In early August this year, my partner and I moved out of our house in South Manchester to hit the road. Now we’re housesitting full-time with no fixed address. That is, we’re looking after people’s pets in their homes whilst they’re away, and working nomadically as we go. This leftfield lifestyle is bringing us into unusually intimate contact with a spectrum of people far broader than we’d otherwise encounter. We usually arrive the day before they leave, and often spend some time together when they return.
Right now, we’re staying in a 17th-century property in Cheshire, owned by a retired former corporate negotiator and former PA. Before that, we were in Scotland in a house filled with fox hunting paraphernalia and built with generational wealth. Before Scotland, we were in a small new-build in Sandbach owned by a working-class couple who got married on a cruise whilst we were looking after their Labrador. We’ve met an ex-air force engineer who loves sharing conspiracy theories and playing PUBG online with his mates. We’ve met a boarding school-educated business owner and a single mum homeschooling her two young sons. No two sits are the same.
Our plan is to continue this way of life for at least 12 months. In the process, we’re hearing these people’s life stories, getting a sense of their world views, and seeing what they keep in their cupboards. We borrow their books, we see what they’ve been watching on Netflix, and we know where they go on holiday. That might sound a little bit creepy, but it feels like a rare privilege — a chance to experience how people with different backgrounds, experiences, and values choose to live. All of us can benefit from bursting our social and informational bubbles, not just to help us better understand the audiences we hope to reach and engage, but also to nourish the subconscious soil from which our creativity grows. In Ian Leslie’s words, ‘what you think is a function of the ideas you consume.’ With that in mind, here are some resources and practices that can help you burst yours:
Listen to the Meet the 85% podcast
The Meet the 85% Audio Project is ‘a series of audio snapshots into the reality of people’s lives,’ with a focus on the 85% of people in the UK who live outside of London. A recent episode asked interviewees to talk about when they were last angry and what brings them joy. Listen here.
Watch some mass-appeal TV
You can see viewing data for the UK’s most-watched TV shows on the Barb Audiences site. Pick something from the list that you wouldn’t usually watch, and give it your full attention. Be curious about what appeals to the millions of people who enjoy something you don’t.
The ability to observe without evaluating is the highest form of intelligence
— Jiddu Krishnamurti
Chat to an outsider about your project
This practice is from my upcoming card deck, Ideas On Acid. Pick something you’re working on at the moment — a new brief you need to crack, or an idea that’s in progress. Talk to someone from a completely different context about it — a friend who works in a different field, your hairdresser, postman, or taxi driver; anyone with a different frame of reference.
Welcome their input and unfiltered opinions, then return to your work with a fresh perspective.
Host a ‘second-degree dinner’
I came across this one in a talk by the Dutch sociologist Beate Volker. Here’s how it works: you and a co-host organise a dinner, where you each invite a guest and ask them to bring someone you’ve never met along. Then each of those people you and your co-host haven’t met also invite someone they think is interesting. Check out this post from Nat Eliason for more on how to host a successful second-degree dinner.
You don’t need me to tell you how homogeneous the marketing and creative industries are. At the same time, our algorithmically-mediated online lives often cut us off from conversations that might expand and enrich our models of the world. In this climate, we need to consciously seek out different perspectives and be curious about different lived realities.
This wasn’t the motivation for the nomadic adventure we’ve begun; it’s just turned out to be a healthy side-effect. But you don’t need an appetite for unconventional living to escape your usual echo chamber — your next mind-expanding conversation might come from simply smiling at a stranger on the street.
Featured image: Strictly Come Dancing / BBC