Tag: creativity

Ducks in the Trevi Fountain: What Covid-19 Can Teach Us About Life, Love and the World Around Us

We’ve all seen posts griping about long lines at the grocery store, hand-sanitizer and toilet paper shortages, resource hoarding and general lack of empathy and understanding. The news is no better. It’s a constant stream of anxiety-inducing updates on confirmed cases of COVID-19, death tolls, the plunging stock market and temporary closures or suspended services.

But perhaps the most surprising thing to come out of this – something the disaster movies missed the mark on – is the human ability to seek levity in the face of imminent disaster.

Warning: Long, picture-heavy post behind the cut.

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Setting Intentions for an Abundant New Year.

Last year, I waxed poetic about whether New Year’s resolutions were doomed to fail.

This year, I want to suggest we throw out resolutions entirely.  Resolutions are so 2019; 2020 is all about Setting Your Intentions.

What’s the difference, you might ask?  Well, Intentions focus on the process, while Resolutions focus on the outcome. If we vow to run a marathon, but only manage a half-marathon, instead of feeling pride for the strides we’ve made, we feel let-down. This year, why not take joy in our accomplishments instead?

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What To Do When You Get Stuck

It’s almost a cliche at this point.  The writer staring a blinking cursor in a blank Word document or at an untouched sheet of paper, unable to go on.  And while many claim to have writer’s block, it’s sort of like claiming you’re haunted by the ghost of an 18th-century apple scrumper.  There’s nothing to prove you aren’t possessed by a barefoot French urchin boy in a neighboring fruit orchard, but nothing to prove you are either.  In other words – it’s all in your head.

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New Years Resolutions: Are We Doomed To Fail?

Ahhh, the new year.  A time, when we all collectively rush out to buy gym memberships we will use for a month and pay for for the next eleven.  I’m completely guilty of rushing headlong into resolutions – like a bull charging a red cape.  And surprise! – that cape continually gets yanked out of reach – until even looking at the color red makes me feel guilty and annoyed.  Studies show that only 8% percent of people keep their resolutions, which begs the question: Are we doomed to fail?

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Ezekiel: A novel by John Fanning

Ezekiel Yusuf Moran is 99 years old. He has been many things in his near-century of life – a son, a farmer, a friend, a lover, a doctor, a husband, a father, a grandfather, a homeopath, a soldier and a French Résistance fighter. But most of all, Ezekiel has been a seeker. He seeks truth and the opportunity to speak his truth. He seeks communion – with his soul and spirit, with the natural world around him, with his friends and family. He seeks knowledge – from books, from people, from the world and from his own self.

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Dwelling in Discomfort

Look at the light through the windowpane. That means it’s noon, that means
         we’re inconsolable.
                               Tell me how all this, and love too, will ruin us.
These, our bodies, possessed by light.
                                                                Tell me we’ll never get used to it.

– Richard Siken, Scheherazade

***

We’re getting older.  We’ve had our hearts broken.  We’ve broken bones.  We’ve bet on the wrong horse or man or woman.  We made a poor investment along the way.  We lost something important.  We wasted time or money or energy on the wrong people.  We’re all a little more fragile now, a little more careful.  Curiosity is a trait we most associate with children or cats.

Not for us.

We tread the familiar paths.

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How to Stop Procrastinating. (Pt 2)

In the companion post to this one, I discussed the reasons we procrastinate, which was helpful in understanding the psychology behind our bad habits. In this post, I’ll provide tips on how to stop procrastinating.

If you missed part one, find it here: Why We Procrastinate (Pt 1)

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SELL OUT: Does Art Suffer from Success?

When I was sixteen, I was a fan of a one-man-band, Dashboard Confessional.  My friends and I traveled miles to tiny clubs all up and down the east coast, stood shivering outside in line in winter in bad neighborhoods, got our ribs bruised up against the partition in mosh pit, covered our backpacks and messenger bags in band pins from Hot Topic, went thirsty or hungry or without sleep – all to hear the soul-bearing lyrics of someone we considered to be a modern day poet.

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How to Write Anywhere in the World.

As someone who travels frequently, I find that a change of scenery can inspire and inform your writing, but often doesn’t make for the best work habits. Whether you’re trying to take in museums on holiday or traveling on business, the following tips will help you to get your work done anywhere in the world.

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