PRESENT Letter ✺ 011: Organic Growth
November 2023
Hello Friend,
First snow in Berlin! Winter is here and the year is already getting to an end. Around this time I always feel the urge make a fresh overview of all things I want to finalize and still ship before the end of the year, but also reprioritze what can wait until the next.
The goal is always to be able to look back knowing I tried my best, to have tackled everything I was scared of and dreamed about at the beginning of the year. Gotta keep tryin :)
I feel thankful for everything I got to work on and realize those last months. I'm proud of everyone who helped along the way, everyone who contributed and trusted us with our vision. I’m proud to have taken risks and not let any worries stop me. And I’m proud to have Sarah with her unlimited talents by my side. We are just getting started!
Let’s dive into this edition:
❤️🔥 Event Recap
🍇 Wine Collab Release
🌱 Community Updates
🌎 Stockists Worldwide
🔖 LOG & Recommendations
✨ Thoughts & Outro
PRESENT Event Recap
The PRESENT Issue 3 Release Event was a blast! We were dreaming of celebrating the new issue with you all and you made it happen. We were truly lovestruck by the inspiring, smart, heart-warming, beautiful mix of people. Thank you for coming and supporting us🤍
For those who could not be with us, here, and here, and here are glimpses of what you could see, taste, touch and smell at our event…
Special thanks go out to the BAM team for sharing their beautiful space, Volée for the delicious drinks, Truongii for the tastiest bites, Glow Glow for the grapes, New Tendency for the furniture, Vincent for the bw photos, and to Basti & Taylor for helping with the installation. Can’t wait for the next one!
PRESENT Wine: Now available
Previewed at our event, the PRESENT Wine is now available in our online store. It’s a limited edition natural wine of 90 bottles, each one uniquely BloPen-mouth-numbered by us 👀 Don’t hesitate to ask us if a specific number is still available!
Combining our creative forces with Pauline and Carl of Glow Glow, this cuvée is a harmonious fusion of Muskateller and Riesling, harvested the mountains of Mandel, in the Rhineland-Palatinate region. They’ll surely make for an excellent xmas present :)
PRESENT Community: Organic growth, new features
Our community is growing! We had a slight resurgence, with a wave of new PRESENT People signing up and new content published. I worked on streamlining some areas and simplified the channels to hopefully make engagement a bit easier. Let me know!
I love that our little corner on the web is slowly developing into an inspiring content hub and thought space. It’s still very much in progress of growing up, please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any feedback or wish to support otherwise.
PRESENT Stockists
We’re honored to have PRESENT stocked by a selection of beautiful stores around the world. If you’re around, make sure to check-out all PRESENT issues physically at some of our favorite locations:
You can always get all PRESENT Products directly from our store as well, we are shipping worldwide 🌍
Weeks 42–47 ⚡️
Here is a glimpse into the last weeks, straight from the LOG, where I write about the progress and process in life and work, with quotes and recommendations along the way.
Recommendations ✨
🏃🏾♀️ Sha’Carri Richardson on the Meaning of Time in Running and in Life by The New Yorker
🌎 Whole Earth Index website launched with a mind-blowing full archive of its legendary print magazines
💔 RIP Jamie Tiller, one of my favorite DJs (Listen to the wonderful tribute show by John Gómez on NTS)
🔊 Call My Agent! (Dix pour cent) is an incredible series starring personal fav Camille Cottin. So good!
🧠 “The bigger the dream, the bigger the shadow.” Sensei Steven Pressfield (The War of Art) about Resistance at Rich Roll
🎋 Relaxing and fascinating: The Beauty and Joy of Living Simply In the Countryside of Japan
🐲 Season 2 of Welcome to Wrexham is out and continues to be an epic tale and with a fascinating development
💡 Why You’re Not Doing Creative Work by Dan Shipper from one of my favorte newsletters Every
🐻 Really enjoyed the masterful FX series The Bear which I recommended to many friends
🔭 Parallel Life by The Starseeds (1997) is “ambient techno, distinctly summery, with the feel of a Balearic haze, or a fusion of Enya and Ecstasy”
🌞 Still hooked on the eternal groove of Skyy Can You Feel Me by Raphael Saadiq (2002)
"I must change my life so that I can live it, not wait for it.”
~ Susan Sontag
What a ride the last months have been! I will keep on documenting it all, which continues to be not necessarily the easiest but still a rewarding exercise. I try to be as insightful and honest and vulnerable as possible. People tell me that it helps them, and that inspires me to keep going.
What is on your mind these days? What are you struggling with? What are your hopes for the next year? Reach out and let me know or share in our community. If you're reading this: consider this a personal invitation✨
I wish you all the clarity and strength for the last month of this year and beyond.
Talk to you soon,
Hugo
