What Have We Stopped Gaining Access To?
When I moved to Italy, I didn’t realize how many things I would lose access to. Websites I frequented were blocked, my bank’s services became complicated, and my favorite TV shows were unavailable. Many utilities and comforts were cut off due to my new location. It was problematic; I relied heavily on those services and technologies. I felt disconnected. Fortunately, VPNs (virtual private networks) could simulate my physical location, granting me access to these restricted services as if I were still back home.
Moving here didn’t make sense economically, socially, technically, or in any traditional way. People would ask, “Why are you moving?” I couldn’t articulate a precise reason. There was just this urge inside me. The best I could say was: “I wanted to give back and to learn.” Mamma mia!
Over time, I began to understand the trade-off of losing those immediate comforts. Living at a different pace, adjusting to new thresholds, quantities, qualities, and distances reshaped my perspective. Just as a VPN grants access to restricted online spaces, I discovered my personal VPN—a Virtue and Perspective Network. It grants me access to inner virtues and new perspectives that were previously inaccessible.
My personal VPN gets blocked when I pass a certain threshold of thoughts. Too many thoughts—blocked! The trick is to have fewer thoughts, longer thoughts, or no thoughts at all. When I’m more present, my personal VPN expands, granting me access to restricted services within me. For example:
Service #1: Gumption with Judgment
First, I realized that language is an imperfect tool for listening to that inner voice—the one that guides me. Relying on language has always been tricky, from trying to understand the person at the gas station to instructing my LLMs to do the right thing. Gestures and non-verbal cues help, but they’re not enough. Yet, despite not being able to fully articulate why I came here, I know deep down it’s about having gumption with judgment—the courage to follow my intuition, guided by my own personal discernment.
Service #2: Gumption with Taste
Second, I noticed how beauty gets overlooked when confined to words, reduced to mere aesthetics. “Make this pretty,” my PMs used to say. Beauty is more than visual appeal; it’s the harmony of how things are, the relationships between them and people, and how they make us feel. I’ve experienced this standing in a bustling piazza, wandering through the Louvre, or exploring a quiet museum. There’s a sense of awe that envelops everyone, regardless of age, gender, or culture. It’s felt. It’s experienced. It needs no explanation to be captivating. It just works. This is gumption with taste—the ability to appreciate and be moved by beauty beyond the tactical and superficial.
Having gumption with judgment and taste has allowed me to find meaning in experiences and content beyond words. It has helped me seek harmony between the maker, the products they produce, and the people who consume them. From where I stand, I believe these qualities will be at the heart of human-centered design in the next 20 years.
Perhaps we all have our own personal VPNs waiting to be discovered when we step out of our comfort zones. LFG!