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The free-acting individual
Anonymity is a blessing in disguise. There’s a lot of pretense in signaling past accolades. Success in one role inhibits the other. People like to put gems in boxes to store them away for safekeeping down the road. But identities change, and plans evolve because people are elastic. The great mismatch is how others perceive […]
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The probable oddity
Her look went beyond centuries, but so did her footwork. She demanded to stand out in a sea of sameness, to dive in a forest of waves rather than swim in the treadmill of pools. As society hallows each of us out, we must try harder to excavate a sense of special pride. Having first […]
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Stripping away the camouflage
Some people are like the octopus: changing with haste to match their surroundings, only to hide and rage into their naked quirks when they return home. One cannot define the individual, where the inner current of uniqueness strikes the soul with the utmost transparency, no camouflage. Hiding from one’s self is for the fakers. The […]
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Thinking with a helping hand
The ideas get imposed and go unquestioned as people accept them with automatic comprehension. But it’s those that can remain detached from the concept of sidedness that steer their own path. We have to create our roadshow. One of the most powerful draws of individualism is high efficacy, the belief in constructing one’s thought and […]
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Putting a dent in persistent novelty
Novelty is the sugar of our existence. It’s what keeps us coming back for more. And technology is at the center of its stickiness. Information is a click away; Twitter and Instagram offer more curated entertainment than we could ever access. The internet never ends with each refresh, like pulling the lever at a casino […]
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Observing closely
Completely forgettable, conclusively forgotten. Things disappear with the disattention of time. We bear witness to that which genuinely sticks, the imagination included. Memory is plentiful when we pursue life with intent. Paying attention costs little. Staying excited is the hard part. When we look at things with curiosity, the dynamics change. Perspective encourages a deeper […]
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Becoming pain tolerant
Surrender to the pain and see the growth. Capitulation converts supposed weakness into emotional endurance over time, providing an antidote to the stress caused by the resistance. Ruing the past, fighting the future — worrying is as aimless as punching the air. The courage of moving on is a form of alchemy, a fancy way […]
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Self-optimization through art
We are worth knowing, far more than what we give ourselves credit for. Rational assessment may say otherwise. But to believe that our work matters less than what’s deemed socially valuable or popular is insanity. We have to practice empathic firmness toward making our art. Only a few become naked and famous. After all, Van […]
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Smacked of indecision fatigue
Eventually, we all succumb to indecision fatigue. The inability to make a decision exhausts one to the point of regret. Once the dam breaks, and we say “yes,” we accept the risk and burden of figuring it all out later. There’s an incongruity between what we want and the fulfillment we expect it to bring. […]
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Defying expectations
There is conflict and harmony between doubt and applause. The art would not be so interesting had it been expected. The audience seeks novelty and wants to be awed. The creator, therefore, goes beyond predictability and dances with the fear of disapproval. When we’re making something, we’re almost always uncertain how it might be accepted. […]
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Time to bear this in mind
Bear in mind that the passport to freedom comes from the gift of time. Time is more valuable than money, the latter which shall be earned, not stolen. The only way to capitalize on the ticking clock is to combine work and play. Everything is a distraction — the television, the worst of all, choking […]
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Stress test
Stress is the great equalizer and our biggest distractor. It is worse than a sting from the ludic loop, mere fodder for over-thinking. But we can dampen its attentive nature. We can do things to get unstuck from the chaos of the monkey mind. The quickest mood modulator could be a psychedelic to reset the […]