN EMAIL!

I wouldd genuinely love to get to know you more. I had a few people reply to last week’s issue and I absolutely loved it. I had some really great conversations with a few of you, and I’d be keen to do more this week!

So let me know:

  • Who you are?

  • Where are you from?

  • What you are passionate about?

  • What areas you feel like you could benefit from wisdom in?

And feel free to tell me anything else about yourself. I look forward to getting to know you more!

😊 Thank You!

Thanks for checking out this issue of the WISER Newsletter. If you have any feedback, I’d love to hear it!

Simply reply to this email, and I’ll get back to you.

Alternatively, just DM me on social media. You can find me here:

Catch you in the next issue!

Thanks,

Michael