Origins Podcast with Ryan McGranaghan

Episode 18: José Cotto - Creator, inspirer, and cultural entrepreneur across scales


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Show Notes

  • Grew up knowing possibility and that people create things (8:30) 
  • Being around art, there was always another reality that could be made (9:00) 
  • How do you sit with tension? (10:00) 
    • The thing that allows me to maintain balance in the present - keep moving at the pace that feels most fulfilling and productive in the moment 
    • Find comfort in the tension  
  • Poetry is complex enough to hold the tension of human experience - pair with Brené Brown's thoughts (12:15) 
  • Love of poetry (12:30)  
    • "Where the sidewalk ends" and "Falling up” - Shel Silverstein 
    • Music - Nas (14:00) 
    • A love for how people are able to communicate narratives 
  • Pedagogy (20:15) 
  • "The way that you move is going to get you to where you need to get” (22:15) 
  • Community empowerment (24:30) 
    • Create. Inspire. Support. 
    • What is it about the physical environment that is preventing people from being about to leave?  
  • Community is everything (30:00) 
  • What do you tell people to help them embrace the moment? (31:00) 
    • Everything is designed and the built environment (31:00) 
  • Concept of scale (space and time) (32:15) 
  • The Bayou St. John, New Orleans (35:00) 
  • Human-level scale and humanizing things (35:30) 
    • Everything is interconnected 
    • Pair the discussion with David Krakauer thoughts on complexity
  • Regaining lost focus (42:00) 
    • Taking long breaths and breathing practice 
    • “The thing that I value most is breathing” (42:30) 
  • Perspective on pandemics and COVID-19 (45:00) 
  • Lightning round (48:15) 
    • Book: "Where the sidewalk ends" and "Falling up” - Shel Silverstein 
    • Passion outside his work: proximity to social work 
    • Making his heart sing: new series of drawings called Ancestors
    • Changed his mind about lately: “how much I need" 
      • “The fastest way to have more is to need less" 
  • Human beings not human doers (55:30) 
  • Find José online: 
    • Instagram
    • Twitter @jccotto 
    • https://jccotto.com/
    • Ancestors series of drawings 
  • 'Five-Cut Fridays’ series  
    • Jose’s list
...more
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Origins Podcast with Ryan McGranaghanBy Ryan McGranaghan

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