(for paid subscribers only)
I’ve known Jason Mayden for over a decade.
We met at Stanford, and even back then, he had this quality that set him apart – a way of thinking that felt both ancient and futuristic at once.
Jason is an industrial artist and designer. He’s worked with Nike, created products used by world-class athletes, and mentored hundreds of young creatives. But his real work isn’t about sneakers or product launches. It’s about cultural architecture: documenting brilliance, reclaiming heritage, and ensuring that the contributions of his people can’t be erased from history.
He calls his creations “future ancient artifacts” – objects designed to be studied by civilizations a thousand years from now.
Creating Across Centuries
“Most creatives work on different seasons,” Jason told me. “I’m trying to have a conversation across centuries. Are you doing anything that would be worthy of being remembered by history, or are you just trying to be relevant right now?”
That question hit me hard. Because in our current moment – where attention is currency and relevance is measured in real-time engagement – the idea of creating for people who haven’t been born yet feels almost revolutionary.
The Gratitude Checklist
When I asked Jason what he does when his sense of meaning starts to get blurry, he didn’t give me some complex framework or productivity system. He gave me five sentences:
“My wife loves me. My kids love me. I can call my parents. They still answer. I’m healthy. I have what I need today. I’m content.”
That’s it. A gratitude checklist that brings him back to what he knows to be true.
In a world that’s convinced us contentment has a number attached to it, Jason’s practice is radically simple: feel what you know to be true, and let that be enough.
Watch the Full Conversation
We also talked about why he maintains childlike curiosity without fear of embarrassment, how Black people adorn themselves as an ancestral act, using AI to amplify intuition rather than replace it, and why love remains the only technology that truly matters.
The full episode is embedded below (paid subscribers get early access to Practice Ground episodes).
You can also watch on YouTube or listen on Spotify/Apple Podcasts.
This is the kind of conversation I wish I’d had twenty years ago. Maybe it’ll mean something to you today.
Nifemi
