{"collectionById":{"0c7205f6-784f-41d3-b3e5-fdef059cf5d8":{"id":"0c7205f6-784f-41d3-b3e5-fdef059cf5d8","name":"Musings","fieldSchemas":[{"id":"ea81abf1-342d-4933-a436-f457ac54e8c6","name":"Title","type":"plain_text","role":"primary"},{"id":"14523696-7018-48b0-a7ea-d1151bd61677","name":"Slug","type":"slug","role":"slug"},{"id":"c96f11c7-72d7-49ee-8909-35ef239ebed9","name":"Rich text","type":"rich_text"},{"id":"f1aabde6-f74e-466a-98f8-340a3f303d42","name":"Date 2","type":"plain_text"}],"itemById":{"32f73653-fb0d-4f7d-8221-6fe41ad9b357":{"id":"32f73653-fb0d-4f7d-8221-6fe41ad9b357","index":"$6O","collectionId":"0c7205f6-784f-41d3-b3e5-fdef059cf5d8","fields":[{"id":"abe11686-0f58-4556-820f-53229341c262","value":"fractals-power-laws-and-thermal-domes","itemId":"32f73653-fb0d-4f7d-8221-6fe41ad9b357","fieldSchemaId":"14523696-7018-48b0-a7ea-d1151bd61677"},{"id":"8f721069-e5d5-45f5-8130-65bb17b7b04b","value":"Fractals, Power Laws and Thermal Domes","itemId":"32f73653-fb0d-4f7d-8221-6fe41ad9b357","fieldSchemaId":"ea81abf1-342d-4933-a436-f457ac54e8c6"},{"id":"f232f8cc-084d-4746-a744-9da945b4d03e","value":"06.03.26","itemId":"32f73653-fb0d-4f7d-8221-6fe41ad9b357","fieldSchemaId":"f1aabde6-f74e-466a-98f8-340a3f303d42"}]},"6551ad6a-eb33-4409-82e5-a32cb6d01ef7":{"id":"6551ad6a-eb33-4409-82e5-a32cb6d01ef7","index":"$O","collectionId":"0c7205f6-784f-41d3-b3e5-fdef059cf5d8","fields":[{"id":"7409dbdd-57f5-4078-b2b1-5de97f04a3e2","value":"A Rainbow in the Clouds","itemId":"6551ad6a-eb33-4409-82e5-a32cb6d01ef7","fieldSchemaId":"ea81abf1-342d-4933-a436-f457ac54e8c6"},{"id":"84a32cef-e8a1-4c95-b973-0912763a9e9f","value":"a-rainbow-in-the-clouds","itemId":"6551ad6a-eb33-4409-82e5-a32cb6d01ef7","fieldSchemaId":"14523696-7018-48b0-a7ea-d1151bd61677"},{"id":"71590a6f-c8f0-4c36-ab32-000595aa27f4","value":"17.03.23","itemId":"6551ad6a-eb33-4409-82e5-a32cb6d01ef7","fieldSchemaId":"f1aabde6-f74e-466a-98f8-340a3f303d42"}]},"6d1bfeda-56d6-42c9-b8ca-e90d40d5b0fb":{"id":"6d1bfeda-56d6-42c9-b8ca-e90d40d5b0fb","index":"$6NO","collectionId":"0c7205f6-784f-41d3-b3e5-fdef059cf5d8","fields":[{"id":"237b06ae-3c67-469b-8b6c-29eb1467b289","value":"i-dont-know-where-im-going-but-i-know-exactly-how-to-get-there","itemId":"6d1bfeda-56d6-42c9-b8ca-e90d40d5b0fb","fieldSchemaId":"14523696-7018-48b0-a7ea-d1151bd61677"},{"id":"dba93578-ae42-44bb-8696-b8934f118d0b","value":"I don't know where I'm going, but I know exactly how to get there.","itemId":"6d1bfeda-56d6-42c9-b8ca-e90d40d5b0fb","fieldSchemaId":"ea81abf1-342d-4933-a436-f457ac54e8c6"},{"id":"56340200-fb19-4d7e-8319-3cb5a67ebdf3","value":"21.05.26","itemId":"6d1bfeda-56d6-42c9-b8ca-e90d40d5b0fb","fieldSchemaId":"f1aabde6-f74e-466a-98f8-340a3f303d42"},{"id":"6b641eb0-99cf-42fd-8afc-2e4de6110f9b","value":"{\"root\":{\"children\":[{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"I wake at 4:04am. My entire body is overcome with anticipation for what lies ahead. All night I heard sounds that I’ve never heard before. I travelled for nearly two days to be here. Across the United States and Atlantic Ocean before covering the length of Europe and Africa. I’ve been called. Called into the wild. Called to share time and presence with my African family. In a sense, called home. \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"I head out into the darkness and look up to see the familiar sight of the Southern Cross sparkling overhead. I’m a long way from home. A long way from anywhere. But seeing this familiar sight in the night sky orients me to the fact that Earth is infinitesimally small in a cosmic sense. As I notice the stars I hear the distant roars of lions on the morning breeze. My anticipation builds. \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"Boyd gathers his rifle and we mount the opentop Landrover. A vehicle that has likely seen more wildness than any human alive. Landy will be our adventure buddy, our refuge amongst the wild for the next week. We drive through the morning darkness and I feel… alive. Completely alive. Completely present. A presence that I’ve only experienced in a handful of moments, often while surfing a wave in the pre-dawn darkness where the senses are incredibly attuned and alive. These are the moments my friend Jimmy refers to as “no mind state” moments. \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"After a few minutes traversing the darkness we arrive to pick up Renias, a Shangaan man who has lived on these lands since his birth. Renias is a master tracker and I have come to Londolozi to observe and learn from him. \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"Boyd, Renias and I head out into the African wilderness with the clear intention to locate the tracks of wild animals, but with no expectation that we will successfully track anything. We are attuned to our surroundings but not holding too tightly to any preconceived expectation about what is to come. \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"A small part of me expects (wishes) to immediately locate an apex predator lurking in front of the Landrover. We don't. We drive slowly in the pre-dawn light. It feels like we are the only humans awake within several hundred kilometres. We are calm and relaxed but attuned. Highly attuned. Renias sits in his “office” in the trackers seat (basically a crows nest on the bull bar) at the front of the vehicle scanning the ground and surrounds for tracks and movements that could signal the presence of large fauna. He listens, he directs, he leads. Renias is a part of this landscape. He is integrated into these surroundings. At one. In unison. He is a man who is in complete presence with his environment.\",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"We come across some fresh rhino tracks in the mud. We pause. Renias assesses the situation. We contemplate following these tracks before we make a decision to push on into the pre-dawn to search for signs of a pride of lions that were located the evening before. A few minutes later we cross our first lion tracks. We stop. We walk and orient ourselves. I can’t quite believe I am here. Renias is beginning to piece together the story of the pride and their movements overnight. Watching his process is an incredible privilege. The tracks are several hours old so he knows that the lions are not close by. We walk, we listen, we smell. Renias is assembling the pieces of the puzzle. Piece by piece. We walk back and forth for several hundred metres hypothesizing, disconfirming, re-hypothesizing, testing and validating our ideas of what might be the lion's direction of travel, as well as their mood and intention.\",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"The tracks are sporadic and erratic, most likely a pride hunting impala, wildebeest, nyala or kudu according to Renias. The lions’ tracks darted this way and that way. In. Out. Together. Separate. Ultimately, the tracks converged on a path and we follow that track for several kilometres. At times the lions are running, then walking, then laying down, then drinking from the puddles left behind by the overnight rains. We continue on the track. Then we lose it completely. There is confusion. We backtrack. Renias is using as many data points as he can to triangulate the next first track. We go back to locate the last track we had registered then Renias can see that the lions have cut left and abandoned their predictable path. He spots a set of new tracks heading towards the river. We walk on and after multiple confirmatory tracks, confirm that this was their path. \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"Renias registers the faintest, barely visible track time and time again. I can hardly distinguish untouched ground from the tracks Renias identifies. His eyes are potent. Piercing. He knows what to look for. He also senses and predicts. He takes on the persona of the animal he is tracking. Completely embodying how they move, think and act. I would see him take on the persona of lions, leopards, and rhino during our time together. \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"The lions passed through here maybe 1-2 hours ago. We are beginning to close on them. We push on. The grass gets thicker, knee to waist high, sometimes shoulder high. Recent heavy rains have left the landscape thick, lush and impassable at certain points. \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"Renias points out some clearly visible and moist tracks. These are fresh. The grass, still dewy in the morning light, has been slightly parted and compacted here. It is clear to me. I can see the path they have taken. Renias calls me to the front and points out the track. I lead. I feel an exhilarating sense that I am about to come face to face with the first lions in my life. There is no fear, just aliveness. \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"The track tumbles down a steep embankment, towards the swollen Sand River. Renias and Boyd are confident that with the river in flood the lions will not be\",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1},{\"detail\":0,\"format\":1,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\" \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1},{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"able to cross. The track feels fresh. The grass has been parted very recently. I can almost smell the lions in the air. I'm leading. As we come down the embankment Boyd instructs me to slow and take care. We are close. We emerge cautiously onto the river bank. We find very fresh tracks. I still haven’t seen the lions, but I sense them. Boyd raises his eyes to our right and quietly nods his head in their direction. Ahead of us, maybe 50m down the riverbank is the pride. We hold our ground up river. I am in pure wonder. This is extraordinary. I am also uncertain what my reaction to their presence should be. \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"The pride immediately senses our presence. There are three clearly visible lions and judging by the tracks, likely several more just out of our view. One large male raises up and looks directly at me. They know we are here. Two females start to walk towards us. Not at all aggressive. We start to back away. Slowly. A big part of me wants to stay and be in their presence. I know this is wishful thinking but I am so curious to observe, watch and connect with the lions. While I am attuned to their movements, I am not in fear. Something just feels very natural and I feel I am in the presence of two extremely capable men who can navigate whatever comes our way. I'm overcome with presence and wonderment. Wonder at the incredible power and grace of these creatures. Wonder at the wild environment we are in. And wonder for the art and mastery demonstrated by Renias and Boyd. As individuals and as a team. Pure masters of the art of tracking. Pure oneness. Pure wildness.\",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"Later that same day we engaged with an impossible rhino track. On hard ground with very little evidence, Renias in true mastery pieced together a set of clues that were completely invisible to my eyes. The smallest indentation of a rhino's side toe (amazing when you consider the 2 tonne size of these beasts) and a freshly dislodged blade of grass, no bigger than a finger nail that signals a rhino has recently passed through this area and dragged its hefty feet. We push on. I've given us very low probability of locating the track, but seeing a master like Renias piecing together hundreds of different data points like a human LLM is extraordinary. We see some faint tracks through long grass. The tracks diverge into a fork. I go left, he goes right. In my heart I know he has taken the correct track, but I try to show my independence. Renias knows. He can feel it. We push on. He is confident now. He invites me to the front of the track and my awareness heightens. I know that he knows. I raise my gaze and two glorious white rhino are atop a large ant mound ahead of us, feeding on the nutrient rich grass. We observe them from afar as they graze. I study how they move through the landscape, something Renias and Boyd have been doing since they were born. I have a lot to learn. \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"We drop Renias back to his camp after an incredible day in the wilderness. We've shared time and space with a ‘crash’ of rhino, herds of elephants, impala, wildebeest, buffalo, zebra, baboons, giraffes, crocodiles and more since our morning track of the lion pride. We are completely content. The tracks and animals came to us today. I’m told it isn’t always this way. \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"Boyd and I drive home in the Landy as the light fades to darkness in the African bush. As we make the final turn towards our camp and before I have seen anything, Boyd kills the engine of the vehicle and says in a hushed tone \\\"There she is\\\". We stop. Lights off. In front of us, maybe 20m ahead is the most magical and mystical creature I have ever seen. A young female leopard. We’d been made aware of her presence near camp while she was denning her cubs but she had been elusive. \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"She stops as we stop. She looks at us. She does not sense a threat, nor prey. She walks directly towards us. With incredible power, purpose, presence. This is her domain. She continues walking towards us seated in the landrover. She is the definition of intent and attunement. Boyd and I look at each other in disbelief that this is happening. She continues towards us. There is no distance between us now. She walks directly by Boyd's side (there are no doors!) of the landrover. We are both in awe. Boyd could very easily reach out and touch her. She continues on completely aware that we are there but completely comfortable with our presence. She is so beautiful. So real. So wild. So free. So completely herself. No doubt whatsoever about what she is doing or where she is going. Intensity. Intention. Attunement. Aliveness.\",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"She walks on. We turn the vehicle and follow her. We cut the engine and continue to watch in wonder. She walks on. Slowly, purposefully. Pure intelligence. We follow and observe her for what feels like hours. Time warps. As the infinite darkness descends she is the master of her domain. She is ready for an evening of hunting and providing for her two young cubs. We decide to let her carry on alone and to be her complete, wild self. Part of me does not want to let her go. I know that this is a once in a lifetime experience. It has changed me. I see clearly the wildness, the freedom, the knowingness of these wild creatures. These apex predators. We go home for dinner in our comfortable, safe, clean space. It feels sterile relative to what we have just been a part of. I go to sleep already thinking about the next track.\",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"  \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":null,\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":2,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are. \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"center\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":2,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"– Joseph Campbell\",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"center\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":1,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"A Thermal Dome: Londolozi\",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":1,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"I wrote about the metaphor of the thermal dome in last quarter's letter. As a quick refresher, the Costa Rican thermal dome is an unsung wonder of the natural world where a convergence of conditions creates an invisible engine of life in the open ocean. Invisible to the eye, the thermal dome cultivates the foundational conditions necessary to generate an abundance of life. \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"In that letter I extended that analogy to what we are building at ReGen. A living, evolving ecosystem that creates the conditions conducive to generating power law outcomes. A thermal dome for future abundance.\",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"After the privilege of spending time at Londolozi with Boyd and his family, I now know what a thermal dome feels like in the fullest expression. Londolozi is a thermal dome of abundance on land. A modern day Shangri-La. For over 100 years, the Varty family have regenerated what was once a barren and bankrupt cattle grazing property into a thriving ecosystem exploding with life. Where lions and leopards were once hunted, they are now embraced as the embodiment of wildness and wonder. Londolozi now has the highest density of leopards in the world. This is what becomes possible when we see ourselves as what David Attenborough - who turned 100 years old this week - describes as “a part of nature, rather than apart from nature”. \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"The Varty family’s stewardship of this land has had ripple effects across Africa and the world. President Mandela, who reintegrated into society by spending several months at Londolozi shared it as the manifestation of his vision for the Rainbow Nation of South Africa. Schools, a global tracking academy, continent-scale conservation projects, new models of low-volume, high value tourism and more have spawned from the innovation, connection, love and insights generated by this extraordinary place. \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"This energy is infused into every minute detail at Londolozi. The people are unified by purpose. The food tastes better than anywhere. The light hits the land in the most spectacular hues. The birdsong is extraordinary. The big cats are at home. The herding animals are in grazing heaven. The mega fauna have abundant prey. \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"Londolozi makes you see. It makes you feel. It changes you. A piece of it comes away with you. Pure wonder. You can learn more about the story of Londolozi in this three part documentary series: \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":8,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"Courageous Acts of Healing\",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"link\",\"version\":1,\"rel\":null,\"target\":null,\"title\":null,\"url\":\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeXJi_UHUkY\"},{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\".  \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":8,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":1,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"The Next First Track \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":1,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":1,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"Renias has a phrase that I keep thinking about: \\\"I don't know where I'm going, but I know exactly how to get there.\\\" Boyd says that in the bush, we don't get trails fully laid out. We don’t know what the day will bring. We don’t know what the track will bring. We don’t know what the destination is. \\\"We get tremendous unknowns and, if we are lucky, first tracks. Then next first tracks.\\\" \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"This is reminiscent of venture capital. While the Twitter, TechCrunch, Substack narratives paint the picture of the visionary investor who sees the future clearly and places their bets to perfectly reflect this, the honest truth is much different. It looks much more like tracking. You move through a landscape full of signal and noise. You follow what and who feels most alive. You lose the track, go back to the last clear print, and begin again. You are never certain of, or in control of, the outcome or destination. All you can control is your own intent to identify the next first track. \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"Renias doesn't scan the horizon for lions. I do, in the hope of getting lucky and miraculously spotting a lion like a needle in the haystack in the vast bush. He reads the ground in front of him. He reads broken grass stems and the direction they've bent. He reads the depth of a print and what it tells him about whether the animal was walking or running, heavy or light. He reads the smell of the air. He builds a picture not from prediction but from evidence. Subtle, accumulating, compounding evidence. The tracker's job is to read what's there, not impose what they expected to find. This includes when we lose the track and must bury the ego to backtrack. As Renias teaches, losing the track is not failure. It is information. He calls it \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1},{\"detail\":0,\"format\":2,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"\\\"the path of not here\\\"\",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1},{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\". Not-here is an important part of getting to here. \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"In venture capital it is important to resist the desire to precisely map out a clear road to a pre-defined destination. We must be aware that there is a lot we don’t know. And yet, we move forward with intention to seek out opportunities where the unknowns can have exponentially positive outcomes. We are risk seeking. Volatility embracing. We are looking for what Nassim Taleb describes as antifragile systems, companies, and founders. Those who benefit from disorder around them. \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"When we first meet a founder we are presented with a sequence of first tracks, each one revealing only enough to justify the next step. An audacious vision. An earned secret. Unconstrained ambition. An upward spiral of ever more impressive capability, achievement. A clarity of thought that reorients our perspective. \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"The best trackers do not possess superior knowledge. They possess superior attention. Bearing witness to Renias’s mastery and learning by a little osmosis opened my senses to signals that I never would have paid attention to without his guidance. In this most complicated of terrains, a field of interlocking intelligences as Boyd calls it, nothing is separate from anything else. Every movement generates signal and the entire system speaks to those who know how to listen. \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"The great investors I have studied appear to inhabit a similar dimension. They are not smarter than the market. They are more attuned to it. They feel the ground differently.\",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"Boyd shares with me a trait that he has observed in Renias over decades of working together: he looks at something he's seen a thousand times and always sees something new. He does not project. He is still completely open to what is there, not what he expects to be there. \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"It occurred to me that this might be what distinguishes an investor in their first decade from one in their third. Not the accumulation of pattern recognition, but the discipline to keep looking for fresh tracks. The temptation is to stop tracking and start matching. To use shortcuts, frameworks and playbooks (more to come on this below!) to immediately slot a founder or company into a ‘known’ type. But the lion is not in the same place as last time. Conditions change. Terrain shifts. The track is always dynamic. \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":2,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"You cannot step into the same river twice. \",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"center\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":2,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"– Heraclitus\",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"center\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"At ReGen we are at the beginning of a long tracking expedition. The tracks we are following are never standing still but are dynamically moving in ways that don't yet conform to known patterns. Our job is not to predict where they'll be. Our job is to read what's in front of us well enough to find the next first track.\",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"},{\"children\":[{\"detail\":0,\"format\":0,\"mode\":\"normal\",\"style\":\"\",\"text\":\"And then the one after that.\",\"type\":\"text\",\"version\":1}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"paragraph\",\"version\":1,\"textFormat\":0,\"textStyle\":\"\"}],\"direction\":\"ltr\",\"format\":\"\",\"indent\":0,\"type\":\"root\",\"version\":1}}","itemId":"6d1bfeda-56d6-42c9-b8ca-e90d40d5b0fb","fieldSchemaId":"c96f11c7-72d7-49ee-8909-35ef239ebed9"}]},"9654dd8c-ee45-4d22-85b8-e78bc31af120":{"id":"9654dd8c-ee45-4d22-85b8-e78bc31af120","index":"$7","collectionId":"0c7205f6-784f-41d3-b3e5-fdef059cf5d8","fields":[{"id":"b3955877-14b7-4af4-9168-0055e976f953","value":"Life is Kintsugi","itemId":"9654dd8c-ee45-4d22-85b8-e78bc31af120","fieldSchemaId":"ea81abf1-342d-4933-a436-f457ac54e8c6"},{"id":"927fda42-6b1c-415c-9cff-bcd4409b832f","value":"life-is-kintsugi","itemId":"9654dd8c-ee45-4d22-85b8-e78bc31af120","fieldSchemaId":"14523696-7018-48b0-a7ea-d1151bd61677"},{"id":"feca12e6-8d45-498b-894d-894f9e546131","value":"31.01.26","itemId":"9654dd8c-ee45-4d22-85b8-e78bc31af120","fieldSchemaId":"f1aabde6-f74e-466a-98f8-340a3f303d42"}]}}}},"slugByItemId":{"6551ad6a-eb33-4409-82e5-a32cb6d01ef7":"a-rainbow-in-the-clouds","32f73653-fb0d-4f7d-8221-6fe41ad9b357":"fractals-power-laws-and-thermal-domes","6d1bfeda-56d6-42c9-b8ca-e90d40d5b0fb":"i-dont-know-where-im-going-but-i-know-exactly-how-to-get-there","9654dd8c-ee45-4d22-85b8-e78bc31af120":"life-is-kintsugi"}}