Heya, 
I’m back in your inbox, after taking a bit of a break from writing this newsletter. Let’s see what happened, shall we? Life/work update is long this time, feel free to skip down to the links, no judgement.

So at the start of June we returned from the UK and (again) we had an absolutely incredible time there. Great weather, spectacular nature, a picturesque cottage in a charming village, so many hikes … seeing Freddy joyfully dive through a field of flowers was my favorite moment this year. However, now that we’re back in our Berlin apartment, it’s time to ponder what’s next: It feels like it might finally be time to leave Berlin and there are a couple of options on the table, listed in ascending difficulty:

After spending much time in the UK recently and feeling very much alive there, we definitely have an itch to find out what it would be like to actually live there. However, post-Brexit, getting a visa without a company sponsorship is tricky. Over the coming months we’ll explore our options In more detail and then use the dark months to figure out where we want to go. 

Meanwhile, Berlin-Köpenick is also pretty great in summer. We recently rented a boat to cruise around Müggelsee for three hours with our neighbors and I felt super relaxed afterwards. Boats, they have a good vibe going on.

On to some work stuff: One year ago we officially founded Village One, our somewhat utopian cooperative workplace, which we celebrated on Friday with dozens of lovely people in Berlin. I wrote about it on LinkedIn for #CoopsDay. Leading up to the party we co-worked with the whole team for a few days, which was very needed, recharging our team energy batteries. I’m happy we’re a remote-first company, giving us the flexibility to work from anywhere, live anywhere and also enabling us to collaborate with other people wherever they may be … and yet meeting in person once in a while feels important, to stay empathetic and connected. Some photos at the end.

Working at (and on) Village One in a democratic setting has given me lots to think about, revolving around the differences to hierarchical company structures, power dynamics, privilege, the democratization of work, capitalism, ethical technology and design, the climate crisis, inequality, the cooperative movement – it’s all connected, I’m constantly jotting down lose thoughts and trying to cram more knowledge into my leaking brain. So far I’m not sure if and when these thoughts coalesce into something to share. Feels like I need more time to put the pieces together in my head. 

Meanwhile we’ll continue the Village One journey, Sev having just joined as a full member (from Yorkshire, UK), and also a new designer starting in two weeks. We’ll be six people then. Exciting!

Anyhow, on to the bullet points – I collect these links and thoughts across the weeks, so it’s all fairly random:

Alright, those where the links, I had quite a few more, but we all have too much to listen to, read, play and watch, so let’s leave it at that. Time for some photos from the camera roll, let’s start with leftover shots from the Peak District:

Fairly random other shots I liked:

And a few impressions from our Village One co-working days and anniversary:

And it’s a wrap, you’ve made it to the end! Thanks for reading and I hope you had a good month of June, followed by an even better July!

Stay cool, take care, see you next time!
Harry

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Harry Keller | harryfk.com
Berliner, works at Village One
Writing a newsletter, running a book club
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