productivity
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To the moon
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1 min read
So little it’s immeasurable — that’s how improvement works. Effort is compounding. To remain elastic means to remain wide awake. The template for true consistency emerges changed, not validated. Baby steps create a sense of dimension of age-related invincibility. Like the Puya Raimondii, we grow for years and shed it all in an instant. In…
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A mind run riot
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1 min read
Creativity occurs when the imagination runs riot. The mind, an inherently jumpy organ, delves into its own fruitful space — probing fantastic and experiential possibilities. Truth is not the matter. Searching for what’s real and pure invention harbor the same goal: to pile up ideas. So we write a shitty rough draft or build a…
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Writing takes guts
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2 min read
Writing is a bitch. It takes routine, grit, and lots of induced anxiety to show up every day and put pen for paper. There’s a reason few do it: it’s depressing. But for those who do, like runners, consistency means everything. Putting words together is like jogging the brain; working on prose keeps the artist…
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We are nobody’s establishment
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2 min read
Good, bad, and ugly — honesty is what’s at stake. Of course, we strive for the perfect edited self. But such is a fallacy, as even influencers have adopted the strategy of no-makeup makeup. Social media intends to captivate and drive mimetic desire. But all marketers are liars, as are the followers who buy the…
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Purposely absorbed
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1 min read
Absorbed in the real work, unlike the spasmodic focus of want-to-be influencers. The professional demands order, rituals, and practices that solidify the certainty anchor. Those serious about their craft very much know they’re alive. They draw a map of the future based on reality, then lean right into it. It’s easy to believe that armed…
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Ear players and slow bakers
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1 min read
Ear players, slow-bakers, and scribblers; all are just noticers of things. But they are also the most impeccable dancers, converting nerves into spontaneity to battle fear itself. For the musician, the student, and the artist, what’s elemental clicks into place. They are at their freest with the tools in their hand — the saxophone, the…
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Flow of attention
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1 min read
The creator goes from broad attention to a narrower focus. They see the forest for the trees while simultaneously shifting their vision to see the trees through the woods. Like a student, the artist aggregates what’s interesting and then goes deeper, pulsating from a generalist to a specialist, adding and subtracting, exploring the world through…
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Double or nothing
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1 min read
The best art deserves the long look, just as the best books earn a re-read. The second our surroundings pull us out of a desultory scan and compel interpretation, we learn twice as much. Pausing (and thinking deeply) is integral to the learning process. Disfluency extends the hesitation and augments the meaning. We’re not all vacuum cleaners.…
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Let it roll
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1 min read
We remain stuck in a rolling process, moving along despite taking on the beatings of market forces. The gyrations try to wash us out to the point we capitulate into the sea. We only drown when we try too hard to control outcomes. Curious yet complicated, letting go of gravity and force seems the only…
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A pace to play
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1 min read
The world is covered with assholes. How do we build the confidence up to shuck them without stabbing ourselves? At first, we take small risks. And then we let them compound into a catalog of fortified emotions. Drip by drip, the audacity of hope builds into a fortress of perspective. Once in awe of our…
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The agony of choice
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2 min read
People crave the ability to do things in order to get unstuck from old forms. However, the pursuit of novelty is no prerequisite for action. Instead, it’s often the constraints that improve our creativity. Take the computer (or smartphone) for instance — it’s our one tool for listening to music, watching a movie or live…
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Despite all the rage
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2 min read
Expression isn’t always vocal. It bleeds inexorably into other avenues of creativity. Take the painter, for instance. Some prefer to let the paintbrush and canvass do all the talking. The same actionable output can be said for writers, cartoonists, coders, architects, athletes, etc. Life often manifests itself in a piece of art. All one’s optimism…