Author Archives: thevsstudioblog

First level: As artists, we must tell the truth. Next level: Tell the truth in an interesting way.

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Marshall McLuhan famously declared the medium is the message. Expanding on this concept…As artists we need to fully understand the medium we’re operating in and what’s required by it. Specifically, we need to know how much or how little collaboration is necessary to make our art. Painting and novel writing for example, are more solitaryContinue reading “What’s The Medium?”

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No, I don’t mean it this way. I mean, taking a break before you decide. Before you respond. Before you comment or post or tweet. My wife tells how as a teenager, she’d go shopping with her mom. Inevitably, she’d want something and ask her mom to buy it. Her mom would wisely counter withContinue reading “Sit On It”

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Negativity bias basically states that we remember bad things much more than good things. Evolutionary psychologists believe we’re hard wired this way so as to avoid being eaten by Saber-tooth Tigers. (The media unfortunately weaponizes this trait to grab our attention. “If it bleeds, it leads.”) You know what else we remember? Compliments. Especially unexpectedContinue reading “Unexpected Compliments”

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It’s the simplest concept, but one we always forget or neglect to do: “If you want something, then you have to ask for it.“ Let’s break the above “If/Then” statement down into two parts. First, what do you WANT? What do you truly want? So much so, that you’re willing to do the second partContinue reading “You Gotta Ask”

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Instead of looking at all our daily tasks as things we “have” to do or “must” do or “need” to do, what happens if we look at them as things we “get” to do? To have enormous gratitude in our heart that we’re alive and we have the extreme privilege of getting to do things.Continue reading ““Get” To Do List”

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The writer and professor Arthur Brooks wrote a recent article “The Clocklike Regularity of Major Life Changes” about transitions. He cites plenty of research as well as anecdotal evidence to substantiate his article. He also has a great podcast episode about it. Transitions are predictable and inevitable. On average, we can expect to encounter oneContinue reading “Transitions”

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Among other things, Covid-19 has taught us not to take a single day for granted. I mean we always knew that as an idea, a sound principle, but I think now we’re actually feeling it in our bones. Remembering Memento Mori is such a valuable and worthwhile practice. If we truly feel that each dayContinue reading “Earn The Day”

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James Clear wrote this excellent article, “Why Facts Don’t Change Our Minds.” In it he discusses how the best way to change someone’s mind is to be friends with them. He cites the below passage from the British philosopher, Alain de Botton, who suggests sharing meals together with those who disagree with us: “Sitting downContinue reading “Friendship Over Facts”

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It will never be the right time to embark on your passion project. But there won’t ever be a better time than right now.

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