hey. it's wil.

i’ve been walking a lot lately.

many times, especially early in the morning, it’s on my own. always with camera and some gear with me. i travel light and minimal, generally, and this is no exception.

lately, i’ve been playing around with wondering how can we be present in today’s incredibly divisive and chaotic world.

so i started reading and listening and watching content geared towards just that, and i’ve been writing and recording and filming content to see how i can get from here to there.

i’m creating these pieces in a story i’m calling on being human. and i’m collecting these pieces on my website, www.wiljr.org.

this audio piece was recorded on tuesday, september 29, 2026. it’s a short-ish piece to help me get some things out of my head.

the cover photo was taken a few days earlier, on september 27, looking down columbus avenue towards midtown.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wiljr.substack.com

a new york city photo walk from the west side to the guggenheim and back.

what is this?

i went for a walk in august that ended up being a pretty good example of why i like photographing new york: i started on the west side of manhattan, walked across central pPark, went up fifth avenue past the met and the guggenheim museums, and then came back across the park to buy fruit at a fruit stand.

i took 135 photographs along the way.

and looking back at them, i realized i wasn’t really photographing the places i was walking through.

i was photographing the things that made me stop.

i thought it’d be fun to show-and-tell through these photos.

so this is the first behind those shots video, of me trying to remember why i took those shots.

shorts and stuff.

the shorts i’ve been making → are pretty simple:

* i walk

* i see something

* i photograph it

* i make a very short video

there’s obviously more to the photograph than what fits into twelve-ish seconds.

so i wanted to experiment with something longer.

* this isn’t really a photography tutorial.

* it’s not a vlog.

* and it’s not really a gear show.

it’s more like sitting down after a walk and talking through what i saw.

i walk around new york city a lot. i photograph a lot.

and i’ve started to realize that the interesting part isn’t necessarily the photograph itself.

it’s the reason i stopped to take it.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wiljr.substack.com

Talking to myself

Ever seen the streets before the cameras and talent come out for film day?

This morning’s observation

What struck me about the recent Meta restructuring wasn’t the technology or even the haphazard way it was rolled out. It was the assumption that removing people automatically makes an organization more efficient.

* The work rarely disappears.

* More often, the coordination disappears.

Every organization has people whose primary job is connecting teams, translating priorities and reducing confusion.

What happens when those people are removed faster than the organization learns to work without them?

This morning’s photos

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wiljr.substack.com

Audio only.

Highlights from this morning’s walk:

* It’s humid out

* The lighting was amazing

* Is the world moving to the (far) left?

* Big rain storm coming

* How do I respond to comments?

Photos from this walk…

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wiljr.substack.com

Day 2 of testing a live (and recorded) audio format as I walk around New York City in the morning.

Photos from today’s walk.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wiljr.substack.com

I’ve always wanted to create my own radio show.

Here’s test one.

Test two tomorrow.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wiljr.substack.com

May 14, 2026

I walk around New York City and Central Park in the morning, taking photos with a newly added 50mm lens. Personal operating systems, expectations, case studies, photos and sports.

* Referenced case study: https://thenewcommunicate.com/#alignment-in-practice

* Contact me: [email protected]

* No guest requests. It’s a solo joint.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wiljr.substack.com

I have a few of these shorts lined up. While these are my first attempts at creating short(er) videos, I'd like to try doing some narrative voiceovers to add a little context to the video. (Maybe, like, read a piece from a book or poem or song?)

Note: Initially posted on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD_61Isu3Vc.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wiljr.substack.com

Only 30% of enterprises have fully moved to the cloud, yet we are already sprinting toward AI. The result?

A 95% failure rate for AI initiatives.

In this episode, I talk about why high-performance teams are failing at the finish line and why “team onboarding” must include a consistent decision-making framework to protect your margins and your sanity.

Links:

• Ben Evans: www.ben-evans.com

• The Governance Partner: hialex.cc

• Strategic Consulting: thenewcommunicate.com

• Weekly Insights: uponconsideration.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wiljr.substack.com

Join me on a walk across Central Park from the West Side to the Met (and back again).

In this episode, we explore the ancient Persian city of Nishapur (a hub of the Silk Road), the hidden engineering history of Park Avenue’s most "unstable" skyscraper, and the somber reality of why we must record our thoughts during times of war.

Key moments

* How Central Park hides its traffic via "below-grade" thoroughfares

* The Silk Road: Trade artifacts from the 1930s now at the Met

* The Journaling Pivot: Why our memories of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are unreliable

* The Citicorp Center: The building that almost toppled in the 1970s

* The "hilly" origins of Manhattan

Sign up for my newsletter at https://uponconsideration.com.

For the full experience (videos, images, transcript), visit wiljr.substack.com.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wiljr.substack.com