Lean into the Affordances

Status: Draft, musings

Affordances^* are anything that is possible or easier to do by virtue of where in space-time and life you’re at.

For instance, living in Freiburg affords me the option of going on many nice hikes. Being in Germany affords me (relatively) more ease in learning German. Or finding a great Brezel. In reverse, it’s hard(er) to find great Nepali food (unless I make it myself).

Being in Europe affords me (generally) more varied travel. These years (2025-26) afford LLM-assisted coding. Maybe you’re in a city with great museums. Perhaps you’re in communities with adjacent interests you haven’t explored (say, certain kinds of music).

But many times I find myself not leaning into the affordances. For some (or even most) of them, that’s totally fine. It might not make sense by virtue of interest, practicality, ideology, fit, and so on.

But I suspect there are a few I’d do well to lean into, a few I can at least explore a little bit. I guess the steps are: finding affordances I’ve access to and for each, deliberately choosing to ignore / try out / incorporate into life.

At a more meta level it goes into thinking of what actions I can take that can change my affordances. Shaping tools and environments such that they shape me in ways I want them to. For instance, maybe it involves moving to a different city, or joining certain communities, learning certain skills, studying certain topics. E.g. learning swimming can provide affordances for many other water sports/activities. Learning German would open up more affordances for events I could attend and engage in.

But regardless, a note-to-self heading into the new year: lean into the affordances.

Notes

^* Closely following the usual definition “what the environment offers the individual”.

Written on December 31st , 2025 by Bijay Gurung