Well, look who’s here! Come in, come in, let me take your coat.

Welcome to the place where ordinary mystics (OMs) like you crave both depth and usefulness, the sacred and the strategic, the nourishing and the subversive.

My name is Samir Selmanović, and I believe the other world is in this world. I also know that personal growth and collective transformation are not at odds but are each other’s secret.

And I am here for you.

Here, I’m taking myself and you on a seeing tour. We’ll pay attention to how welcoming and magical our inner and shared life can be. In these disruptive (and often destructive) times, we all need grounding, inspiration, and joy. So, come in.

About “the work” of this newsletter

The New Glossary is where old words get turned sideways, where strange terms become personal, and where meaning becomes something you feel in your body before you understand it. We are about rewording the world, with words that re-see, re-imagine, and re-calibrate.

Some entries will be polished. Some will be messy. Some might give you language for something you’ve felt your whole life but never named. At times, you will want to reply and share your experience.

If you're someone who resists templates, finds resonance in unexpected places, and wants to name the world in a way that helps you live with more ease, courage, and joy, you might feel at home here.

Inside the Glossary

Each post will be part of a recurring rhythm you’ll start to recognize. Each post lives within one of four ongoing streams:

1. How to Be Out of Control

A bold, liberating series exploring a life and leadership skill no one teaches you: how to stop gripping so hard.

2. Glossary Entries

Each post focuses on a single word, phrase, or term—ancient, invented, or ordinary—reframed to help you live and lead with more clarity.

3. Wayfinding

The looser container—where I speak directly to you about what I’m learning, building, resisting, or questioning. Sometimes a story. Sometimes, a spark, I thought you’d like.

3. Samir’s Book Team

This is where I share drafts of chapters or excerpts, invite feedback, and ask for your help shaping the work. More raw and collaborative.

Should you subscribe to ‘all posts’?

This is the whole river. If you want to read everything I write—glossary entries, essays, riffs, or recommendations—this is the stream that holds it all.

How to engage

I welcome your voice here. If you’re reading a public post, you’re free to join the conversation in the comments. If you choose to walk closer as a paid member, you’ll also have access to comment on member-only posts and in the Book Team discussions. Wherever you are, your presence matters.

In terms of content, you’ll see a recurring rhythm here, not a rigid schedule. About once a week, I’ll share a post from one of four streams: How to Be Out of Control, Glossary Entries, or Wayfinding. Paid members also receive Book Team posts and deeper essays. Occasionally, you may see a brief reflection or invitation — a lighter post to keep the space alive, not crowded. Walk in your own rhythm, read what calls to you.

And if you’d like to sit by the fire and talk, there’s Chat.

Three tiers

• Free Tier: Dip in and receive public entries from The New Glossary.

  This tier is perfect if you're curious, new, or want to follow along without pressure.

• Paid Tier: This is for readers who want to go deeper—and help this space stay weird, free, and fiercely independent. It’s not about pay-for-content. It’s a mutual investment in insight, courage, and clarity.

• Lab Tier: COMING SOON

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Join The New Glossary

Be part of a community of people who share your interests. Participate in the comments section, or support this work with a subscription.

More about Samir:

Here’s what others have said:

Samir is a storyteller and he does have stories to tell.

New York Times

The obvious truth must be made even more obvious, and this is what Samir is doing for all of us.

Fr. Richard Rohr

Samir offers us the fruits of his rich experience. We need more Samirs on the planet—people of conviction and humility.

Parker Palmer

Samir Selmanovic is asking the right questions at the right time, and refusing the consolations of certainty at a time when strident orthodoxies are perilously dividing us.

Karen Armstrong

Where others see only the darkness and destructiveness, Samir sees beauty and hope. Where others see only competition and violence, Samir sees synergy and life.

Ryan J. Bell

I had the great good fortune to spend a day cooking with Samir at my house in Tuscany last autumn. We were with the poet David Whyte cooking for 40 people in a wood burning oven. Samir rolled up his sleeves and dove right in with such tremendous skill, ease and lightness of spirit that I remember telling him, “You need to go out and do this in the world!” I’m so glad he is!

Lori De Mori

“Samir brings clarity, focus and spirit to the leadership journey. He 'guides from the side' — creating a powerful pull on our deepest desires to create meaningful change. He has changed the way I think about leadership and how I think about myself.”

Michael W. Morrison, Founder of University of TOYOTA

“Samir has been able to bring out hidden wisdom and courage in myself, that I hadn't been able to tap into until now. Every coaching conversation I have had with Samir ends with me feeling full of hope, clear direction and energy to accomplish what I know I was meant to do.”

Kathryn Himes, Chief of Staff, HR Business & Employee Solutions, INTEL CORPORATION

"At a retreat in Croatia, we went past unneccesarily complicated answers to what’s deeply personal and existential, each of us tackling the most perplexing issue we came with, something I've rarely seen in my long professional and personal experience."

Robert Manchin, Former Director, GALLUP EUROPE

"Samir is a brilliant chef and an amazing human being. He changed my experience and relationships with food, and with that, the way I experience life. Three days with him were full of learning, delight, and surprises."

Rod Colburn, Managing Director, GOLDMAN SACHS

“I received what might have been the best coaching session of my life, a gentle and profound experience of opening followed by numerous pivots towards growing confidence and focus.”

Patricia Morrison, Creative Professional and Business Owner, INNER FIRE OUTER LIGHT

"Samir’s online live workshop was so much fun! He introduced the possibility that the kitchen can be not only a place to enjoy good food, but also a place of transformation. Our group found the hands-on part of the workshop especially valuable, and afterward continued the conversation about what we might learn from ordinary kitchen utensils, when we listen. Thanks, Samir!"

Lori Wilson, Facilitator and Director of GETTING THINGS DONE, EffectX

"Over the course of a year, Samir helped our hospital leadership team rest in ways deeper than physical rest, contextualizing his work with us in a way that resonates, is impactful, and 'sticks.I would highly recommend Samir to senior leadership teams for change management, cultural contextualization and fresh approaches to problem definition and solution.'"

Ken Bradley, CEO, FLORIDA HOSPITAL WINTER PARK