Taxes are not the problem in and of themselves, and yet, to an creative person, the act of preparing taxes is a psychic exsanguination.
Read MoreA RESPONSE TO TERRORISM
Terror and distrust are at the root of inequalities; they are not the result. Self-interested tribalism is the greatest threat to humanity's future. We lose our collective grip on noble dreams because we grasp instead at ordinary survival, and we are then faced with a choice. In the face of terror we are either the engine of perpetuation or we are the engine of change.
Read MoreSUCCESS VS MASTERY
Mastery is the thing that grows only for those who barely realize they’re on a relentless hunt for it. Success is what keeps the lights on in a business; mastery is the sublime intangibility of extraordinary reputation earned for providing services or craftmanship that cannot be found elsewhere.
Read MoreINVISIBILIA
The implications of the physical world are more important than the constructions we build in it.
Read MoreA CABIN IN THE WOODS
If you’re trying to create something substantial in your life, try to find your own cabin in the woods. Spend some time there, even if it looks like the same four walls you’re used to seeing in your office. Declare your space, define your terms, and create something real.
Read MoreMY COMPUTER KILLED MY POEM
We write poems because we feel blood in our veins. We write poems because we see beautiful people in the world and feel our hearts beat. We write poems to convince us that we’re actually able to take the wrongs of the world and solve them by speaking truths to power.
Read MoreTHE NEED
For creative people, the pressures of life are all about finding enough time and resources to create. For other people, the goal is often reversed. For many people the pursuit is often about creating enough time and resources so that they don’t have to work in their free time.
Read MoreGIVING THANKS, 2015
When I experience or even hear about gestures of civility, I’m thankful. The alternative to endless vitriol offers profound potentials for invention, for growth, and even pleasure. On Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for demonstrations of people finding ways simply to treat each other well, or at least with respect.
Read MoreTHE ENDOCRINOLOGIST
Even with all of the many satisfactions — the patients who counted on him, the years of work it had taken him to build his reputation, a measure of financial security — the doctor longed for something elsewhere.
Read MoreNOT GOING QUIETLY
Get out of bed. Make something new. Make it extraordinary. Share it with the world. All you've got is the act of doing it, and you do it because you have to. The alternative is no alternative at all.
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