It’s not uncommon that the prep work necessary to achieve something takes exponentially more time than the actual achievement. Just to apply for the Boston Marathon you have to have run at least one marathon within the qualifying time limits. So you first learn how to run a marathon, then run one to get a time, probably need to run more to improve your time to within the necessary limits, and then you can apply, which doesn’t even guarantee that you’ll get into the race! …Details
There are entire universes in each of us. Our minds are an entirely self-sustaining environment just like a terrarium. Things can get in and they can get out, but they are also a world unto themselves busily going on with the every moment process of living and being and becoming.…Details
Ever notice that some of your best ideas, your “aha moments” and epiphanies happen when you’re not thinking of something? In fact they come where your brain is off doing something else completely, focused on nothing and your body/emotions/soul are running the show. …Details
Artists of all types have a bit of performance anxiety. It looks different depending on the modality and venue. Actors and dancers can get adrenalized before a performance, rehearsal, or tryout/audition, visual artists worry about the response to a particular piece or showing, writers try to not value the reviews even while they are reading them with an acid stomach.…Details
It’s interesting to me to watch the scientific process, or at least as much of it as gets reported, as its reacting to and on this information age and the ongoing technology explosion. We’re taught to think of science as a linear progression, figuring out one piece of the puzzle which leads us to finding another piece and so on until we can see the entire picture.…Details
I’m all about follow through. Keeping your promises. Do what you say you will do. See things through to the end. All that stuff. But like with most everything, too much of a good thing can be too much. Life is not about absolutes and one size rarely fits all and sometimes not even some. …Details
From Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear
by Elizabeth Gilbert
“I believe that this good kind of arrogance-this simple entitlement to exist, and therefore to express yourself-is the only weapon with which to combat the nasty dialogue that may automatically arise within your head whenever you get an artistic impulse.…Details