💡 Discover insights on life, work, personal growth, tech, & more from Naya Moss
My birthday is this week. For years this week had a rhythm. I did quiet introspection and self-reflection with friends. We kept it simple. A small dinner. A loving note. Time together to reflect. It was a steady ritual that helped me reset.
Since ~2024 it has been the opposite. Last year I was in the mountains - quiet, beautiful, and very alone. This year I'm back in New York City. The pace is loud. The week still asks for reflection, but the people who used to hold that space with me are not here. So I am doing the reflection by myself. That truth lands heavy and also honest.
😊 A bit of nostalgia
I also took a stroll along the West Village and felt this mix of nostalgia and relief. I felt like a weird weight lifted because I suddenly realized again how much I'd been carrying. Being in environments where I couldn't fully be myself - neurodivergent, different - had worn on me more than I knew.
The West Village reminded me of something important. It's a place where you can be yourself and express who you are freely. Whether you're Black, white, Asian, neurodivergent - you're just another person living your life. Yes, there are more rich snobs in that area now 😅, but I felt this warmth in my heart remembering that there are spaces for me in this world. I just have to find them.
I've been thinking about how to spend the day. Here are the ideas I'm considering:
- 🔭 Planetarium: Visiting the planetarium like I did most weekends as a kid. There's something about that dark, quiet space that still calls to me.
- 🌳 Central Park experiment: Setting up with a simple handwritten sign inviting strangers to talk. Find a bench, open the laptop, let people approach if they want. A small social experiment in connection.
I want to keep the spirit of those old rituals without pretending the past is still here. Choosing presence over nostalgia. If I go with the park sign, I'll treat each conversation like a gift. If I hit the planetarium, I'll let it reset my nervous system.
💡 Thoughts? Do you have any ideas for me? I've also been looking at free things I can do around New York City. I have about enough for three trips on the bus or train. I welcome ideas - something that's either connecting with nature, connecting with science, or connecting with others.
🚀 30 Projects in 30 Weeks
It's been a whirlwind few weeks, the kind where the work is so consuming that you look up and realize entire days have gone by. I've been head-down in the challenge, and this issue marks a big turning point — four launches down, twenty-five-ish to go.
But this isn't just about hitting numbers. This is about reclaiming momentum. It's about finally bringing to life the vision I had for Namos Labs years ago: a studio of human-centric tools designed to make everyday life more manageable and intentional.
Here's the deets:
- 💻 NextKit — A fast-start builder kit that removes boilerplate headaches and helps founders go from idea to launch without wasting weeks on setup.
- 🍃 Sage — Tackles the silent stress of the kitchen by helping you plan meals, track your pantry, and turn "what's for dinner?" into a calm choice. Sage has a Recipe Generator that suggests creative meals from whatever ingredients you already have.
- 📸 Vero — A digital decluttering tool that organizes your video and photos so your device feels lighter and more intentional. Next: Smart Photo Captions that automatically label and keyword-tag your memories for easy search.
- 🍅 Koyami — Built for neurodivergent folks dealing with time blindness and task paralysis. Instead of rigid calendars, it adapts to your energy and helps you plan work with your rhythms.
- 🧪 Pre-Order to Launch Kit (launching tomorrow) — A system for validating ideas, building early momentum, and converting early interest into pre-orders before launch day.
📊 And the numbers
- 💻 Namos Next Kit → $0
- Sage: Meal Planning & Grocery App → $0
- Vero: Clear iOS vids from storage → $0
- Koyami: Adhd productivity app → $0
- Namos Founding member → $99 🎉
Should I add spending here next time? Token usage? The tools and software?
📝 Recent Writing
Here's what I've been publishing lately — reflections, frameworks, and experiments worth exploring:
- 🚀 30 Projects in 30 Weeks: Why I'm Doing This — A look at the real motivation behind this challenge and why building consistently matters more than chasing one "perfect" idea.
- 🤖 Minimalist Agentic Coding Workflow — How stripping complexity out of my dev setup and leaning on agentic tools is helping me move faster and ship cleaner projects.
- 📆 Week 3: Where Things Start to Click — A candid breakdown of the first few weeks of the challenge, what I've learned from early launches, and how the momentum is already changing my approach.
📚 Readers Corner
I'm back to reading one or two books a week. And for the first time, I don't hesitate to drop anything that feels dull or unhelpful. Six books down in the past few weeks — here are the four that stuck with me:
- Do Hard Things by Steve Magness — A smarter take on resilience. Magness moves past the old "tough it out" idea and shows how strength comes from awareness of body and mind.
- The Edge of Sentience by Jonathan Birch — A deep look into consciousness. It explores how animals think, how awareness evolves, and why it matters for how we see the world.
- American Philosophy: A Love Story by John Kaag — A blend of memoir and philosophy. Kaag rediscovers a forgotten library and shows how old ideas can help us make sense of life now.
- Incognegro: A Graphic Mystery by Mat Johnson & Warren Pleece — A raw comic story about race and identity. It follows a reporter passing as white to investigate lynchings in the Jim Crow South.
I'll be back soon! I would love to hear your thoughts from this week's newsletter. For now, as always, Be Kind.
Best,
Naya
p.s. Huge thanks to Paige for recently buying me a matcha/coffee 🤗
I appreciate your time and attention to my thoughts. If you find value in my work, writing, or reflections, I always welcome:
- 💜 Kind words and feedback
- 📧 Sharing this newsletter
- 🍵 Buying me a matcha or other contributions
