#21: Curated or Genuine?

☀️ What’s genuinely ours?

Lately, I’ve been catching myself double‑checking why I like certain things.

• Do I actually enjoy them?

• Or did I pick them up because they looked good on paper, fit a trend, or felt like what I was “supposed” to like?

Scrolling through my feeds, choosing what to eat, even planning a trip… there’s so much that’s carefully packaged, filtered, and algorithmically nudged in front of me. And most of the time, I don’t even notice how much of my taste is curated by someone else.

But then there are those moments that feel real: a random wine I picked without reading the label, a tiny local museum that wasn’t in the guidebooks, a dish that surprised me simply because it tasted like home.

This week’s edition is about that tension between what’s curated for us and what feels genuinely ours.

Where in your life are you consuming, wearing, buying, or believing things that feel like you, and where might you be on autopilot, borrowing someone else’s lens?

Maybe it’s time to ask: is this truly mine, or just something I’ve been told should be?

📖 3 Articles to Spark Your Curiosity

1. Why Art Is Good for You
   Not just decoration. This piece lays out four science‑backed reasons art matters: lowering stress, boosting empathy, sharpening your thinking, and even supporting your health. A reminder that genuine connection often comes through what we choose to hang on our walls and let shape our spaces.
   → Read on Artsy ›

2. How to Choose a Wine You’ll Actually Like
   Instead of relying on curated top‑10 lists or “expert” notes, this guide invites you to tune into your own palate. It’s part science, part self‑exploration—a gentle nudge to trust your instincts over trends the next time you’re staring at a wall of bottles.
   → Read on Psyche ›

3. Stop Managing Change. Start Creating It.
   In business and beyond, there’s a difference between reacting to what’s handed to you and actively shaping what comes next. This article challenges leaders (and all of us) to stop accepting pre‑set frames and start building new ones.
   → Read on Forbes ›

🗞️ 3 Headlines Worth Exploring

1. Humans Are Hooked on Fake Nature
   From artificial lawns to plastic plants, we’re increasingly drawn to curated versions of the natural world. This piece asks what we lose when we trade the genuine for the manufactured.
   → Read on The Guardian

2. Fashion’s Dopamine Fix
   The rise of “dopamine dressing” shows how fashion taps into our craving for quick hits of joy. But is this vibrant trend about authentic self‑expression, or just another way the industry keeps us hooked?
   → Read on Business of Fashion

3. A Pasta Dish Worth the Hype
   The Pasta Queen shares her favorite cacio e pepe in Rome, an example of a dish that’s both curated for perfection and deeply genuine in its tradition. A reminder that sometimes, authenticity tastes as good as it sounds.
   → Read on BBC Travel

☀️ 3 Actions to Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

1. Share something unpolished.
   Post a thought, sketch, or idea before it’s “ready.” See how people respond when you let them in on the process, not just the final product.

2. Seek the un‑Instagrammable.
   Visit a place you’d never photograph for social media. Maybe it’s messy, plain, or ordinary. Notice what you appreciate when you’re not framing it for others.

3. Try a passion without performance.
   Cook a dish, paint, write, or dance just for yourself. No photos, no updates, no sharing. Remind yourself what it feels like to create without curating.

⚡ 6 Quick Resources

🔎 To check your curiosity style:
Are you a Hunter, a Busybody, or a Dancer? This short piece from Psyche offers a playful yet insightful breakdown of three curiosity types, helping you see how you naturally explore the world, and how to expand your style.
→ Read on Psyche

😴 To watch:
Sleep posture might be the hidden key to better rest. In this TEDx talk, James Leinhardt explains how proper nighttime posture can improve spine health, reduce pain, and help you wake up truly refreshed, backed by decades of clinical research and real‑world cases.
→ Watch on YouTube

🏚️ A different type of vacation:
Some travelers are swapping luxury getaways for eerie, fascinating trips to abandoned places. Think empty amusement parks, ghost towns, and crumbling theaters. Here’s how these unusual sites are turning into tourist attractions.
→ Read on CNBC

⚠️ To avoid:
Ever wondered what the most dangerous road in your country is? This map highlights them all: hair‑raising mountain passes, narrow cliffside routes, and infamous highways you might think twice about driving.
→ Explore on Mental Floss

🌯 To discuss:
Should we wrap leftovers for diners automatically? This Atlantic piece explores how cultural shifts, sustainability, and restaurant norms are colliding around a simple question: do we send food back home, or let it go to waste?
 → Read on The Atlantic

💡 To save:
A former Google exec shares seven sharp questions to ask yourself (and others) if you want to get smarter, make better decisions, and succeed in complex work environments.
→ Read on CNBC

🎲 This week’s wonderfully random corner of the internet 

🕶️ Poolsuite

Step into a retro‑futuristic daydream: Poolsuite is an online “radio” that feels like a summer vacation frozen in time. Think lo‑fi beats, vintage aesthetics, and playful design that makes you feel like you’ve just opened an old Macintosh on a sunny pool deck. It’s not just music, it’s a whole vibe.

→ Dive in at poolsuite.net

📝 Word of the Week

Echt (adj.) – Genuine, authentic, true in essence.

A word borrowed from German, echt is perfect for moments when you want to call out what’s truly real beyond the curated images, the staged settings, or the polished façades.

🧘‍♀️ Question of the Week for Introspection

When was the last time you paused to ask yourself: Is this choice, habit, or project truly echt (true to me) or just something I’ve adopted because it looked right from the outside?

See you next Sunday! Until then, keep your eyes open, your questions big, and your sense of wonder alive.

Your curious internet friend,

Ruxandra